Reagent World, Inc.

B-415489 Dec 08, 2017 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Reagent World, Inc., a small business of Irvine, California, protests the issuance of a purchase order to Altus Technical Solutions, LLC, a small business of Severn, Maryland, under solicitation No. W911S8-17-Q-2239-01, issued by the Department of the Army, for range target lifter installation parts and services. Reagent World challenges the Army's determination that its lowest-priced bid was technically unacceptable. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Reagent World, Inc. File:  B-415489 Date:  December 8, 2017 Ron Tash, Reagent World, Inc., for the protester. Captain John M. McAdams, and Scott N. Flesch, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Young S. Lee, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the agency’s selection of a higher-priced, technically acceptable bid over the protester’s lower-priced bid is denied where the agency reasonably found that the protester’s bid failed to include material information required by the solicitation, and therefore was technically unacceptable. DECISION Reagent World, Inc., a small business of Irvine, California, protests the issuance of a purchase order to Altus Technical Solutions, LLC, a small business of Severn, Maryland, under solicitation No. W911S8-17-Q-2239-01, issued by the Department of the Army, for range target lifter installation parts and services.  Reagent World challenges the Army’s determination that its lowest-priced bid was technically unacceptable. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The solicitation, which was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO)[1] website on September 28, 2017, was issued as a combined synopsis/solicitation under FAR Part 12, and conducted as a reverse auction buy on FedBid.[2]  Request for Dismissal, exh. A, FedBidOpps Notice, at 1.  Award was to be made to the lowest-priced, technically acceptable bid.  Request for Dismissal, exh. B, FedBid Solicitation, at 3.  The solicitation also stated that “[i]f the lowest priced [bid] is not technically acceptable, the vendor does not have acceptable or neutral past performance, or both, then the [g]overnment will evaluate the second lowest priced [bid] for technical acceptability and acceptable or neutral past performance.”  Id. As relevant to this protest, the FedBid solicitation included specific bid submission requirements pertaining to non-price information.  In this regard, the solicitation contained four contract line item numbers (CLINs) that had to be delivered under the purchase order.  Id.  The first CLIN was for 84 “PC assembly, Data Line Protector, Part Number 20-3020 or Equal.”  The solicitation’s instructions required offerors to provide detailed information describing exactly what products they intended to use to fulfill this requirement.  Specifically, the FedBid instructions stated:  “Sellers MUST enter exactly what they are bidding (including make, model and description) into the blank description field in order for the bid to be considered.”  Id. at 2 (emphasis in original).  The solicitation provided that, in place of the brand name, an “equal” item may be submitted as long as the proposed item met all of the “salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics.”  Bidders were notified that the agency would evaluate any proposed “equal” item on the basis of information furnished by the seller.  Id.  The solicitation explicitly stated that the agency was “not responsible for locating or obtaining any information not identified in the [b]id.”  Id. Reagent World submitted a bid of $39,999.02 before the solicitation’s September 29, 2017 closing date, and expressly indicated that it had “read and understood” the above instructions pertaining to the attachment when it submitted its bid.  Request for Dismissal, exh. C, Reagent World Bid, at 1, 4-5.  Upon review, the agency determined that Reagent World’s bid was technically unacceptable because it failed to describe what part would be provided to satisfy the requirements for CLIN 1 of the solicitation (PC assembly, Data Line Protectors, Part Number 20-3020 or Equal).  Request for Dismissal, exh. D, Reagent World Technical Evaluation, at 1.  On September 29, the Army posted a notice on the FBO website stating that the purchase order had been issued to Altus Technical Solutions, LLC, for a total price of $52,877.75.  Request for Dismissal, exh.