Printing and related services

Tender description

Islington Council invites suitable expressions of interest from suppliers for a framework agreement for the provision of the Council's External Print services. The framework agreement is in 2 Lots. Lot 1 — Sheet fed digitally printed materials. Lot 2 — Sheet fed litho printed materials. Islington Council is seeking to appoint up to 8 contractor(s) per Lot to the framework agreement. Contracts based on the framework agreement shall follow the terms of the framework agreement including how a contract is concluded. How a contract is concluded is explained within the invitation to tender documentation. Current status / Background. The council's Print Room provides a print service for the council's departments and several of its partners. It does this by using a high specification Xerox sheet fed digital printer and a two colour litho printer coupled with a range of finishing equipment. It uses paper that has been recycled or is from environmentally sustainable sources. Lot 1 — Sheet fed digitally printed materials. The requirement. Digital printing best serves the demand for variable data printing, personalisation, and customisation, less spoilage, smaller archival storage, quick response and short to medium print runs. Mass and batch printing runs gives way to the digital printer's ability to have shorter print runs, and less turn-around time. The Council requires organisations to provide a range of print related services. This would include a number of print finishes and on various printed materials. Further details available in the tender documents. The call off from the framework will be via Direct call off and Mini Competition. This will be conducted via the Council's web based project management system ‘Panacea’ in order to obtain the most economically advantageous bid for each call off. Lot 2 — Sheet fed litho printed materials. The requirement. Offset printing is the most common form of high-volume commercial printing due to advantages in quality and efficiency in high-volume jobs. The more you print, the less you pay per page because most of the price goes into the ‘set up’ of the printing press, before the first sheet of paper is printed. Any ongoing printing will only cost the production time, paper and ink price. Printing plates require the preparation of a negative film or computer to plate systems which requires no process between computer design and the preparation of printing plates. The Council requires organisations to provide a range of print related services. This would include a number of print finishes and on various printed materials. Further details available in the tender documents.