Hard Tissue Microtome

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland_362 ran this procurement for “Hard Tissue Microtome” as an operational contract requiring implementation and sustained service execution. The extracted pack showed qualification-stage material with references to later ITT technical depth; practical activity therefore centred on building, integrating, and operating the specified service stack with compliant reporting and handover obligations where stated. Constituent activities and named work elements in the supplied extracts:

• The tenderer must provide a minimum of one-year full warranty that fully supports all parts
• rer shall be required to supply its Tax Clearance Access Number and Tax Reference Number to facilitate online verification of their tax status by
• [1_CFT TENDER_H2H_Hard Tissue Microtime_ RCSI.docx] for the supply of
• [1_CFT TENDER_H2H_Hard Tissue Microtime_ RCSI.docx] 1.1 (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the supply of the goods as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Goods”).
• 1.2 In summary, the Goods comprise: A bench top microtome for preparing histological sections of hard/mineralised tissues. The system must be able to produce high quality histological sections of hard tissue by contact free, non-mechanical (saw-cutting, grinding) means. Capability to process samples which are in their native state (i.e. not embedded in any other medium), or those embedded in a suitable plastic/polymeric medium. It should be a low maintenance system with an easy to operate user interface and a low size footprint.
• 1.7 Contracting Authority policy seeks to encourage participation on a fair and equal basis by Small and Medium Enterprises (“SME”s) in this Competition. SMEs that believe the scope of this Competition is beyond their technical or business capacity are encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to explore the possibilities of forming relationships with other SMEs or with larger enterprises. Through such relationships they can participate and contribute to the successful implementation of any Goods Contract that may result from this Competition and therefore increase their social and economic benefits. Larger enterprises are also encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to consider the practical ways that SMEs can be included in their proposals to maximise the social and economic benefits of any Goods Contract that may result from this Competition.
• 2.1.5 The Contracting Authority would refer Tenderers in particular to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/1031 on the access of third country economic operators, goods and services to the Union’s public procurement and concession markets
• 2.1.5 The Contracting Authority would refer Tenderers in particular to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/1031 on the access of third country economic operators, goods and services to the Union’s public procurement and concession markets and procedures supporting negotiations on access of Union economic operators, goods and services to the public procurement and concession markets of third countries (International Procurement Instrument – IPI), and to their obligation to comply therewith. In particular, tenderers and candidates should note in Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2022/1031, the obligations for a Contracting Authority in the context of a procurement procedure where the EU Commission has adopted an IPI measure.
• 2.8.2 Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph 2.8.1, all costs and expenses relating to the supply of samples for purposes of tendering and their return after evaluation or participation in field trials (if any) will be borne exclusively by the Tenderer. Non-binding monetary references in the source were treated as context only and were not used as qualification thresholds.

3. Background & buyer context

The buyer context reflected a formal Irish public-procurement route, with pre-qualification used to control entry into the tender stage.

• 1.7 Contracting Authority policy seeks to encourage participation on a fair and equal basis by Small and Medium Enterprises (“SME”s) in this Competition. SMEs that believe the scope of this Competition is beyond their technical or business capacity are encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to explore the possibilities of forming relationships with other SMEs or with larger enterprises. Through such relationships they can participate and contribute to the successful implementation of any Goods Contract that may result from this Competition and therefore increase their social and economic benefits. Larger enterprises are also encouraged, subject to paragraph 2.5, to consider the practical ways that SMEs can be included in their proposals to maximise the social and economic benefits of any Goods Contract that may result from this Competition.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement — not specified for this tender
• Insurance — not specified for this tender
• Certifications — not specified for this tender
• Past experience — not specified for this tender
• Personnel — not specified for this tender
• Geographic / facility constraints — not specified for this tender

5. Award criteria & scoring

6. Submission requirements

• Method statement / response document (template/page limits) — Appendix 1 questionnaire/PQQ response was required.
• CVs (page count, named roles) — not specified in extract.
• Pricing schedule (format/template) — expected at ITT stage.
• Case studies (number/value range) — client references/comparable project evidence was referenced.
• Declarations (ESPD/Bona Fides/Tax/COI) — ESPD/declaration/statement-of-confirmation language was present.
• Mandatory site visit — not specified in extract.
• Submission portal and formatting — eTenders portal and PDF electronic copies were referenced. Submission-related source lines:
• Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications
• Appendix 4: Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer
• Appendix 6: Confidentiality Agreement
• [1_CFT TENDER_H2H_Hard Tissue Microtime_ RCSI.docx] 1.1 (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the supply of the goods as described in Appendix 1 to this RFT (the “Goods”).
• 2.1.4 In this clause 2.1.4, “Data Protection Laws” means all applicable national and EU data protection laws, regulations and guidelines including but not limited to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (the “General Data Protection Regulation”), and any guidelines and codes of practice issued by the Office of the Data Protection Commission or other supervisory authority for data protection in Ireland from time to time. The Contracting Authority will be a Data Controller (where Data Controller has the meaning given under the Data Protection Laws) in respect of any Personal Data (where Personal Data has the meaning given under the Data Protection Laws) required to be provided by the Tenderer in response to this RFT. The Tenderer, as Data Controller in respect of any Personal Data provided by it in its Tender, is required to confirm in the statement required under paragraph 2.4 below that all Data Subjects (where Data Subject has the meaning given under the Data Protection Laws) whose Personal Data is provided by the Tenderer have consented to the processing of such Personal Data by the Tenderer, the Contracting Authority, the Evaluation Team and the supplier of the etenders.gov.ie website, for the purposes of the participation of the Tenderer in this Competition or that the Tenderer otherwise has a legal basis for providing such Personal Data to the Contracting Authority for the purposes of its participation in this Competition.
• (a) To complete and submit with their Tender the electronic version of the European Single Procurement Document (“ eESPD ”). Tenderers may submit an eESPD which has already been used in a previous procurement procedure PROVIDED THAT they confirm that: (i) the information contained in it continues to be correct and (ii) that they satisfy the Selection Criteria for this Competition as set out at part 3.2 below;: 1. the information contained in it continues to be correct; and 2. that they satisfy the Selection Criteria for this Competition as set out at part 3.2 below.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Contract duration in the extract: 1 month. Payment cycle, SLA/KPI schedule, and penalty regime were not fully disclosed in the snippets unless listed below.

• Sector: Scientific Equipment & Laboratory
• VERIFIED PHRASES (deterministic regex extract from the documents — treat as authoritative for numerical claims)
• NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED in consideration of the sum of €2.00 (the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged by the Contractor) as follows:
• e right to extend the Term for a period or periods of up to 1 month with a maximum of 3 months such extensi
• [insert number] calendar days either Party may terminate at 14 days notice
• breach(es) (if the breach(es) are capable of remedy) within 30 days after receipt of a request in writing f
• For the Term and for a period of 12 months thereafter (and save in respect of publ
• 1.4 This public procurement competition (the “Competition”) will be conducted in accordance with the open procedure under the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (Statutory Instrument 284 of 2016) (the “Regulations”). Any contract that may result from this Competition (the “Goods Contract”) will be issued for a term of 1 year (“the Term”).

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Numeric qualification gates were only partially visible, so eligibility certainty required full pack review.
• The two-step process (PQQ then ITT) shifted effort to compliance evidence early, with competitive scoring detail potentially deferred.
• Technical and contractual granularity appeared ITT-dependent, increasing ambiguity at qualification stage for non-incumbent bidders.

10. SME fit assessment

This competition looked most accessible to firms with established public-sector tender capability, documented financial capacity, and direct operational experience in the relevant service category.

• Credible bidder profile — specialist operator with compliant procurement governance and evidencable experience.
• Consortium / sub-contracting — allowed or addressed in the extracts (Appendix references and reliance provisions).
• Indicative bid-prep effort — 6 to 12 working days for evidence collation, form completion, and review cycles at PQQ level.
• Pwin signal — strongest for bidders with reusable qualification artefacts, comparable references, and low-friction mobilisation capability.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT/PQQ filenames: 1_CFT TENDER_H2H_Hard Tissue Microtime_ RCSI.docx, Appendix 1: Requirements and Specifications, Appendix 2: Pricing Schedule.
• eTenders CFT / notice reference: not specified in extract.
• Clarification contact / portal: eTenders message portal (email not surfaced in extract).
• Key attachments to prioritise: Appendix 3: Tenderer’s Statement, Appendix 4: Declaration as to Personal Circumstances of Tenderer, Appendix 5: Goods Contract.