$5.91 billion per minute
When you’re submitting a bid to replace the KC-X aerial refueling tanker at $29.55 billion for 179 airplanes, every second counts. Literally and figuratively. Unfortunately when your bid is 5 minutes late and is disqualified, it works out to $5.91 billion per minute. That’s what allegedly happened to Los Angeles-based US Aerospace and its Ukrainian partner Antonov.
Bids were due at 2 p.m. EST at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio on July 9. According to US Aerospace, the company’s messenger arrived at the Air Force base at 1:30 pm and was denied entry, given bad directions, and told to wait by Air Force personnel. The Air Force stamped the proposal received at 2:05 pm. US Aerospace was notified July 22 that the company’s bid was late and would not be considered as part of the source selection.
The US Aerospace/Antonov team has filed a formal protest with the Government Accountability Office. According to the GAO, “…bidders or others interested in government procurements may have reason to believe that a contract has been, or is about to be, awarded improperly or illegally, or that they have been unfairly denied a contract or an opportunity to compete for a contract.” The bid protest process does not address programmatic issues such as whether the KC-X tanker program is needed or whether US Aerospace’s proposal is better, but rather, were the procurement rules followed. The US Aerospace team filed a protest (File # 403464.1) on August 2, 2010 and a decision is due October 6, 2010.
According to Aviation Week, at issue is when the US Air Force took control of the proposal documents submitted by US Aerospace. Was it when the messenger stepped on the base? The GAO will sort through the sequence of events.
Skilled in business development, proposal experts stress the importance of following the prospect’s submittal rules, however crazy those rules may be to everyone else. Getting disqualified because the submittal failed to meet the basic administrative requirements is every proposal specialist’s worst (and avoidable) nightmare. If they ask for a ‘soft-sided’ binder, then you should make sure you go out and find a soft-sided binder for your proposal. If they want the proposal delivered to Hawaii on a Monday before noon, then you need to make alternative arrangements because no delivery service will guarantee it before 5pm.
In government procurement, some rules are not meant to be broken. Good luck, however, to the US Aerospace/Antonov bid. Increased competition will only make the troubled KC-X tanker procurement process better in the long run.
