Tender reference 462

The procurement is to support research and development activities of the Faculty of Art and Design at De Montfort University, Leicester.

The Research Group helps the region’s businesses develop new products and support its flourishing design industry, in part, by brokering collaboration between manufacturing and design companies. It is a cross-departmental, multidisciplinary research group exploring the creation and evolution of a diverse range of products, from consumer items to spatial concepts.

The Group now wishes to purchase a Plastic Laser Sintering Rapid Prototyping/Manufacturing System to research the design opportunities of Rapid manufacturing, support and enhance new product development and inform curriculum developments of design-based teaching and learning.

This tender(s) is for the provision of a plastic laser sintering prototype / manufacturing equipment with the capability to accurately (+/-0.5mm) manufacture functional three-dimensional (3D) artefacts directly from 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) data only, using a combined laser and powered polymeric build system. Additionally, the equipment must provide this 3D build capability without the requirements of any ‘build’ support structures – only non-sintered polymeric powder may act as the support structure. The equipment offered must also have the capability to manufacture high-quality (surface finish) artefacts with potential wall thicknesses of 0.4mm or greater.

The award criteria for this procurement will be conformance to the specification: the potential for collaborative research and after sales service and support.

The weighting for each criterion is Range
- Conformance to the specification  50%
- Whole life cost of the equipment 35%
- Collaborative research potential  15%
- After sales service and support 10%

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained at: Tender Reference 454, Director of Finance, Finance Department, The Gateway, UK-Leicester LE1 9BH. URL: http://www.tenders.ac.uk.

Time limit for receipt of requests for documents or for accessing documents: 23 June 2009 at 17:00
Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate: 30 June 2009 at 12:00.

Further Information:
For all technical enquiries please contact either: Dr Guy Bingham, Senior Lecturer in Product Design
Telephone:  + 44 (0)116 250 6118.  Email:  gbingham@dmu.ac.uk  

For all other enquiries please contact:  Procurement Services, Finance Department  
Telephone:  + 44 (0)116 250 6338.  Fax:  + 44 (0) 116 250 6069.  Email:  purchasing@dmu.ac.uk

Please refer to tender reference number 462 in your enquiry.   

Note:
De Montfort University has a legal duty to comply with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Accordingly, information in relation to this contract and any prior related tender may be made available on demand in accordance with the legislation. You should state if any of the information supplied by you as part of the contract is either confidential or commercially sensitive, or should not be disclosed to third parties in response to a request for information under the Act. The reason for such sensitivity must be specified. In such cases, the relevant material will be examined in the light of the exemptions provided in the Freedom of information Act or Environmental Information Regulations, although the University cannot guarantee that an exemption will apply.

Notice publication date:  9 June 2009