UNITED NATIONS OF GENEVA (UNOG)

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

This notice is placed by UNOG. The accuracy, reliability and completeness of the contents of furnished
information is the responsibility of UNITED NATIONS OF GENEVA (UNOG). You are therefore
requested to direct all queries regarding this RFI to UNITED NATIONS OF GENEVA (UNOG) using the
fax number or e-mail address provided below.

Title of the RFI:

IT system to manage shipment transactions at UNOG

Date of this RFI: 21 May 2021 Closing Date for Receipt of RFI: 18 June 2021

RFI Number: RFIUNOG18540

Beneficiary Country/Territory: Switzerland

Commodity/Service category: End User Technology & Applications

Address RFI response by fax or e-mail to the Attention of: Hydee Colina; Corneliu Martiniuc

Fax Number: N/A

E-mail Address: hydee.colina@un.org; corneliu.martiniuc@un.org

UNSPSC Code: 43231508,43231515,43232200,43232300

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENTS
1. Background

The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) serves as the representative office of the Secretary-General
at Geneva.

On behalf of its internal and external client entities, UNOG manages shipment services of official
correspondence and goods by either postal or express mail as well as by diplomatic pouch. The provision of
such services is contracted with and provided by postal and express mail companies, as well as freight
forwarders.

In this regard, UNOG is currently using a web-based application for managing incoming and outgoing
diplomatic pouch as well as outgoing postal and express mail transactions.

UNOG is considering the replacement of the existing software application and is seeking information from
vendors to provide a new solution (hereafter, the Tool).

OSCM/RFI v2021-01 [EN]

2. Purpose of this Request

This RFI aims to gather information about capabilities and costing of the latest available software solution in
the marketplace. UNOG is inviting interested vendors to provide details of their available options. Upon
request, further information regarding this RFI could be provided to vendors.

You are kindly requested to review the Annex 1 - Specific requirements of the Tool and to provide
information as to whether your company and solution could potentially fulfill the requirements.

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a solicitation (Request
for Proposal or Request for Quotations) from the United Nations or a promise to issue a solicitation in the
future. This RFI does not commit the United Nations to pay any cost incurred in the preparation or
submission of any response to the RFI.
 
3. General Requirements of the Tool

(a) The Tool shall be designed to manage the work processes and related transactions for four main
shipment categories: (i) incoming diplomatic pouch, (ii) outgoing diplomatic pouch, (iii) outgoing postal mail,
and (iv) outgoing express mail, and their subtypes, e.g. regular/special diplomatic pouch by different
geographic zones, regular/registered postal mail/parcel within/outside Switzerland by different postal classes
and postal formats, and express mail by different geographic zones.
(b) The Tool shall support English and French user interface.
(c) The layout design and data requirements (e.g. fields, format, editable or not, mandatory or optional,
default value, data source, presentation, logic/condition) for each functionality shall be customized for
different main shipment categories.
(d) The Tool shall support audit trail for all requisitions, all transactions, and master data maintenance.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS / INFORMATION (IF ANY)

Information to be submitted by vendors.

Please send a presentation including all necessary documents that would best demonstrate your solution to
address the following areas:

(a) A brief description of your company (e.g. structure, years in business and the line of business dealing
with similar solution)
(b) Brochures and/or methodologies of the related solution
(c) A list of clients and past project reference that are utilizing the solution
(d) Solution type (i.e. an off-the-shelf product with customization or a completely fresh)
(e) Readiness of your solution (by the below maturity level) in addressing each functionality specified
under Annex 1 of this RFI

• Maturity level 1: Currently available

• Maturity level 2: Currently unavailable but feasible with development and/or customization
• Maturity level 3: Currently unavailable and infeasible to deliver

(f) Available pricing options, range tiered pricing, different level of subscription packages
(g) Available trial/demo licenses/videos/other materials

NOTE

OSCM/RFI v2021-01 [EN]

Information on tendering for the UN Procurement System is available free of charge at the following
address: https://www.ungm.org/Public/Notice

Only the United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM) has been authorised to collect a nominal fee from
vendors that wish to receive automatically Procurement Notices or Requests for Expression Of Interest.
Vendors interested in this Tender Alert Service are invited to subscribe on http://www.ungm.org

Vendors interested in participating in a potential future solicitation process should submit the Vendor
Response Form of this RFI electronically (through the link available on the next page) before the
closing date set forth above.

OSCM/RFI v2021-01 [EN]

 VENDOR RESPONSE

NOTICE
 Companies can only participate in solicitations of the UN Secretariat after completing their registration
(free of charge) at the United Nations Global Marketplace (www.ungm.org).
 Please verify that your company is registered under its full legal name on the United Nations Global
Market Place (www.ungm.org) and that your application for registration as vendor has been submitted to
the UN Secretariat in the same site, to be able to participate in any potential solicitation process as a
result of this RFI.
 While companies can participate in solicitations after completion of registration at Basic Level, we
strongly recommend all companies to register at least at Level 1 under the United Nations Secretariat
prior to participating in any solicitations.

PLEASE NOTE: You should submit your response to this RFI electronically at:
https://www.un.org/Depts/ptd/node/add/interest-expressed?EOI=RFIUNOG18540
In case you have difficulties submitting your response electronically, please contact
hydee.colina@un.org; corneliu.martiniuc@un.org directly for instructions.

OSCM/RFI v2021-01 [EN]

 RFI INSTRUCTIONS

1) Registering as a Vendor with the United Nations

Vendors interested in fulfilling the requirement described above must be registered at the UN Global Marketplace
(www.ungm.org) with the UN Secretariat in order to be eligible to participate in any solicitation. Information on the
registration process can be found at https://www.un.org/Depts/ptd/vendors.
Prerequisites for Eligibility
In order to be eligible for UN registration, you must declare that:

A. Your company (as well as any parent, subsidiary or affiliate companies) is not listed in, or associated with a company
or individual listed in:
I. the Compendium of United Nations Security Council Sanctions Lists
(https://www.un.org/sc/suborg/en/sanctions/un-sc-consolidated-list), or
II. the IIC Oil for Food List website or, if listed on either, this has been disclosed to the United Nations
Procurement Division in writing.
B. Your company (as well as any parent, subsidiary or affiliate companies) is not currently removed or suspended by the
United Nations or any other UN organisation (including the World Bank);
C. Your company (as well as any parent, subsidiary of affiliate companies) is not under formal investigation, nor have
been sanctioned within the preceding three (3) years, by any national authority of a United Nations Member State for
engaging or having engaged in proscribed practices, including but not limited to: corruption, fraud, coercion, collusion,
obstruction, or any other unethical practice;
D. Your company has not declared bankruptcy, are not involved in bankruptcy or receivership proceedings, and there is
no judgment or pending legal action against your company that could impair your company's operations in the
foreseeable future;
E. Your company does not employ, or anticipate employing, any person(s) who is, or has been a UN staff member within
the last year, if said UN staff member has or had prior professional dealings with the Vendor in his/her capacity as UN
staff member within the last three years of service with the UN (in accordance with UN post-employment restrictions
published in ST/SGB/2006/15).
F. Your company undertakes not to engage in proscribed practices (including but not limited to: corruption, fraud,
coercion, collusion, obstruction, or any other unethical practice), with the UN or any other party, and to conduct
business in a manner that averts any financial, operational, reputational or other undue risk to the UN.
For Registered Vendors: Vendors already registered at the UN Global Marketplace with the UN Secretariat must
ensure that the information and documentation (e.g. financial statements, address, contact name, etc.) provided in
connection with their registration are up to date in UNGM. Please verify and ensure that your company is registered
under its full legal name.

For Vendors Interested in Registration: Vendors not yet registered should apply for registration on the United Nations
Global Marketplace (http://www.ungm.org); information on the registration process can be found at
https://www.un.org/Depts/ptd/vendors. Vendors must complete the registration process prior to the closing date of the
RFI. Vendors who have not completed the UNGM registration process with the UN Secretariat before the closing date of
the RFI are not considered eligible to participate in the potential solicitation process related to the RFI. We strongly
recommend all companies to register at least at Level 1 under the UN Secretariat prior to participating in any
solicitations.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Any false, incomplete or defective vendor registration may result in the rejection of the
application or cancellation of an already existing registration.

2) RFI Process

Vendors interested in participating in the potential solicitation process should forward their information (as requested in
the RFI) to UNITED NATIONS OF GENEVA (UNOG) (UNOG) by the closing date set forth in this RFI. Due to the high
volume of communications UNOG is not in a position to issue confirmation of receipt of RFIs.

Please note that no further details of the potential solicitation can be made available to the vendors prior to issuance of
the solicitation documents.
This RFI is issued subject to the conditions contained in the RFI introductory page available at
https://www.un.org/Depts/ptd/rfi.

OSCM/RFI v2021-01 [EN]

Annex 1 - Specific Requirements of the Tool
The Tool should at least provide the functionalities of the below six modules. Vendors may follow the structure
of the following modules or propose otherwise. In responding to this RFI, vendors should indicate the readiness
of their solutions (by the below maturity level) and provide comments, if any.
• Maturity level 1: Currently available
• Maturity level 2: Currently unavailable but feasible with development and/or customization
• Maturity level 3: Currently unavailable and infeasible to deliver

Maturity
Specific requirements of the Tool level Comments (if any)
(1, 2 or 3)
1. Client Requisition
1.1 Functionalities applicable to all shipment categories
(a) Adding, editing, viewing, deleting, cancelling, and
searching requisitions with custom fields
(b) Browsing search results in a list with required fields or
browsing all records if no filter is applied
(c) Sorting the list of search results by any fields and adjusting
the pagination size where the search results are
distributed across pages
(d) Generating a requisition in a specific printable format

(e) Viewing basic pouch information linked to the requisition

(f) Auto-calculating the estimated charge

2. Transaction Processor
2.1 Functionalities applicable to all mail shipment categories
(a) Adding, editing, viewing, deleting, cancelling, and
searching transactions with custom fields
(b) Browsing search results in a list with the required fields or
display all records if no filter is applied
(c) Sorting the list of search results by any fields and adjusting
the pagination size where the search results are
distributed across pages
(d) By interfacing with weighing terminals, reading the
dimensional weight from the weighing scales
(e) Auto-calculating the estimated charge (not applicable to
incoming diplomatic pouch)
(f) Uploading and maintaining scanned documents linked to
each transaction
(g) Online tracking by clicking a direct hyperlink to vendors'
systems using Airway Bill no. and carrier information filled
without further input by user

-1-
 Maturity
Specific requirements of the Tool level Comments (if any)
(1, 2 or 3)
2.2 Functionalities applicable to outgoing diplomatic pouch only
(a) Link/Unlink a requisition to a pouch transaction

(b) Adding, editing, viewing, deleting, and cancelling

one/multiple packages
(c) Registering items in Summary of Enclosures (SOE)

(d) Setting the status of pouch as "Sealed"

(e) Generating SOE in a specific printable format

(f) Setting the status of pouch as "Verified"

(g) Setting the status of pouch to "Ready for Delivery"

(h) Generating the Customs Declaration in a specific printable

Word format
(i) Generating the label of pouch in specified printable Word
format
(j) Manual updating AWB details of a pouch transaction (by
forwarding agent)
(k) Defining multiple templates for automatic email
notification of mail dispatch to recipient and origin/sender
2.3 Functionalities applicable to outgoing express mail only
(a) Selecting best shipment option from different shipment
vendors in terms of price or delivery time
(b) Auto-synchronizing mail transactions to shipment vendors’
systems
(c) Auto-updating AWB no. retrieved from shipment vendors’
systems

3. Reporting
(a) Defining and generating standard reports on any data
available in the database during any specific period
(b) Dynamic reporting which allows swiftly adjusting input
parameters on the fly and interacting with the
dashboard/report or even drill down into more details
(c) Exporting data in Excel or other formats for further
analysis using other tools

-2-
 Maturity
Specific requirements of the Tool level Comments (if any)
(1, 2 or 3)
4. Mail Administration
(a) Adding, editing, viewing, deleting, cancelling and searching
any master data or data table
(b) Browsing search results in a list with the required fields or
display all records if no filter is applied
(c) Sorting the list of search results by any fields and adjusting
the pagination size where the search results are distributed
across pages
(d) Deactivating and archiving expired contracts & tariffs

(e) Convenient configuration of tariff structures for

implementing:
(i) multiple contracts for the same type of mail service and
(ii) new contracts

5. Data Connectors
5.1 Automatic data exchange with the below systems via web services or other means
(a) Interfacing with shipment vendors’ systems for transaction
registration
(b) Interfacing with shipment vendors' systems for item
tracking
(c) Interfacing with SMTP gateway of UN mail server for
sending automatic email notification of mail dispatch
(d) Interfacing with internal identification server (Unite
Identity) for Single-Sign-On
(e) Interfacing with internal Enterprise Resource Planning
system (Umoja) for service catalogue
(f) Interfacing with internal mail distribution system (KERN
Smarttracking)
6. User Management
(a) Adding or modifying user profiles

(b) Adding or modifying user roles and configuring their default

authorized access modules and read/write privileges

-3-