Official UK procurement notice
RACE - Laser welding trials
Authority: United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionRACE has been investigating laser welding and carried out trials of its own design of laser
welding equipment in 2018. It has just completed a second iteration of the design to implement improvements (higher power output, more reliability) and a similar set of trials to the 2018 work needs to be carried out to verify the design. RACE does not have the equipment and expertise to test internally.
The services, facilities and support needed are:
- Laser test facilities (Safety cell, laser power source, robot, measurement equipment)
- Technician support to run experiments
- Guidance on welding setup and parameters
- Analysis of welds
- Interpretation of welds and expert opinion
CPV: Technical testing, analysis and consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1RACE has been investigating laser welding and carried out trials of its own design of…Awarded
RACE has been investigating laser welding and carried out trials of its own design of laser
welding equipment in 2018. It has just completed a second iteration of the design to
implement improvements (higher power output, more reliability) and a similar set of trials to the 2018 work needs to be carried out to verify the design. RACE does not have the equipment and expertise to test internally.
The services, facilities and support needed are:
- Laser test facilities (Safety cell, laser power source, robot, measurement equipment)
- Technician support to run experiments
- Guidance on welding setup and parameters
- Analysis of welds
- Interpretation of welds and expert opinion
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 26 Oct 2022, 13:37 BST
- Last source update
- 26 Oct 2022, 13:37 BST
- Authority reference
JNCA/PJP110/22- FTS notice number
2022/S 000-030188- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-037c53Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
The RACE laser welding head is an evolution of the previous design that was tested at TWI. Only part of the design has needed to be changed. Testing at a different supplier is likely to require redesign of the interfacing components, requiring allocation of more resource and increasing design and management costs.
Various adaptors and ancillary components are needed to connect the laser welding head,
having previously tested with them, we already have the equipment needed to operate at TWI.
The costs to change to supplier are estimated around the £1500-£2000 mark, assuming the
safety provisions, control systems etc. are identical to TWI. This amount of money was found to be the difference between suppliers in the original selection of TWI.
Core to value for money being achieved through TWI is their previous involvement in this project. Because of this they have a good understanding of the projects aims and of UKAEA’s needs. Additionally, TWI have already demonstrated that they are capable of performing the results needed to fulfil this type of testing, by completion of the previous set of trials.
TWI have the necessary expertise, equipment and analysis ability required to provide useful
insights into the performance of the welding head and the quality of the welds produced, all under one roof. Alternate facilities, for example at an academic institution, would not have this level of knowledge in-house.
In addition to this, keeping the supplier consistent between the trials will ensure consistency in
the results collected. This will make direct comparison easier, which is necessary to show the
effectiveness of improvements in the design.
- Review procedure
VI.4.2)Body responsible for mediation procedures
VI.4.3)Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
The authority will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers.
This period allows unsuccessful tenderers to seek further debriefing from the authority before a contract is entered into applicants have 2 working days from the notification of the award decision to request. Additional debriefing and that information have to be provided within a minimum of 3 working days before the expiry of the standstill period. Such additional information should be sought from the contact named in this notice.
If an appeal regarding the award of a contract has not been successfully resolved, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No. 102) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by a breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Any such action must be brought promptly.
(generally within 3 months).
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| TWI LimitedLaser welding trials | — | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Laser welding trials · TWI Limited
- Signed
- 25 Oct 2022
- Value
- —
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | £28,122 – £28,122 |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- UK Atomic Energy AuthorityMediation bodyReview bodyReview contact point
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- TWI LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.