BRAND_NAME_JUSTIFICATION.pdf

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

1. Description of the brand name requirement:

This procurement is for the purchase of additional isolation input modules for expansion of an existing High-Speed Data Acquisition System for measuring and recording temperature and electrical signals from electrical equipment exposed to fires. There are many equipment requirements, detailed in the specifications, that are needed to accomplish the isolation. The requirements include the ability to be installed into the existing Dataforth equipment that NIST already owns. The isolation module specifications and compatibility with existing equipment drive the need for sole source (a single small business equipment manufacturer [Dataforth], available from Dataforth or resellers).

2. The reason the requirement is a brand name:

NIST currently owns several Dataforth backpanels (backbones) that can each be populated with up to 8 input/output modules. The backpanels are not fully populated with modules, and more data acquisition channels can be added by installing more modules. The modules purchased must be fully compatible with the existing Dataforth backpanels, modules, and equipment already owned and in service. This includes an existing stock of Dataforth backpanels and input / output modules. The market research report determined that the only equipment manufacturer that could meet the requirements of the isolated input modules was Dataforth. Other manufacturer equipment is incapable of installation into the backpanel module slots of the existing Dataforth equipment.

3. The importance of the brand name requirement and the reason no other brand name can meet the requirement:

During market research, no other equipment manufacturer other than Dataforth was found that had the capability of providing isolation input modules that were installable into NIST’s existing Dataforth equipment already owned and in service.

If Dataforth brand name equipment cannot be purchased, an additional isolation system would need to be acquired. The existing data acquisition system would need to be re-engineered, modified, and reprogrammed to operate with a different isolation system. Hardware failures occur periodically during electrical fire experiments. Hardware interchangeability allows for the reduction or elimination of experimental schedule delays. At the current experimental location, the cost of a one day delay at the off-site facility is approximately $10,000 per day for the test facility alone, not including electrical contractor and government personnel labor and expenses.

4. The negative impact of not procuring the brand name requirement:

The immediate negative effect of not procuring the requirement will be the costs necessary for re-engineering and fabrication of the isolation module section of the data acquisition system. In addition to different modules, different backpanels would be required, which would result in the need to rewire the isolation equipment and data acquisition system. Multiple, non-similar, systems would need to work in tandem, introducing experimental issues with data synchronization, event triggers, and data analysis.

There would be the costs of labor to re-engineer and fabricate a new system and months of delays that would likely push OA project milestones beyond the end date of the OA funding.