Alpha Q, Inc.

B-270517 Mar 14, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Where the agency's needs are urgent so that the procurement could not be delayed until the product had been tested. The RFP will seek offers for housing assemblies for the UH-60 (Blackhawk) helicopter. The housing assembly is designated a flight safety part because failure of the assembly could result in loss of the aircraft with possible loss of life and injury to the air crew. ATCOM has declared its intention to limit competition under the RFP to the only two firms that are approved sources and whose assemblies have been fatigue-tested. The restricted procurement also is supported by a statement of urgency that projected a zero inventory balance in December 1995. Fatigue testing is required to provide assurance that the manufacturing process employed by a new source of supply does not cause reductions in the life of the part as established through extensive testing of the original source's part. View Decision Matter of: Alpha Q, Inc. File: B-270517 Date: March 14, 1996 Agency need not solicit a proposal from a company whose critical flight safety part had not yet been fatigue-tested, where the agency's needs are urgent so that the procurement could not be delayed until the product had been tested. Attorneys DECISION Alpha Q, Inc. protests the proposed issuance of request for proposals (RFP) No. DAAJ09-96-R-0025 on a restricted basis by the Army Materiel Command/Army Aviation and Troop Command (ATCOM) for a quantity of helicopter parts. Alpha argues that the RFP, which ATCOM intends to issue to the only two tested sources, improperly restricts competition, and that the agency has improperly delayed testing Alpha's product, thereby preventing the firm from competing. We deny the protest. The RFP will seek offers for housing assemblies for the UH-60 (Blackhawk) helicopter. The housing assembly is designated a flight safety part because failure of the assembly could result in loss of the aircraft with possible loss of life and injury to the air crew. ATCOM has declared its intention to limit competition under the RFP to the only two firms that are approved sources and whose assemblies have been fatigue-tested, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation and the Purdy Corporation. The agency initially executed a justification and approval limiting the procurement to the sole available source, Sikorsky, citing 10 U.S.C. Sec. 2304(c)(1) (1994) and Federal Acquisition Regulation Sec. 6.302-1, and later decided to include Purdy after Purdy's assembly had been tested. The restricted procurement also is supported by a statement of urgency that projected a zero inventory balance in December 1995, based on the anticipated rate of use and the current inventory for the item. Although Alpha has been approved as a source for this component, its housing has not yet been fatigue-tested. Fatigue testing is required to provide assurance that the manufacturing process employed by a new source of supply does not cause reductions in the life of the part as established through extensive testing of the original source's part. In February 1995, Alpha was awarded a contract for 29 housing assemblies under a procurement that was limited to approved sources regardless of fatigue-testing status. Under that contract, Alpha was required to submit a first article and report by December 30, 1995, with deliveries of the assembly scheduled to begin in September 1996. After the initial product was delivered, a fatigue test was to be performed, and if successful, Alpha would be considered a tested and approved source for the assembly. Alpha failed to deliver its first article unit for testing by the deadline established under its contract, apparently because of an equipment failure, and now anticipates delivering both its first article unit and an additional unit for fatigue testing on March 15. The agency anticipates that the process of fatigue testing will require 16 months, [1] and thus Alpha could not be determined a responsible or qualified source in time to compete under the procurement in question here. Alpha protests that ATCOM has unduly delayed testing Alpha's product, thus excluding the protester from the competition. The protester construes the terms of its current contract as requiring the agency to perform the fatigue testing within 20 days of tender of the first article unit, and argues that the agency's intention to complete the test 16 months after tender amounts to an anticipatory breach of Alpha's current contract.