Mechanical Equipment Company, Inc.; Highland Engineering, Inc.; Etnyre International, Ltd.; Kara Aerospace, Inc., B-292789.2; B-292789.3; B-292789.4; B-292789.5; B-292789.6; B-292789.7, December 15, 2003

Mechanical Equipment Company, Inc.; Highland Engineering, Inc.; Etnyre International, Ltd.; Kara Aerospace, Inc., B-292789.2; B-292789.3; B-292789.4; B-292789.5; B-292789.6; B-292789.7, December 15, 2003 TITLE: Mechanical Equipment Company, Inc.; Highland Engineering, Inc.; Etnyre International, Ltd.; Kara Aerospace, Inc., B-292789.2; B-292789.3; B-292789.4; B-292789.5; B-292789.6; B-292789.7, December 15, 2003 BNUMBER: B-292789.2; B-292789.3; B-292789.4; B-292789.5; B-292789.6; B-292789.7 DATE: December 15, 2003 ********************************************************************** Decision Matter of: Mechanical Equipment Company, Inc.; Highland Engineering, Inc.; Etnyre International, Ltd.; Kara Aerospace, Inc. File: B-292789.2; B-292789.3; B-292789.4; B-292789.5; B-292789.6; B-292789.7 Date: December 15, 2003 Carl L. Vacketta, Esq., Kevin P. Mullen, Esq., and Robert S. Nichols, Esq., Piper Rudnick, for Mechanical Equipment Company, Inc.; Michael W. Clancy, Esq., and George W. Ash, Esq., Dykema Gossett, for Highland Engineering, Inc.; David T. Ralston, Esq., Philip A. Nacke, Esq., and Heather M. Trew, Esq., Foley & Lardner, for Etnyre International, Ltd.; Mark Righter, Esq., McQuaide Blasko, and Joseph J. Dyer, Esq., Seyfarth Shaw, for Kara Aerospace, Inc., the protesters. Kenneth A. Martin, Esq., Martin & Associates, and William K. Walker, Esq., Walker Reausaw, for Chenega Technical Products, LLC, an intervenor. Vera Meza, Esq., and Arthur M. Boley, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Henry J. Gorczycki, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Agency performed reasonable price/technical tradeoff in determining that awardee's proposal for transportable water systems represented best value, based on consideration of price and the results of reasonable technical evaluation under listed evaluation factors, consistent with solicitation's evaluation plan; in making tradeoff analysis, agency had reasonable basis to focus on particular discriminator involving realism of logistics effort, even though it was not one of most heavily weighted factors. 2. Agency is not required to advise offerors of minor weaknesses or to reopen discussions where offeror's final proposal revision includes new information that constitutes a weakness or deficiency. 3. If offeror's price is not so high as to be unreasonable, agency is not required to advise that offeror that its price is not competitive. 4. Awardee's proposal on supply contract complies with the solicitation's subcontracting limitation that prime contractor perform work for at least 50 percent of the cost of manufacturing the supplies, not including the costs of materials; in determining compliance with the limitation, the awardee's overhead and profit should be included in determining the total contract cost. 5. Agency's determination that awardee's major subcontractor did not have a significant organizational conflict of interest because of its work as a support services contractor for the agency has not been shown to be unreasonable, where there was no evidence in record showing that the subcontractor had an unfair competitive advantage resulting from access to the proprietary information of competitors, or to competitively useful or source selection sensitive information not available to the other offerors. DECISION Mechanical Equipment Company, Inc. (MECO), Highland Engineering, Inc., Etnyre International, Ltd., and Kara Aerospace, Inc. protest an award to Chenega Technical Products, LLC, under request for proposals (RFP) No. DAAE07-03-R-T006, issued by the Department of the Army, Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), for the "Camel" transportable water system. The protesters challenge the agency's evaluation and selection decision, and allege that Chenega's subcontractor has an organizational conflict of interest that makes award to Chenega improper. We deny the protests. The RFP, issued November 26, 2002, contemplated the award of a fixed-price requirements contract for a period of 5 years. Competition was restricted to small business concerns. The contract awarded will cover System Design and Development (SDD) of Camel system prototypes and the subsequent production of completed Camel systems.[1] The Camel system is a mobile, rapidly deployable, flexible unit water distribution system that will transport 900 gallons or more of potable water, be mounted on a government-furnished Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle (FMTV) M1905 trailer, and meet the mission profile of its intended prime mover (FMTV truck variants). The Camel system will prevent water from freezing during cold weather operations, allow operation at temperatures down to --25 degrees Fahrenheit, and chill water during hot weather operations.