Girton Mfg Company, Inc.

B-416691 Nov 13, 2018 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Girton Manufacturing Company, Inc., of Millville, Pennsylvania, protests the issuance of a purchase order for two animal care washers to Lynx Product Group, of Wilson, New York, pursuant to Notice No. 918923, which announced the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) intent to issue the order to Lynx on a sole-source basis. The protester argues that the agency unreasonably concluded that Girton's offered equipment failed to satisfy the agency's requirements. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Girton Manufacturing Company, Inc. File:  B-416691 Date:  November 13, 2018 William Bruce Michael for the protester. Melissa D. McClellan, Esq., Department of Agriculture, for the agency. Kenneth Kilgour, Esq., and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Issuance of sole-source purchase order is unobjectionable where the agency reasonably concluded that the protester’s alternative equipment failed to meet the agency’s needs. DECISION Girton Manufacturing Company, Inc., of Millville, Pennsylvania, protests the issuance of a purchase order for two animal care washers to Lynx Product Group, of Wilson, New York, pursuant to Notice No. 918923, which announced the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) intent to issue the order to Lynx on a sole-source basis.  The protester argues that the agency unreasonably concluded that Girton’s offered equipment failed to satisfy the agency’s requirements. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On June 15, 2018, the agency published on the Federal Business Opportunities website a notice announcing that it intended to issue a sole-source purchase order to Lynx Product Group for two pieces of equipment:  a Lynx Model 410LX cage and rack washer; and a Lynx Model 340LX cage and bottle washer.[1]  Agency Report (AR), Tab C, Notice of Intent, June 15, 2018.  As relevant to this protest, one of the salient features of the cage and rack washer was a secondary header system that utilizes direct feed hot water for low intensity rinsing.  See Agency Letter to GAO, Oct. 19, 2018; Protester’s Response, Oct. 22, 2018.  The notice of intent advised that interested parties could identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement. Lynx, Girton, and two other firms responded to the agency’s notice of intent.  Girton took exception to the agency’s determination that the requirement was available from only one source and requested permission to submit a quotation.  Protest, exh. B, Email from Girton to Contracting Officer, June 20, 2018.  The contracting officer replied that Girton could provide a quotation and information on its equipment.  Protest, exh. C, Email from Contracting Officer to Girton, June 20, 2018.  Girton’s response included technical specification sheets for its two offered machines, neither of which included a secondary header system as a standard or optional feature.  See Protest, exh. E, Email from Girton to Contracting Officer, June 20, 2018, with attachments; AR, Tab E.  The agency and the protester exchanged email and conferred by telephone; as a result of these communications, the equipment end user, who was also a technical evaluator, was able to resolve certain issues with respect to the conformance of Girton’s equipment with the agency’s specifications.  See AR, Tab K, Technical Evaluator’s Contemporaneous Notes, undated.  Regarding the secondary header system, the evaluator noted as follows:  “Option not listed in Girton literature.  [Girton’s President] told me that’s not a usual option in his cage washers but is in his commercial dish washers.  He said it could easily be added to our washers.”  Id.