Award

178,651.90

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

03 Feb 2023 at 12:10

Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Defence has completed the procurement process for the supply of Agilent Cytation automated digital fluorescence/luminescence microscopes. The contracting authority is Ministry of Defence, based in Salisbury, United Kingdom. The procurement falls under the "goods" category and utilised a limited Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. The contract, worth £178,651.90, was signed on 3rd February 2023.

This tender presents a business opportunity for suppliers in the microscopy industry, particularly those experienced in providing automated digital fluorescence/luminescence microscopes. The procurement method, being limited and awarding based on lowest price, signifies a focus on cost-effectiveness and quality. Businesses with expertise in supplying such specialised equipment and meeting the specific scientific requirements outlined in the technical rationale of the procurement document would be well-suited to compete in this tender.

Find more tenders on our Open Data Platform.
How relevant is this notice?

D3 Tenders Premium

Win More Public Sector Contracts

AI-powered tender discovery, pipeline management, and market intelligence — everything you need to grow your public sector business.

Notice Title

178,651.90

Notice Description

Supply of Agilent Cytation automated digital fluorescence/luminescence upright and inverted microscope with incubator and robot arm

Lot Information

Lot 1

Supply of Agilent Cytation automated digital fluorescence/luminescence upright and inverted microscope with incubator and robot arm

Procurement Information

Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication subject to Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication for Technical Reasons under PCR, Regulation 32(5)(b) The reasons can be broken down into four areas: Complexity All manufacturers have proprietary software to run their machines and analyse resultant images. It is necessary that the intended new system use the same management and image analysis software as our extant system. This type of equipment is intended to provide high quality images of complex microscopic items and undertake complex image analysis to extract quantitative information. Human interpretation of the image is subjective, and the image analysis software is required to remove subjectivity. The management software components (different from the image analysis components) are required to automate the system to take images without the operator present, including images of the same exact microscopic location in a sample dish and locating the correct plane in which to focus to provide sequential images for the analysis software components. All components of the software are complex and require both specialist training (2-3 days) to familiarise, and frequent use (on at least a weekly basis) to reinforce, develop and maintain expertise. It is imperative for this reason that the new system be compatible with the existing system, to ensure that users do not have to learn and maintain expertise across two systems. The new system will be placed in a different biological containment environment to the extant system. This provides a further challenge for maintaining expertise across two different systems, as specialist users do not spend equal amounts of time in the two environments. Scientific rigour Dstl already operates an Agilent Cytation microscope running Agilent's proprietary Gen5 software. Multiple fluorescent signals are stimulated with specific wavelength light sources and detected with specific wavelength light sensors that are built into the system. Experiments at Dstl are designed specifically for these stimulation and detection optics, making and using cell lines and reagents that match the specifications of the system. A different system will have different specifications. Where these are similar to those of Agilent, they are likely to be slightly different in terms of wavelengths for stimulation and detection. This will mean a system from a different manufacturer may give a different result. Where the margins between samples are fine, small differences in image data resulting from differences in stimulation and detection optics have the potential to combine with different analysis software to confound the experiments. As the two systems are required to give consistency of data across different biological containment environments, it is a requirement they use the same fluorescence stimulator and detection optics. Redundancy The stimulation and detection optics for fluorescence microscopy are user-removable components of the Agilent system. This means that if an optical component in one machine fails, it can be replaced by the user, with a component from the sister machine. This is a significant advantage to Dstl, where experiments in high containment environments are expensive and are often undertaken on a tight schedule. The ability to rapidly (i.e. same day) replace an optical component in a high containment environment with an identical component from a sister machine in the low containment environment will be a significant advantage.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-03a2bb
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/003404-2023
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

38 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)


CPV Codes

38510000 - Microscopes

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£178,651 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
3 Feb 20233 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
3 Feb 20233 years ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
cbrcommercial@dstl.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
SALISBURY
Postcode
SP4 0JQ
Post Town
Salisbury
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK72 Wiltshire
Delivery Location
TLK South West (England)

Local Authority
Wiltshire
Electoral Ward
Winterslow & Upper Bourne Valley
Westminster Constituency
Salisbury

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-03a2bb-2023-02-03T12:10:24Z",
    "date": "2023-02-03T12:10:24Z",
    "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-03a2bb",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "tender": {
        "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-03a2bb",
        "legalBasis": {
            "id": "32009L0081",
            "scheme": "CELEX"
        },
        "title": "178,651.90",
        "status": "complete",
        "classification": {
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "id": "38510000",
            "description": "Microscopes"
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "goods",
        "description": "Supply of Agilent Cytation automated digital fluorescence/luminescence upright and inverted microscope with incubator and robot arm",
        "lots": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "description": "Supply of Agilent Cytation automated digital fluorescence/luminescence upright and inverted microscope with incubator and robot arm",
                "awardCriteria": {
                    "criteria": [
                        {
                            "type": "price",
                            "name": "Lowest price"
                        }
                    ]
                },
                "hasOptions": false
            }
        ],
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "additionalClassifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "38510000",
                        "description": "Microscopes"
                    }
                ],
                "deliveryAddresses": [
                    {
                        "region": "UKK"
                    }
                ],
                "deliveryLocation": {
                    "description": "SALISBURY"
                },
                "relatedLot": "1"
            }
        ],
        "procurementMethod": "limited",
        "procurementMethodDetails": "Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition",
        "procurementMethodRationaleClassifications": [
            {
                "scheme": "TED_PT_AWARD_CONTRACT_WITHOUT_CALL",
                "id": "D_SERVICES_LISTED",
                "description": "The contract has as its object services listed in Annex II B to the directive"
            }
        ],
        "procurementMethodRationale": "Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication subject to Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication for Technical Reasons under PCR, Regulation 32(5)(b) The reasons can be broken down into four areas: Complexity All manufacturers have proprietary software to run their machines and analyse resultant images. It is necessary that the intended new system use the same management and image analysis software as our extant system. This type of equipment is intended to provide high quality images of complex microscopic items and undertake complex image analysis to extract quantitative information. Human interpretation of the image is subjective, and the image analysis software is required to remove subjectivity. The management software components (different from the image analysis components) are required to automate the system to take images without the operator present, including images of the same exact microscopic location in a sample dish and locating the correct plane in which to focus to provide sequential images for the analysis software components. All components of the software are complex and require both specialist training (2-3 days) to familiarise, and frequent use (on at least a weekly basis) to reinforce, develop and maintain expertise. It is imperative for this reason that the new system be compatible with the existing system, to ensure that users do not have to learn and maintain expertise across two systems. The new system will be placed in a different biological containment environment to the extant system. This provides a further challenge for maintaining expertise across two different systems, as specialist users do not spend equal amounts of time in the two environments. Scientific rigour Dstl already operates an Agilent Cytation microscope running Agilent's proprietary Gen5 software. Multiple fluorescent signals are stimulated with specific wavelength light sources and detected with specific wavelength light sensors that are built into the system. Experiments at Dstl are designed specifically for these stimulation and detection optics, making and using cell lines and reagents that match the specifications of the system. A different system will have different specifications. Where these are similar to those of Agilent, they are likely to be slightly different in terms of wavelengths for stimulation and detection. This will mean a system from a different manufacturer may give a different result. Where the margins between samples are fine, small differences in image data resulting from differences in stimulation and detection optics have the potential to combine with different analysis software to confound the experiments. As the two systems are required to give consistency of data across different biological containment environments, it is a requirement they use the same fluorescence stimulator and detection optics. Redundancy The stimulation and detection optics for fluorescence microscopy are user-removable components of the Agilent system. This means that if an optical component in one machine fails, it can be replaced by the user, with a component from the sister machine. This is a significant advantage to Dstl, where experiments in high containment environments are expensive and are often undertaken on a tight schedule. The ability to rapidly (i.e. same day) replace an optical component in a high containment environment with an identical component from a sister machine in the low containment environment will be a significant advantage."
    },
    "awards": [
        {
            "id": "003404-2023-RQ0000022553-1",
            "relatedLots": [
                "1"
            ],
            "title": "Supply of Agilent Cytation automated digital fluorescence/luminescence upright and inverted microscope with incubator and robot arm",
            "status": "active",
            "hasSubcontracting": true,
            "suppliers": [
                {
                    "id": "GB-FTS-74490",
                    "name": "Agilent Technologies LDA UK Limited"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-FTS-74400",
            "name": "Ministry of Defence",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "Ministry of Defence"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "DSTL Porton Down",
                "locality": "SALISBURY",
                "region": "UKK",
                "postalCode": "SP4 0JQ",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "email": "cbrcommercial@dstl.gov.uk"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ],
            "details": {
                "url": "https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/defence-science-and-technology-laboratory",
                "classifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "TED_CA_TYPE",
                        "id": "MINISTRY",
                        "description": "Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions"
                    },
                    {
                        "scheme": "COFOG",
                        "id": "02",
                        "description": "Defence"
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "id": "GB-FTS-74490",
            "name": "Agilent Technologies LDA UK Limited",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "Agilent Technologies LDA UK Limited"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "Lakeside 5500, Cheadle Royal Business Park",
                "locality": "CHEADLE",
                "region": "UKD",
                "postalCode": "SK8 3GR",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom"
            },
            "roles": [
                "supplier"
            ],
            "details": {
                "scale": "large"
            }
        },
        {
            "id": "GB-FTS-74491",
            "name": "DSTL Porton Down",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "DSTL Porton Down"
            },
            "address": {
                "locality": "SALISBURY",
                "postalCode": "SP4 0JQ",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom"
            },
            "roles": [
                "reviewBody"
            ]
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-FTS-74400",
        "name": "Ministry of Defence"
    },
    "contracts": [
        {
            "id": "003404-2023-RQ0000022553-1",
            "awardID": "003404-2023-RQ0000022553-1",
            "title": "Supply of Agilent Cytation automated digital fluorescence/luminescence upright and inverted microscope with incubator and robot arm",
            "status": "active",
            "value": {
                "amount": 178651.9,
                "currency": "GBP"
            },
            "dateSigned": "2023-02-03T00:00:00Z"
        }
    ],
    "bids": {
        "statistics": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "measure": "lowestValidBidValue",
                "value": 178651.9,
                "currency": "GBP"
            },
            {
                "id": "2",
                "measure": "highestValidBidValue",
                "value": 178651.9,
                "currency": "GBP"
            }
        ]
    },
    "language": "en"
}