Copy Graphics

B-273028 Nov 13, 1996 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protester's low bid was properly rejected as unbalanced where it contained mathematically unbalanced prices and the agency had a reasonable doubt. Copy Graphics argues that its low bid was improperly rejected. Price entries were required for three groups of items: (1) printing and binding. The contract was to be awarded to the bidder who submitted the lowest total price. ADDITIONAL OPERATIONS: (a) Updating mailing listper address change/update............... $NC (b) Undeliverable packagesper package............................ $NC The contracting officer determined that some of Copy Graphics's prices were excessive and others were nominal. Of particular concern to the contracting officer were. View Decision Matter of: Copy Graphics File: B-273028 Date: November 13, 1996 Protester's low bid was properly rejected as unbalanced where it contained mathematically unbalanced prices and the agency had a reasonable doubt, in light of the uncertainty associated with solicitation estimates, that award on the basis of the protester's bid would result in the lowest overall cost to the government. Attorneys DECISION Copy Graphics protests the rejection of its low bid as unbalanced under invitation for bids (IFB) 717-S, issued by the United States Government Printing Office (GPO) for the printing and distribution of general wage determination reports of the Department of Labor. Copy Graphics argues that its low bid was improperly rejected. We deny the protest. The IFB contemplated the award of a fixed-price requirements contract for the production of the reports. Price entries were required for three groups of items: (1) printing and binding; (2) packing--including bulk shipments and mailing; and, (3) additional operations. The printing and binding group contains two individual items, with two prices each and the packing group contains four items under bulk shipments and three items under mailing. The additional operations group has two items: upgrading the mailing list and handling undeliverable packages. The IFB listed estimated requirements to produce 1 year's production for each of the 13 item prices required. [1] As to packing specifications, while the IFB specified, among other things, a maximum weight of 40 pounds per container and the use of pallets when shipping to GPO, it did not specify a minimum weight per container or a minimum or maximum number of containers to be shipped per pallet. [2] Additionally, while the RFP specified the type of shrink-film wrap required, it did not specify any parameters for the number of pages to be included in each shrink-film wrapped package. The contract was to be awarded to the bidder who submitted the lowest total price, calculated by multiplying the unit prices offered by the estimated quantities and adding each of those subtotals. Of the eight bids received, Copy Graphics's bid of $310,346 represented the lowest evaluated overall price as follows: I. PRINTING AND BINDING: Makeready Running Per and/or 1,000 copies (1) (2) (a) Weekly Updates per page......................$NC $NC (b) Annual Report. per page......................$NC $NC II. PACKING: 1. Bulk shipments (other than by mail): (a) Packing and sealing shipping container per containers........ $NC (b) Banding/shrink-film packaging per 100 packages............... $150.00 (c) Individual mailing containers per containers................. $ 35.00 (d) Palletizing per pallet....................................... $150.00 2. Mailing (prices must include affixing labels): (a) Single copy in kraft envelope (up to 200 leaves) per envelope.......................................................... $NC (b) Multiple copies in kraft envelope (up to 200 leaves) per envelope.......................................................... $NC (c) Single or multiple copies over 200 leaves up to a maximum gross weight 18 kg (40 lbs) per container......................... $ 60.00 III. ADDITIONAL OPERATIONS: (a) Updating mailing listper address change/update............... $NC (b) Undeliverable packagesper package............................ $NC The contracting officer determined that some of Copy Graphics's prices were excessive and others were nominal. Of particular concern to the contracting officer were, on the one hand, Copy Graphics's "no charge" (NC) entries for 9 of the 13 line items, including all of the most significant cost items relating to printing and binding and, on the other hand, Copy Graphics's prices for each of the remaining 4 items relating to the packing and mailing of the publications, which were significantly higher than those of any other bidder. For example, while Copy Graphics bid $150 to band/shrink-film 100 packages, the other seven bids ranged from a high of $25 to a low of $10, with two $15 bids, a $12 bid and one "no charge" bid.