B-297346, Sytronics, Inc., December 29, 2005

B-297346 Dec 29, 2005 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Sytronics, Inc. protests the issuance of a task order to Jenkins Electric Company, d/b/a Nexjen Systems, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. M00146-05-T-9031, issued by the United States Marine Corps for the upgrade of all hardware and software for two T58 test cells at the Naval Air Depot, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina. Sytronics challenges the agency's decision to issue a task order to Nexjen, a vendor submitting a lower technically rated, lower priced quotation. We sustain the protest. View Decision B-297346, Sytronics, Inc., December 29, 2005 DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Sytronics, Inc. File: B-297346 Date: December 29, 2005 Charles W. Mahan, Esq., and Richard L. Carr, Jr., Esq., Dunlevey, Mahan & Furry, for the protester. J. R. Cohn, Esq., and Julius Rothlein, Esq., United States Marine Corps, for the agency. Linda S. Lebowitz, Esq., and Michael R. Golden, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest is sustained where the agency did not reasonably evaluate in accordance with the terms of the solicitation the quotation of the selected vendor in the areas of technical approach and past performance, where the agency conducted price discussions that improperly favored the selected vendor over the protester (whose higher priced quotation received a higher technical score), and where the protester was competitively prejudiced by the agency's conduct of the procurement. DECISION Sytronics, Inc. protests the issuance of a task order to Jenkins Electric Company, d/b/a Nexjen Systems, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. M00146-05-T-9031, issued by the United States Marine Corps for the upgrade of all hardware and software for two T58 test cells at the Naval Air Depot, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina. Sytronics challenges the agency's decision to issue a task order to Nexjen, a vendor submitting a lower technically rated, lower priced quotation. We sustain the protest. BACKGROUND The RFQ was issued as a total small business set-aside on May 18, 2005, and contemplated the issuance of a fixed-price task order to the responsible vendor whose quotation, conforming to the terms of the RFQ, was determined to be most advantageous to the government, technical evaluation factors and price considered. The RFQ listed the following technical evaluation factors and the total number of points available for each factor: (1) technical approach (45 points); (2) past performance (25 points); (3) corporate experience (20 points); and (4) key personnel (system engineer and software developer, each worth 5 points for a total of 10 points). With respect to price, the RFQ required vendors to provide a fixed price for the upgrade of the two test cells, as well as a fixed price for a quantity of pressure transducers.[1] The RFQ provided that all technical evaluation factors, when combined, would be considered significantly more important than price. For the technical approach evaluation factor, a vendor was required to include in its quotation a plan of action and milestones which detailed significant development and implementation events. As relevant here, the RFQ stated as follows: 4.3 REQUIRED DELIVERY DATES a. Clin 0001—Test Cell Upgrades: Delivery, installation, testing, acceptance, and training required for upgrade of Test Cells #1 and #3 shall be completed no later than seven (7) months after date of contract award in accordance with the schedule established by the contractor's Government approved Plan of Action and Milestone Report (CDRL [Contract Data Requirements List] A001 [which required the final plan to be supplied to the government within 30 calendar days after award]). RFQ para. 4.3; RFQ attach. 1, para. 3.7.5.1. For the past performance evaluation factor, the RFQ required a vendor to submit a list of at least five contracts completed within the past 3 years, and a list of all contracts currently in progress, which were similar in technical complexity[2] and dollar value to the requirement of this procurement. The RFQ further stated that if a vendor had completed fewer than five contracts, the vendor should include any contracts completed within the past 3 years. The RFQ advised that in evaluating a vendor's past performance, the agency would consider information provided by the vendor's references and information obtained from other sources.