Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2019-10-18
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL)
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Restricted procedure
CPV classification: 33115000
Estimated value:  GBP
Submission deadline: 2019-11-22
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) have a requirement for the delivery and installation of an Industrial 3D Computed Tomography Scanner with a built-in capability for manipulating and inspecting ammunition or sections of ammunition to generate 3D volumetric x-ray based representations of the item inspected. The complete system consisting of IT related computer hardware and software support will include training, maintenance and commissioning of the equipment at an existing facility based at Dstl Porton Down. The installation of this equipment may require wiring into designated electrical conduits allocated by the authority under the direction and supervision of DSTL personnel. Please note that for security reasons, it might be necessary to restrict installation and maintenance of this equipment to UK Nationals.
This requirement for computed tomography x-ray inspection is over a 3 year contract with 2 additional years for routine maintenance. 3D CT scanners use multiple x-ray images and a reconstruction algorithm to generate a volumetric representation of an object. This scanner will allow operators to identify ammunition components and functionality in a way that enhances their safe evaluation. The 3D CT scanner must comply with or be adapted for use in accordance with UK Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 or Directive 2013/59 Euratom - protection against ionising radiation. Compliance is also required in accordance with Defence Safety Authority (DSA).OME (Ordnance, Munitions and Explosives) Part 2 (JSP 482) Defence Code of Practice or similar relevant equivalent European/International standards and codes of practice. System capabilities will include a stand-alone computer system capable of separately acquiring a current specimen as well as loading, processing and modifying a previously acquired image. Please note that for security reasons, it might be necessary to restrict installation and maintenance of this equipment to UK Nationals. For this requirement, bidders must register as a supplier on the DSTL e-tendering portal, In-Tend at htps://intendhost.co.u/dstl/aspx/Home and then complete the requisite Pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) Part 1 and Part 2. To qualify, potential providers must pass the PQQ, which is designed to evaluate technical and financial capacity and capability. The PQQ will be evaluated in 2 stages: Part 1 will consist of pass/fail questions and Part 2 will consist of project specific questions, which will be given a weighted scoring approach of 0 to 5 (with 5 being the highest score). Potential providers who are given a ‘Fail’ marking against any PQQ question or score 0 or 1 against any of the Project questions will result in an automatic exclusion and will not be invited to tender. Where possible, the authority will invite a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 7 potential providers to ITT. Potential providers will be ranked in order of the weighted score achieved at Part 2 of the PQQ Project Questions combined with passing all other elements of the PQQ criteria.
If a group of economic operators submits a bid, the group must nominate a lead organisation to deal with the authority. The authority shall require the group to form a legal entity before entering into the contract.
The authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a security aspects letter), the authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies, or otherwise.
The authority will apply all the offences listed in Article 39(1) of Directive 2009/81/EC (implemented as Regulation 23(1) of the Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations (DSPCR) 2011 in the UK) and all of the professional misconducts listed at Article 39(2) of Directive 2009/81/EC (see also Regulation 23(2) in the DSPCR 2011) to the decision of whether a candidate is eligible to be invited to tender.
A full list of the Regulation 23(1) and 23(2) criteria are at http://www.contracts.mod.uk/delta/project/reasonsForExclusion.html#dspr
Candidates will be required to sign a declaration confirming whether they do or do not have any of the listed criteria as part of the pre-qualification process.
Candidates who have been convicted of any of the offences under Article 39(1) are ineligible and will not be selected to bid, unless there are overriding requirements in the general interest (including defence and security factors) for doing so.
Candidates who are guilty of any of the offences, circumstances or misconduct under Article 39(2) may be excluded from being selected to bid at the discretion of the authority.
Envisaged maximum number of 7 qualified and where possible a minimum of 3 qualified potential providers will receive formal ITT. The authority reserves the right to invite more than 7 bidders to proceed to the ITT stage. Interested suppliers are required to complete the pre-qualification questionnaire to provide the authority with information to evaluate the supplier's capacity and capability against the selection criteria. The authority will use the PQQ to create a shortlist of tenderers who: are eligible to participate, fulfil any minimum economic, financial and technical standards and best meet, in terms of capacity and capability the selection criteria set out in this notice and the PQQ. Further details of the method for choosing the tenderers is set out in the PQQ.
Electronic Trading: Potential suppliers must note the mandatory requirement for electronic trading using the contracting, purchasing and finance (CP&F) electronic procurement. DSTL does not currently have an e-procurement system, but use business management software called Integrated Corporate Application System (iCAS) to support procurement. A cyber security risk assessment for this requirement has been carried out and returned a risk level of very low risk (REF: RAR-HBU25W9X. Potential providers are therefore required to maintain a cyber essentials scheme certification in order to comply. The contracting authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement.
Advertising Regime OJEU: this contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk
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