[Protest of GSA Bid Rejection]

A firm protested the rejection of its bid under a General Services Administration (GSA) solicitation for storage racks, contending that GSA: (1) should cancel the solicitation and issue a new one to reflect only its minimum needs; and (2) improperly conducted negotiations with the manufacturer of the preferred product before it issued the solicitation. GAO held that: (1) the protester provided no information to demonstrate that its product was the equal of that required; (2) the protester provided no information to demonstrate that the solicitation did not reflect the agency's minimum needs; (3) the portion of the protest pertaining to the solicitation specifications was untimely filed because GAO did not receive the protest before bid opening; and (4) the protester was not prejudiced by any actions taken by GSA before the solicitation was issued because the agency's contact with the manufacturer was limited to verifying that the product specifications were current. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed.