Applied Visual Technology Inc.

B-401804.3 Aug 21, 2015 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Applied Visual Technology, Inc. (AVT), a small business, of Orlando, Florida, protests the rejection of its offer submitted in response to solicitation No. TFTP-MC-000874-B, which was issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for the award of contracts under multiple award schedule No. 874, for mission oriented business integrated services (MOBIS). AVT argues that GSA erred in determining that the protester's proposed technical offering failed to satisfy the solicitation's requirements for customizable training devices. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision 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: Applied Visual Technology, Inc. File: B-401804.3 Date: August 21, 2015 Marcus Carter, Government Contractor Services, for the protester. Kristen M. Nowadly, Esq., General Services Administration, for the agency. Evan D. Wesser, Esq., and Jonathan L. Kang, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the agency's determination that the protester's offer did not satisfy the solicitation's requirements is denied where the agency's evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. DECISION Applied Visual Technology, Inc. (AVT), a small business, of Orlando, Florida, protests the rejection of its offer submitted in response to solicitation No. TFTP-MC-000874-B, which was issued by the General Services Administration (GSA) for the award of contracts under multiple award schedule No. 874, for mission oriented business integrated services (MOBIS). AVT argues that GSA erred in determining that the protester's proposed technical offering failed to satisfy the solicitation's requirements for customizable training devices. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation at issue here is "Refresh 22" of the solicitation for schedule No. 874 of the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS), which is a standing solicitation for the provision of a full range of professional business services and related support products for consulting, facilitation, surveys, training, acquisition management support, and integrated business program support services. Solicitation at 1.[1] Each GSA schedule, including schedule No. 874, is composed of special item numbers (SIN), which are used to categorize or group similar products and services under the schedule. See Bridges Sys. Integration, LLC, B-411020, Apr. 23, 2015, 2015 CPD ¶ 144 at 5. The solicitation states that the offeror must provide a "full and broad array of proposed products [or] services," and that an offer for limited product or service offerings would not be accepted "unless it represents a total solution for the proposed [SINs]." Solicitation at x. The solicitation further provides that services not authorized for purchase under the MOBIS contract are those services "where the primary purpose or the preponderance of work performed is specifically covered by another GSA Schedule." Id. at 2. SIN No. 874 9 – Off-the-Shelf Training Devices and Training Materials: Print, Electronic, Audio-Visual, Multi-Media, and Simulation Training Devices (the training devices SIN) is relevant to the issues in this protest. Under the training devices SIN, offerors can propose to supply two types of training devices: Off-the-Shelf Training Devices: Proposed training devices shall be commercially-available off-the-shelf training [COTS] devices available as stand alone or ancillary to other services being offered on this schedule. They can include software programs, teaching machines and devices, simulators such as driving simulators, flight simulators, etc., prepared printed instructional material, medical models and simulators, prepared audio and visual instruction material and multimedia program kits. Customizable Training Devices: Proposed customized training devices and simulators shall be in addition to the or the result of planning, designing, and/or producing customized training products that include but are not limited to print, audio/visual, audio, digital formats and emerging technologies. Proposed training devices shall directly train students in a specific subject matter(s) or assist in the training of a specific subject matter(s). Solicitation at 8. On November 17, 2014, AVT submitted an offer for customizable training devices in response to SIN 874 9 of the solicitation. Agency Report (AR), Tab 2, AVT Offer (Nov. 17, 2014), at 3. On March 19, 2015, GSA notified AVT that its proposal was rejected. As relevant here, GSA found that "[u]pon review of this offer, it has been determined that these services may be better suited for" inclusion on another FSS contract. Protest, exh. No. 1, GSA Letter to AVT (Mar.