e-LYNXX Corporation, B-292761, December 3, 2003

B-292761 Dec 03, 2003 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Protest challenging source selection decision is sustained. Given that the price/technical tradeoff was based primarily upon a technical consideration which the contracting officer testified he did not understand and for which he obtained no advice. GPO and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have entered into a "Compact" under which both agencies would seek to develop a mechanism that would allow federal agencies to place printing orders directly with print vendors through an on-line system operated by GPO. The Compact between GPO and OMB was attached to the RFQ. Vendors were informed that GPO intended "to purchase an existing web-based e-commerce solution with necessary modifications to accomplish the requirements" identified in the RFQ. View Decision e-LYNXX Corporation, B-292761, December 3, 2003 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION e-LYNXX Corporation protests the issuance of an order to Noosh, Inc. under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 5170903, issued by the Government Printing Office (GPO) for a contractor-hosted, web-based printing procurement system. e-LYNXX challenges the agency's evaluation of its technical submission and the contracting officer's source selection decision. We sustain the protest. In an effort to reduce printing costs to the federal government and to ensure permanent access to non-classified government publications, GPO and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have entered into a "Compact" under which both agencies would seek to develop a mechanism that would allow federal agencies to place printing orders directly with print vendors through an on-line system operated by GPO. Accordingly, GPO and OMB agreed that by October 1, 2003 GPO would develop a "demonstration print procurement contract," utilizing the Internet for ordering and invoicing, for a federal department or agency selected by OMB. /1/ The Compact provided that GPO would "register and qualify printers for participation in the contract" and that "[a]ny registered printer in the country would be free to submit a price quote on any job placed in the system." The Compact contemplated that the demonstration project would begin in fiscal year 2004, and the competitive procurement process would be deployed throughout the government in fiscal year 2005. Pursuant to its agreement in the Compact, GPO issued the RFQ on July 10, 2003, as a simplified acquisition under GPO's Materials Management Acquisition Regulations (MMAR) (GPO Publication 805.33), seeking quotations for a demonstration pilot program with a single buying agency to be deployed by October 1, 2003 for 1 year. The Compact between GPO and OMB was attached to the RFQ. Vendors were informed that GPO intended "to purchase an existing web-based e-commerce solution with necessary modifications to accomplish the requirements" identified in the RFQ, and that GPO intended to make a system available to all federal agencies by October 1, 2004. The RFQ also provided that GPO expected that as many as 1,000 printing firms could participate in the pilot program and that the "number of individual orders placed by the pilot agency [would] also be in the 1,000 range." RFQ at 3. The RFQ identified 25 "requirements" that "the proposed solution should provide," including the following: 1. An online process for vendors to register and update information identifying products they were capable and willing to produce. 2. Simple, clear, easy-to-use interfaces for vendors, GPO, and ordering agencies. 3. Ability to create RFQs using clean, simple and intuitive interfaces with the ability to include attachments in a variety of formats. 4. Ability to notify selected vendors of availability of RFQs (or provide RFQ to selected vendors) and to "simultaneously post RFQs to web site available to all registered vendors. Posting site will provide sorting capabilities to aid vendors in identifying orders that they would be interested in quoting on (i.e., product categories). Small dollar orders (those under $2,500) may be sent directly to a single vendor without posting." 5. Ability to select from a large number of vendors those who are capable of providing services requested by describing required product in increasing detail. RFQ at 3-4. Vendors were informed that award would be made on a "best value" basis, in which technical excellence would be significantly more important than price. The following technical evaluation factors were identified: (1) solution description (how well the proposed product/solution meets the stated requirements); (2) ease of use; (3) implementation schedule; (4) features and benefits (i.e., user interfaces, help screens, subject matter expertise, learning curves, and other features and benefits); and (5) prior experience ("[p]rior experience with the proposed product/solution in the Federal Government").