0084_BNJ Posting.pdf

Version 2.0

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN ORDER/BPA EXCEEDING MICRO-PURCHASE THRESHOLD

AND UP TO THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

(AUTHORITY: FAR 8.405-6)

145027-25-0084 Cables

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), NOAA/OAR/PMEL/OCRD

2. Description of supplies or services required to meet agency needs (including the estimated value). Cables for mapCO2 instrumentation.

3. Identification of the limited source(s) to be solicited. Subconn

4. Authority and supporting rationale. The contracting officer has determined the following circumstance justifies limiting the source under FAR 8.405-6 and as supported below:

Only one source is capable - FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

These cables are deployed in harsh marine environments, which means exposure to corrosive seawater, cold temperatures, and generally very harsh conditions for electronic components.

Ocean Innovations has provided quality cables in the past that have performed well in these environments when compared to other manufacturers. These cables are deployed on observation platforms such as surface and subsurface moorings in remote marine locations. These mooring sites often have tens of thousands of dollars-worth of scientific instruments, and require intense energy, hours, and effort to keep operational. The time, effort, and knowledge base required for another manufacturer to design and assemble these cable assemblies would likely lead to long lead times, data loss, and significant pre-deployment testing to ensure cables would withstand field conditions. It also may require mooring redesign, and non-standardized inventories of cables.

Cable assemblies built with Subconn connectors meet the following requirements that other cable assemblies do not:

1) They are fully compatible with existing PMEL instruments that have been designed, built and tested with Subconn connectors.

2) They have been tested in ocean deployments and have met the minimum requirements for reliability.

Item(s) peculiar to one manufacturer (including brand name) - FAR 8.405-6(b)

(Insert PR/RFQ/BPA/Order number, as applicable)

Use of another brand of cable assemblies would result in the following:

1) A redesign of instrument construction and organization to adapt to different cable construction and materials.

2) Rebuild and reassembly of existing instruments to fit the different cable assemblies

3) Additional inventory tracking to ensure compatibility of existing instruments with mixed cable assemblies.

4)The 35+ mooring sites having non-standardized assemblies and less flexibility in repurposing parts and cables across mooring sites, likely leading to longer down time and data loss.

The end caps on these cables use specialized Subconn connectors. Using a different brand connector on the cables could affect the data collection during year(s) long deployments in the harsh marine environments. Failure of these connectors while instruments are deployed could result in damage to the instruments, and the loss of data for long stretches of time as the moorings are in remote locations at sea. Without a Subconn cable connector on these cables, they would lack a proper fit with the Subconn bulkhead connector, causing issues with data loss and potentially degrading cables or instruments.

5. Market Research As specialized cables these are not available from GSA, Ability One, Agency Inventories, Federal Prison Industries, or other Federal Supply Schedules. The cables are available commercially from Ocean Innovations. There are other commercial custom cable manufacturers out there but they are not building and selling these cables with the specialized Subconn connectors. Going with another cable maker would require an expensive learning curve for them to refine their process. During this time the likelihood of cable failures and data loss is very high.

6. Technical/Requirements Representative Certification

I certify that this requirement constitutes the Government’s minimum needs and the supporting data provided herein is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

_____________________________________ __7/23/25_________ Nicholas Azzopardi Date

7. Approval

This justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Approve

(Insert name) Date Contracting Officer

AZZOPARDI.NICHOLAS.JA

MES.1539165093

Digitally signed by

AZZOPARDI.NICHOLAS.JAMES.1539165093

Date: 2025.07.23 15:49:05 -07'00'

CARLSON.BENJAMIN.ALLA

N.1100211722

Digitally signed by

CARLSON.BENJAMIN.ALLAN.1100211722

Date: 2025.08.05 10:05:59 -07'00'