BNUMBER:  B-256014.4 
DATE:  October 24, 1994
TITLE:  Magnum Products, Inc.

**********************************************************************

Matter of:Magnum Products, Inc.

File:     B-265604

Date:     

Thomas Joseph for the protester.
Octavia R. Johnson, Esq., and Granette A. Trent, Esq., Department of 
Justice, for the agency.
Jeanne W. Isrin, Esq., and David A. Ashen, Esq., Office of the General 
Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.

DIGEST

Requirement that generators have an individual line harmonic 
distortion of less than 5 percent is not unduly restrictive of 
competition where the record demonstrates that the requirement, which 
is based on a military specification, represents a reasonable 
judgement as to the agency's minimum needs.

DECISION

Magnum Products, Inc. protests provisions of request for proposals 
(RFP) No. IPI-R-0337-95, issued by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 
Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (UNICOR), for diesel engine-driven, 
6-kilowatt engine-generator sets.   

We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part.

The engine-generator sets are being procured for the Air Force to 
replace its existing engine-generators which power NF-2D floodlight 
assembly carts.  The solicitation requirements were developed (1) to 
remedy  reliability and support problems, including engine generator 
failures, with the Air Force's current NF-2D floodlight assemblies, 
and (2) to refurbish the floodlight cart assemblies in such a manner 
that they could be used not only for the originally intended purpose 
of illuminating a makeshift air landing strip, but also to 
simultaneously serve as a portable power source for the operation of 
sensitive electronic test equipment and other electrical equipment.  
The solicitation, as amended, contemplated a 2-year, firm, 
fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to 
supply a minimum of 1,200 and a maximum of 2,035 engine-generator sets 
per year. 

Magnum objects to the specification requirements with respect to the 
maximum permitted harmonic line distortion of the generator, which 
essentially is a way of measuring distortion in the voltage put out by 
a generator.  The RFP requires that the generator have an individual 
line harmonic distortion of less than 5 percent and a total (average 
from line-to-line) harmonic distortion of less than 10 percent.  
Magnum maintains that its generator, which has an individual line 
harmonic distortion of 7.2 percent and a total harmonic distortion of 
8 percent, should suffice to meet the Air Force's requirements.  
According to the protester, equipment powered by the engine-generator 
sets will not be affected by harmonic distortion until the distortion 
exceeds 10 percent.

Where a protester challenges a solicitation provision as unduly 
restrictive, we review the record to determine whether the restriction 
imposed is reasonably related to the agency's minimum needs.  Coastal 
Computer Consultants Corp., B-253359, Sept. 7, 1993, 93-2 CPD  155.  
The harmonic distortion requirement meets this standard.

UNICOR explains that the restriction on individual line harmonic 
distortion is based on the fact that military specification 
MIL-T-28800D--which includes the restriction--governs the procurement 
of most Air Force electrical equipment and electronic test equipment.  
That specification requires that equipment procured be manufactured to 
operate and maintain its specified performance and accuracy 
notwithstanding input power variations of not greater than 10-percent 
total harmonic distortion and 5-percent individual line harmonic 
distortion.  According to the agency, allowing greater distortion not 
only could prevent test equipment from operating as required, but also 
may cause lamps to strobe or flicker, reduce the life expectancy of 
equipment (due to higher peak voltages), and produce radio frequency 
interference. 

The agency has reasonably supported the requirement.  While UNICOR 
concedes (and as we gather from the record) that it is not possible to 
conclude with certainty that relaxing the harmonic distortion 
restriction would have an immediate adverse impact on the equipment, 
the 5- and 10-percent restrictions represent the government's best 
judgement as to where the line should be drawn in gauging how much 
distortion should be permitted.  There has been no showing that these 
numbers were developed by the military arbitrarily--indeed, they 
reportedly are the result of testing by the Department of Defense, 
consultation with outside engineering consultants, and the performance 
of equipment meeting the specification.  Neither has Magnum 
demonstrated that there is another proven standard upon which the 
agency reasonably should have based the requirement.   Under these 
circumstances, there is no basis for us to take exception to the 
distortion requirement.

Magnum challenges several other aspects of the RFP, including, for 
example, the adequacy of the amount of time permitted for proposal 
submission.  In view of our conclusion above, however, these protest 
grounds are not for consideration.  Under our Bid Protest Regulations, 
only an "interested party" may pursue a protest; that is, a protester 
must be an actual or prospective offeror whose direct economic 
interest would be affected by the award of a contract or the failure 
to award a contract.  4 C.F.R.  21.0(a) and 21.1(a) (1995).  Here, 
Magnum states that the engine-generator set it will offer has 
individual line harmonic distortion of 7.2-percent, and thus will not 
meet the less than 5-percent distortion requirement.  Magnum therefore 
is not a prospective offeror which would be eligible for award, and is 
not an interested party to pursue these other protest grounds.  See 
H.L. Bouton Co., Inc., B-256014.4, Oct. 24, 1994, 94-2 CPD  149. 

The protest is denied in part and dismissed in part.

Comptroller General
of the United States