Case study · U.S. higher education / SLED

Macomb Community College — RFQ Q1971

An AV equipment solicitation with strict pass/fail criteria, mandatory authorized-reseller requirements and 90+ competing firms. AppsGenii decoded it clause-by-clause, audited compliance, benchmarked pricing and delivered a submission-ready package to a U.S. prime — under NDA, in 72 hours.

Awarding body

Macomb Community College

Location

Warren, Michigan

NAICS

334310

Service

Bid & tender intelligence (NDA)

0 h
Package delivered
0
Line items decoded
0
Compliance points
0
Risks mitigated

The challenge

RFQ Q1971 carried strict pass/fail criteria, mandatory authorized-reseller requirements and disqualification language for incomplete forms. One missing field, one wrong part number or one omitted email address was enough to invalidate an otherwise competitive bid — regardless of price.

Our approach

AppsGenii applied its SLED intelligence methodology: clause-by-clause analysis, a 22-point compliance audit, competitive pricing benchmarking against national government resellers, a full risk register and a dual-recipient submission protocol — all under NDA.

The outcome

The U.S. prime received a fully submission-ready package: SOW decode, compliance checklist, benchmarked pricing structure, risk register, cover-email draft and pre-send go/no-go checklist — eliminating every identified disqualification risk before a single document was signed.

Statement of work

Six line items. Zero margin for error.

Exact manufacturer part numbers are mandatory. A single incorrect character on any line constitutes a non-responsive bid.
QTY BRAND PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION AWARD RISK
1 ScreenBeam SBWD1100PADMIN3Y 1100 Plus Wireless Video/Audio extender — mandatory 3-year Admin Tools subscription, bundled at quote Standard
5 Extron 60-1493-21 DXP 44 HD 4K Plus — 4×4 HDMI matrix switcher, 4K/60Hz, primary AV distribution High Value
2 Extron 42-255-01 VLM 3001 Pendant VoiceLift mic — US/CAN version explicitly mandatory Standard
2 Extron 26-660-02 VoiceLift adapter — companion to the VLM 3001 Standard
6 Extron 60-1773-53 DTP3 R 301 HDMI — 4K/60Hz HDBaseT receiver, rated to 330 ft High Value
6 Extron 60-1773-52 DTP3 T 301 HDMI — 4K/60Hz HDBaseT transmitter, rated to 330 ft High Value
High-value lines (60-1493-21, 60-1773-53, 60-1773-52) carry the majority of contract value and were priced aggressively at line level for the split-award scenario.
Evaluation intelligence

How the award gets made.

No weighted scoring matrix is published. Based on clause analysis and the college’s procurement posture, we mapped the decision hierarchy.
# EVALUATION FACTOR TYPE DECISION INTELLIGENCE
1 Authorized reseller + spec compliance Pass/Fail Hard gate. Non-responsive regardless of price — manufacturer authorization must be confirmed in writing before submission.
2 Price — per line + grand total + shipping Primary The primary award driver. Awarded by individual item — a competitor cheaper on Items 2, 5 or 6 wins those lines in a split-award even at a higher grand total.
3 Delivery ARO — FOB Warren, MI Evaluated Shorter ARO improves selection head-to-head. Late delivery activates a 10% liquidated-damages clause per item.
4 Both forms completed & signed Pass/Fail Price sheet and contact form are both mandatory; signature must bind the company to the quoted price.
5 Payment terms on contact form Pass/Fail Explicitly required — omission may disqualify. This is where bids have historically been lost at this college.
6 Dual-email submission Mandatory Both recipients in a single email's To: field — not two separate emails — with read receipt requested.
What we delivered

Six deliverables. One submission-ready package.

01 · Full SOW decode

Every part number cross-checked against live Extron and ScreenBeam catalogs — active-production status, US/CAN variant and mandatory subscription bundling all verified within 48 hours of deadline.

02 · 22-point compliance audit

All nine RFQ conditions mapped to specific submission actions with pass/fail determinations — payment terms, ARO and dual-email protocol all verified.

03 · Pricing framework & benchmark

Price-sheet structure built and benchmarked against CDW Government, World Wide Technology and GovConnection education tiers, with line-level pricing for high-value items.

04 · Submission pack

Cover-email draft with correct subject line and dual recipients, file-naming convention, document assembly order and a 22-item pre-send checklist.

05 · Evaluation map

Six award factors ranked by real decision weight, with split-award risk mapped at each high-value line.

06 · Risk register

Twelve risks identified with likelihood, impact and a named mitigation per item — every disqualification risk closed out.

Our methodology

AppsGenii SLED Intelligence.
Applied precisely.

We don’t just read a solicitation — we decode it. Five phases, every requirement explicit.
01

Procurement office intelligence

We read the purchasing posture first. A sole-contact rule, a liquidated-damages clause and a strict reseller gate tell us exactly what the evaluators are protecting against — and we design the submission to address each concern.

02

Clause-by-clause structural analysis

Every condition mapped to a specific submission action with a pass/fail determination. Nothing is inferred from context — every requirement is explicit.

03

Technical specification verification

Part numbers verified against current manufacturer catalogs within 48 hours of submission — regional variants and subscription bundling confirmed.

04

Competitive pricing intelligence

Benchmarked against national government resellers with split-award analysis confirming each line must be priced independently — not optimized only at the grand total.

05

Submission engineering

Complete pack built: cover email, dual-recipient routing, file naming, assembly order and a 22-item go/no-go checklist — with a 30-minute submission buffer baked in.

Prepared by AppsGenii Technologies under mutual NDA for an authorized U.S. prime contractor. The prime’s identity is confidential. Macomb Community College is named as the public awarding body only — AppsGenii is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Macomb Community College.

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