Protest of Army Determination That Competitor's Proposal Was Acceptable

Guardian Electric Manufacturing Company requested reconsideration of a decision in which GAO denied its protest concerning the Army's determination tmpetitor's technical proposal was susceptible of being made acceptable, and therefore qualified for discussions under step one of a two-step formally advertised procurement. Under the procurement for two configurations of a grip assembly for use in Black Hawk and Cobra Army helicopters, the low bidder's initial proposal was technically unacceptable because it did not provide access to the switch assemblies and proposed to mold the grips from an unacceptable material. Guardian argued that the proposal should have been rejected rather than classified as "reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable." GAO held that in a highly technical procurement of a complex item, the Army's technical evaluators may determine whether a product will satisfy the Army's needs. The experimental and flexible nature of two-step formal advertising allows for the initiation of creative and experimental engineering approaches in the solving of complex technical matters. The request for reconsideration was dismissed. In addition, it was noted that the request for reconsideration was untimely. When the GAO decision was received by Guardian Electric Manufacturing Company, the protester filed a telegram within 7 days indicating disagreement with the GAO decision and promising to send details later. The detailed statement of the protester's grounds for reconsideration, however, did not arrive within the 10 day time period as required.