Magney Grande Distribution, Inc., B-286981, March 22, 2001

B-286981 Mar 22, 2001 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Protest of agency's award of a contract to the offeror that submitted the significantly lower-priced proposal of two otherwise essentially comparable proposals is denied where record supports the reasonableness of the agency's evaluation and award determination. The solicitation provided that award would be made to the responsible offeror whose offer was found to be most advantageous to the government. The following factors were to be considered in evaluating the proposals: technical. Were more important than price. Was required to be submitted by the successful contractor prior to obtaining a release for manufacture. Post-award first article testing was to be conducted to demonstrate compliance with the RFP's performance specifications. View Decision Matter of: Magney Grande Distribution, Inc. File: B-286981 Date: March 22, 2001 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Magney Grande Distribution, Inc. protests the award of a contract to ITD of Destin, Inc. under request for proposals (RFP) No. N65540-00-R-0040, issued by the Department of the Navy for transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSS). /1/ The protester, a previous sole-source TVSS supplier to the Navy, challenges the agency's evaluation of the ITD proposal and the agency's award to the firm. /2/ We deny the protest. The RFP, issued on May 9, 2000, contemplated the award of a fixed-price requirements contract for four types of TVSS units for a 3-year period. The solicitation provided that award would be made to the responsible offeror whose offer was found to be most advantageous to the government, price and other factors considered. The following factors were to be considered in evaluating the proposals: technical, past performance/pertinent experience, and price. The RFP provided that technical and past performance, when combined, were more important than price. The RFP set out certain performance specifications for the TVSS units, and incorporated by reference several military specification standards and electrical code standards. RFP Secs. 3.0, 5.1(b). Certain supporting third-party test data--demonstrating the TVSS product's compliance with various performance specifications--was required to be submitted by the successful contractor prior to obtaining a release for manufacture. RFP Sec. 4.1. Post-award first article testing was to be conducted to demonstrate compliance with the RFP's performance specifications. RFP Sec. 52.209-3, Sec. 6.0. For the evaluation of past performance, offerors were to provide information on recent contracts for "like or similar items" and information demonstrating their experience in the design and manufacture of TVSS. RFP Sec. 5.3.1. The information was to be used for a determination of the firm's responsibility and for evaluation of the firm's past performance/pertinent experience. Id. Of the 10 proposals received by the extended closing time on June 30, only Magney Grande's and ITD's proposals were found to be technically acceptable. Although the performance testing data was not required until after award, Magney Grande included prior testing data in its proposal, and the proposal was credited for it. Technical Evaluation Memorandum at 2. The ITD proposal, on the other hand, was noted as having an informational weakness for not including all of the data provided by the protester; the evaluators found the weakness to be minor, however, since, under the RFP's terms, the performance demonstration data could be provided after award. Id.; Agency Report at 6. Based upon ITD's technical product specifications, including some test data, and technical manuals, the newly designed ITD TVSS units were found to be fully compliant with the solicitation's technical requirements. Pricing Memorandum at 2. Both firms' proposals were favorably evaluated for past performance based on information provided by the offerors and gathered by the agency regarding the firms' experience with the TVSS or similar items. Magney Grande's high past performance rating was based on favorable customer/fleet feedback concerning the firm's recent TVSS product performance and customer service. Technical Evaluation Memorandum at 2; Magney Grande TVSS Technical Data Sheets at 2. ITD's and its manufacturer's (Guardian Manufacturing, Inc.) past performance information was also favorably rated. The agency considered information regarding the firms' TVSS design, manufacturing, and sales experience with substantially similar products of equal complexity and a number of government and commercial contracts for other TVSS products. Pre-Award Survey Report at 9-10, 15-16, and 22-24. The experience and capability of ITD and Guardian were reviewed and confirmed by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), which conducted pre-award site surveys at each of those firms' facilities.