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The Mentholatum Company is accepting bids on a three (3) year volume for their Folding Cartons.  The term of this award covers an initial 3-year period plus subsequent 2-year extensions, agreed to between Buyer and Seller, provided performance and pricing is on track. Please read this complete ebid, all email notices, and the Sorcity Member Agreement, in full, so you understand the bid guidelines and are properly prepared for this bid if your company qualifies and would like to participate.
 

The Buyer would like to establish a long-term relationship with a Supplier who is able to provide the quality and service-levels outlined in this bid document.  The anticipated start date for this award is July, 2013, as outlined in the Key Dates below.

This is a company-wide program. All US locations will purchase through this award, which should provide assurance to the awarded bidder that the dollar value awarded is intended to be met.

The Buyer is currently expanding so additional quantities, or locations added, will be treated as increased volume under this ebid award, and governed under the same terms as this Event.

Although price is an important element of this award, this is not a price-only decision. Other factors to be considered include: quality, service-levels, responsiveness, acceptance of Buyer's Master Services Agreement as well as Buyer's standard terms and conditions, relationship, and testing results. After the bidding ends, the Buyer may contact several low bidders to further understand their capabilities and additional benefits before an award is made (see Key Dates below).  

PLEASE NOTE: 

To ensure the bid process remains fair, any direct contact with the Buying Organization regarding this opportunity, during or after this bid process, until the Buyer contacts you, will cause you to be in violation of the bid process and be eligible for penalties (see Sorcity Member Agreement).

BID STRUCTURE:

If you are able to provide and bid on all items listed and meet all terms and conditions stated, then you are invited to bid in this Online Bid Event (ebid). You may not bid otherwise.  

Please perform honorably.  Bids will only be accepted through this ebid.  Bidding in any other manner, or attempting to sell directly to one of the Buyer's locations will disqualify you for this business for the term of the award and will remove you from good standing with the Buyer and Sorcity for future business.  We look forward to your participation and help in maintaining the integrity of this fair and objective bid process.

Additional bid guidelines:

1. Please comply with the instructions in the Bid Notice email you were sent informing you of this opportunity including any reminders and updates provided.

2. Please note that this is not a commitment to buy all specified line items or quantities listed, but a good faith effort to meet or exceed the dollar amount awarded for goods in this general category.

3. Upon registration and further qualification by Sorcity, we will provide you samples of the foam items listed. Please email your complete shipping address and UPS number to Shipping Samples.

4. Due to Supplier optimizations over time, or changes within the Buyer's process, or other unknown factors, the Supplier should factor in accommodating a couple of changes during the term, without the change impacting price, provided that the change needed is relatively equivalent to the current need. Where the change is not equivalent to the current need, the price increases or decreases must be equivalent in discount to the discount provided in this bid and not marked up. Supplier will provide transparent analysis to support the change.

5. Buyer is requesting Bidder's best price in the bid to include: rebates, allowances, and other incentive programs. The Buyer does not want these other incentive programs in addition to the price, but rather included as part of the price bid. This eliminates tracking and auditing of these ancillary programs and provides straightforward pricing.

Line Item Worksheet:

1. Sorcity is providing you this Line Item Worksheet as one of the bid documents, to list your per unit pricing, which will automatically calculate the "Total" bid price. Only the "Total" from the Worksheet may be entered as your bid in the online Event. Do not attempt to enter line item prices online or your bid will be inaccurate. 

2. The estimated quantities listed in the Line Item Worksheet are three (3) year totals, not annual quantities, and are expected to be the minimum purchasing requirements during the next 3-years, based on forecasted market demand.

3. Please be sure to save the Line Item Worksheet to your desktop first, and then use it to work up your Bid.  This will allow you to promptly return this worksheet once the bidding ends.

4. Please follow the instructions including filling in all items highlighted in green such as your Dun & Bradstreet number and Unit Prices where noted, as it is part of this bid package.

5. YOUR COMPLETED LINE ITEM WORKSHEET IS A REQUIREMENT AND MUST BE RETURNED TO SORCITY WITHIN (1) HOUR AFTER THE BID ENDS, regardless of your bid position. Failure to do so may render your bid unacceptable and invoke penalties.

REQUIREMENTS:

These are requirements specific to this purchase:

1. Shipping Cost should NOT be included in the bid. The Supplier will arrange shipping with The Mentholatum Company approved freight carriers.

2. Shipping Instructions-All goods must be shipped in accordance with The Mentholatum Company's Inbound Route Guide in effect on the date of shipment.

3. Packaging requirements for each item can be found on the Spec Sheets which can be found in the Line Item Worksheet

4. In addition to the packaging requirements on each spec sheet, there is a barcode labeling requirement that is defined HERE.

5. All deliveries must be made on Tuesdays between 7:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

6. Orders must be completed within a 2-3 week period of time from the date that Mentholatum provides the final specifications.

7. Historical average order quantities and frequency can be found on the Order Frequency spreadsheet.

8. Include the cost of dies/print plates on the Line Item Worksheet for each item.

9.  Color standards - customer requires two sets of color standards. Color standards must be taken at the first production/print run of a new carton. Color standard do not typically apply to packers. Color standards may need to be rerun for existing cartons if they have faded over time.

10. The Mentholatum Company strives to adhere to the Environmental Sustainability Standards set forth by Wal-Mart. Suppliers bidding on this opportunity should understand that commitment to these standards will be carefully considered as part of the overall Supplier evaluation.

11. The Awarded Supplier will be required to participate in Walgreens Print Quality Assurance program - English Print Quality Assurance program - Chinese

KEY DATES: Anticipated for Award (U.S. Time) Updated: 6/9/14