Published date: 9 January 2024

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 30 January 2024, 12pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses) - 38000000

Location of contract

Any region

Value of contract

£30,000

Procurement reference

CF-0216900D8d000003VQwdEAG

Published date

9 January 2024

Closing date

30 January 2024

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

20 February 2024

Contract end date

19 February 2027

Contract type

Supply contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (below threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements below the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

No


Description

Cefas require provision of a carousel-rotary style tissue processor, with the following specifications:

1. Capable of processing between 100 and 200 specimens housed in Tissue cassettes.
2. Electrical Configurations 120V, 60Hz, AC and work with appropriate type A, B or C plugs.
3. A fume control system is required to eliminate harmful fumes. Ideally there will be a facility to fit a carbon filter. 4x Spare filters should be included as part of the bundle. There must be a facility to easily buy replacement filters.
4. Ideally 8 or more reagent stations. These must be resistant to xylene and alcohol. Each station must be easily removed and cleanable. If the stations are considered as additional consumables, these must be included in the quotation.
5. At least 3 heated wax stations.
6. Built-in specimen basket agitation and/or reagent mixing facilities.
7. An integrated computer control system with a keypad and display.
8. Ideally a method of recoding faults so that engineers can be made aware of issues by sending logs or error codes.
9. Ability to programme user defined processing schedules, and there must be a memory cache to allow for multiple programs to be saved on the instrument.
10. Pre-set programs available to use, as well as free editing of station parameters such as mixing, immersion time, drip time (to avoid reagent carry over), and temperature control for wax baths.
11. The capacity to inform the user of the status of the instrument programmes with the following parameters:
• Adjustable start time and delayed start time adjustable as required by the user.
• Total program run time, predicted end time must be displayed on demand.
• Ideally multiple baskets could be processed at the same time and for these to be detailed on the display so the progress and end time can be checked for each basket.
• Audible alarms, error messages and warning codes for when paraffin wax is un-melted and in solid state. In addition, automatic reheating of wax before basket is transferred to a wax bath.
• Warning and alarms if the power has been lost or if there has been a fault.
• Manual operation and overrides are essential.
• A battery backup to allow for power outages and retaining of instrument memory. Please include in quotation if this is not supplied as standard.
• Ability to remove specimens from the instrument if there is a mains or battery failure.
• Failsafe conditions such as automatic immersion of tissue basket in a station, in case of mains power failure.
12. If an uninterrupted power supply device is required to use the equipment, please specify and include in quotation.
13. All required leads and connectors must be included.
On-site installation and training
• Installation on-site is a requirement to tender.
Download the Bidder Pack at https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome and search for CEFAS24-05 under opportunities.


About the buyer

Contact name

Laura Anderson

Address

Pakefield Road
Lowestoft
NR33 0HT
GB

Email

procure@cefas.gov.uk