---
title: "The Provision Of 128 DUNE APA Stainless Steel Frames"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-02f23f"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02f23f"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02f23f.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02f23f.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION"
published: "2022-01-14"
---

# The Provision Of 128 DUNE APA Stainless Steel Frames

Buyer: UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-02f23f

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## Summary

The procurement process is conducted by UK Research and Innovation for the supply of 128 DUNE APA Stainless Steel Frames, classified under the goods category with a focus on frames and steel. This open tender is currently in the award stage, having reached a completion status. The contract, valued at approximately £2,497,244, was awarded on 10 January 2022, with an expected timeline for frame deliveries beginning in early 2022 and extending through October 2025. The delivery location is Warrington, and the procurement method is an open procedure.

This tender presents significant growth opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly those with expertise in manufacturing stainless steel frames and related engineering capabilities. Companies that can meet stringent quality criteria—90% quality and 10% cost in the award criteria—will find this contract aligns well with their services, especially in sectors involving complex assembly and inspection processes. The need for thorough qualification checks and ongoing communications about manufacturing progress highlights avenues for businesses to engage and establish long-term partnerships in high-tech engineering projects.

## Notice

The DUNE Anode Plane Assemblies (APAs) will form the major part of the DUNE far site detector. We are finishing the prototype APAs for installation in a cryostat at CERN and preparing for the full production run of up to 128 APAs. The APAs are composed of large stainless steel metal frames and made of thousands of turns of wire, roughly 24 kilometres for each APA. It's an engineering challenge to wind the wire around the frames and build the wire chambers. A fully assembled frame is expected 'in spec' with all the associated documents or 'doc pack' including material certificates, ITP (Inspection Test plan), mechanical inspections, NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) etc. Full qualification (inspection) by ourselves will be needed in the first batch of two frames. This will include visual inspection, an inspection of holes and machined parts and welding quality. The company will allow us access to do these qualification checks.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Your company will be asked to manufacture up to 128 APA frames by October 2025. The first two APA frames should be assembled, inspected and shipped to Daresbury by 31st January 2022, the following 6 to be delivered on 28th March, and from then on, 6 frames every 9 weeks. During manufacture, time will be needed to visit the sub-contract companies (if used) and yourselves to carry out inspections. In addition, around half a day per frame will be required to measure the flatness of each frame with our laser tracking system, which is shown in the attached document "8760doc055 Frame planarity testing". Finally, Crane operators and riggers will be needed to fix the APA frame in landscape mode, as shown. Downtime periods of up to two months might be needed. In such a case, the delivery dates for the subsequent batches of frames will be moved by the required time. Each APA frame will have 5 years warranty on the complete assembly. The manufacturer will provide monthly status reports on parts procurement, staffing and manufacture of the frames. When relevant, the report should include the status of the manufacturer's subcontractors. Additional information: To respond to this opportunity please click here: https://ukri.delta-esourcing.com/respond/87X6H4E99Z

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001152-2022 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 14 Jan 2022 |
| Submission deadline | 2 Dec 2021 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 10 Jan 2022 |
| Contract period | 4 Jan 2022 - 31 Oct 2025 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £2,500,000 |
| Lots value | £2,500,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £2,497,244 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | UK RESEARCH AND INNOVATION |
| Locality | SWINDON |
| Post town | Swindon |
| Postcode | SN2 1FL |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| ITL 3 | TLK71 Swindon |
| Local authority | Swindon |
| Electoral ward | Rodbourne Cheney |
| Westminster constituency | Swindon North |
| Delivery location | TLD61 Warrington |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | DURHAM SHEET METAL WORKS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 44 - Construction structures and materials; auxiliary products to construction (except electric apparatus)
- 45 - Construction work

### Codes

- 44142000 - Frames
- 45262680 - Welding

## Release History

- 14 Jan 2022 at 12:15 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001152-2022
- 1 Nov 2021 at 16:15 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027345-2021

## Notice URLs

- https://ukri.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=657457568
- https://ukri.delta-esourcing.com/respond/87X6H4E99Z
- https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Swindon:-Frames./87X6H4E99Z
- https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-title/U4K28E2366
- https://www.ukri.org

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02f23f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02f23f.json.