B-310582; B-310582.2; B-310582.3; B-310582.4; B-310582.5, IMLCORP LLC; Wattre Corporation, January 9, 2008

B-310582; B-310582.2; B-310582.3; B-310582.4; B-310582.5, IMLCORP LLC; Wattre Corporation, January 9, 2008 TITLE: B-310582; B-310582.2; B-310582.3; B-310582.4; B-310582.5, IMLCORP LLC; Wattre Corporation, January 9, 2008 BNUMBER: B-310582; B-310582.2; B-310582.3; B-310582.4; B-310582.5 DATE: January 9, 2008 ********************************************************************************************************** B-310582; B-310582.2; B-310582.3; B-310582.4; B-310582.5, IMLCORP LLC; Wattre Corporation, January 9, 2008 Decision Matter of: IMLCORP LLC; Wattre Corporation File: B-310582; B-310582.2; B-310582.3; B-310582.4; B-310582.5 Date: January 9, 2008 John H. Horne, Esq., Carl A. Gebo, Esq., and Vickie S. Carlton, Esq., Powell Goldstein LLP, for IMLCORP LLC; and A.J. Ballard for Wattre Corporation, the protesters. Angela J. Cosentino, Esq., and Marvin D. Rampey, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Guy R. Pietrovito, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protests challenging the testing methodology employed by an agency in product sample testing is denied, where the solicitation did not specify a particular testing methodology and the protesters have failed to show that the agency's test was an unreasonable method of assessing how well the firms' products would meet the agency's needs. DECISION IMLCORP LLC and Wattre Corporation protest the award of a contract to American Technology Corporation (ATC) under request for proposals (RFP) No. N00164--07-R-8555, issued by the Department of the Navy, for acoustic hailing devices. We deny the protests. The RFP was issued as a commercial item acquisition in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation part 12.6, and provided for the award of a fixed-price contract for acoustic hailing device systems. This device is a "rugged and lightweight loudspeaker system with very high directivity that is intended for long-range hailing and warning" and will be used on Navy vessels to warn other vessels that they are entering the Navy's 500-yard exclusion zone. RFP, Performance Specification, at 3. Operational and reliability requirements were identified in the performance specification, including that the acoustic hailing device must have "100% voice intelligibility at 500 yards with 88 dB [decibels] of ambient background noise.[1] Id. at 7-8. The RFP provided for award on the basis of a cost/technical tradeoff and identified the following evaluation factors and subfactors, each listed in descending order of importance: +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Capability | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| | |Product sample evaluation[2] | | |-------------------------------------------------------------| | |Written performance specification compliance | | |-------------------------------------------------------------| | |Delivery/production schedule/warranty repair turn around time| | |-------------------------------------------------------------| | |Warranty | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Past Performance | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| | |Quality | | |-------------------------------------------------------------| | |Customer satisfaction | | |-------------------------------------------------------------| | |Subcontracting | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Price | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ RFP amend. 1, at 2-3. The RFP required the submission with proposals of a product sample and "any optional accessories or upgrades that provide claimed improvements in functionality, performance, or additional capabilities." RFP at 38. In this regard, offerors were informed: The product sample shall be tested in a non-destructive manner by Government personnel. Product sample testing is planned to occur in a laboratory and field environment at [the Naval Surface Weapons Center in Crane, Indiana].