Protest Alleging That RFP Amendment Contained Unnecessarily Short Delivery Schedule

A company protested the award of a contract, alleging solicitation impropreties in that the delivery schedule was unnecessarily short and was designed to favor a competing offeror. Due to urgency for the item being procured, the agency established an accelerated delivery date and did not consider nonconforming proposals. The protester's proposal did not conform, but the protester contended that the accelerated delivery schedule was not a valid requirement and that its proposal should not have been rejected. Since the basis of the protest was apparent, but the protest was not filed prior to the closing date for receipt of proposals, it was untimely and the merits were not considered.