Kardex Remstar, LLC (SP3300-20-Q-5015)

B-418714 Aug 04, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Kardex Remstar, of Westbrook, Maine, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. SP3300-20-Q-5015, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for vertical lift module storage systems. The protester contends that the product requirements set forth in the RFQ are tailored to match the product offerings of a single vendor, resulting in "a brand name only procurement cleverly disguised as a procurement under full and open competition." Protest at 7. 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:  Kardex Remstar, LLC File:  B-418714 Date:  August 4, 2020 Julie M. Nichols, Esq. and Marissa R. Bagasra, Esq., Roeder, Cochran, Phillips, PLLC, for the protester. Timothy J. Ryan, Esq., Defense Logistics Agency, for the agency. Heather Self, Esq., and Edward Goldstein, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging solicitation terms as unduly restrictive of competition is denied because the record demonstrates that the requirements are reasonably related to the agency’s minimum needs. DECISION Kardex Remstar, of Westbrook, Maine, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. SP3300-20-Q-5015, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) for vertical lift module storage systems.  The protester contends that the product requirements set forth in the RFQ are tailored to match the product offerings of a single vendor, resulting in “a brand name only procurement cleverly disguised as a procurement under full and open competition.”  Protest at 7. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On April 6, 2020, the agency issued RFQ No. SP3300-20-Q-5015 on an unrestricted basis pursuant to the commercial item and simplified acquisition procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation parts 12 and 13.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 2, RFQ at 1; Combined Contracting Officer’s Statement and Memorandum of Law at 2.  The solicitation seeks quotations for the supply and installation of five vertical lift module storage systems at the agency’s facility located in Yokosuka, Japan.  RFQ at 1; AR, Tab 4, Statement of Work (SOW) at 3.  The solicitation contemplates award of a single fixed-price contract.  RFQ at 1. Warehouses, such as those operated by the Defense Logistics Agency, require employees, referred to as pickers, to retrieve items from the various storage units within the warehouse to fulfill customer orders.  AR, Tab 6, Decl. exh. 3, Dual-Tray Vertical Lift Modules for Fast Order Picking at 1.  Warehouse picking is one of the most costly and time consuming activities in a warehouse, in part because it often requires a picker to travel throughout the warehouse aisles to retrieve each separate item in an order.  Id.  Warehousing small objects can compound these costs because small objects are often stored in pallets that occupy a high volume of space.  Id.  One method warehouses use to reduce the space, picking time, and costs associated with small items is the creation of a fixed storage system that houses a multitude of different small items allowing a picker to retrieve numerous items while remaining in one location--referred to as a static solution.  Id. at 2. Vertical lift module storage systems are one type of static solution.  Id. Vertical lift module storage systems consist of a storage column in which small items are stored in extractable trays.  AR, Tab 6, Decl. exh. 3, Dual-Tray Vertical Lift Modules for Fast Order Picking at 2.  The systems have computer-operated powered mechanisms that travel throughout the column to retrieve the extractable trays and deliver them to a work station from which a picker operates the mechanism and can access the items in each tray then return the trays to storage within the unit.  Id.  As the name implies, these systems also maximize the use of vertical space, which can further reduce costs. As relevant to the protest, the RFQ requires quoted vertical lift module storage systems to be capable of providing “automatic tray delivery . . . external to the sheet metal machine enclosure in a dual (upper and lower) level tray configuration”--i.e., external dual tray delivery.  SOW at 17.  Specifically, the RFQ requires quoted units to be capable of being programmed by a picker with a list of storage trays “in queue,” and continuously having three trays from the queue in simultaneous rotation, with two of the trays being outside the frame of the unit.  See id.