CEFAS24-05 RFQ for provision of a tissue processor for OCPP

Tender description

CEFAS24-05 Requires provision of a tissue processor under the Ocean Country Partnership Programme. The OCPP was announced in 2021 as a key bilateral aid programme under the £500m Blue Planet Fund. The OCPP is a UK Government-led programme delivered under the Blue Planet Fund. Through this programme, Cefas, in partnership with JNCC and MMO, provide technical assistance to support countries in tackling marine pollution, support sustainable seafood practices, and establish designated, well-managed and enforced Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). OCPP objectives are to support countries to tackle marine pollution, support sustainable seafood practices and establish designated, well-managed and enforced MPAs. From 2021-26, Cefas will lead delivery of the Marine Pollution and Sustainable Seafood themes of OCPP, working in partnership with experts from the Joint nature Conservancy Council (JNCC) and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). This work includes the provision of equipment for the set up of a laboratory in Belize as part of the improvement of scientific capacity in the field of Histology. Requirement: Cefas require provision of a carousel-rotary style tissue processor, with the following specifications: 1. Capable of processing between 100 and 200 specimens housed in Tissue cassettes. 2. Electrical Configurations 120V, 60Hz, AC and work with appropriate type A, B or C plugs. 3. A fume control system is required to eliminate harmful fumes. Ideally there will be a facility to fit a carbon filter. 4x Spare filters should be included as part of the bundle. There must be a facility to easily buy replacement filters. 4. Ideally 8 or more reagent stations. These must be resistant to xylene and alcohol. Each station must be easily removed and cleanable. If the stations are considered as additional consumables, these must be included in the quotation. 5. At least 3 heated wax stations. 6. Built-in specimen basket agitation and/or reagent mixing facilities. 7. An integrated computer control system with a keypad and display. 8. Ideally a method of recoding faults so that engineers can be made aware of issues by sending logs or error codes. 9. Ability to programme user defined processing schedules, and there must be a memory cache to allow for multiple programs to be saved on the instrument. 10. Pre-set programs available to use, as well as free editing of station parameters such as mixing, immersion time, drip time (to avoid reagent carry over), and temperature control for wax baths. 11. The capacity to inform the user of the status of the instrument programmes with the following parameters: • Adjustable start time and delayed start time adjustable as required by the user. • Total program run time, predicted end time must be displayed on demand. • Ideally multiple baskets could be processed at the same time and for these to be detailed on the display so the progress and end time can be checked for each basket. • Audible alarms, error messages and warning codes for when paraffin wax is un-melted and in solid state. In addition, automatic reheating of wax before basket is transferred to a wax bath. • Warning and alarms if the power has been lost or if there has been a fault. • Manual operation and overrides are essential. • A battery backup to allow for power outages and retaining of instrument memory. Please include in quotation if this is not supplied as standard. • Ability to remove specimens from the instrument if there is a mains or battery failure. • Failsafe conditions such as automatic immersion of tissue basket in a station, in case of mains power failure. 12. If an uninterrupted power supply device is required to use the equipment, please specify and include in quotation. 13. All required leads and connectors must be included. On-site installation and training • Installation on-site is a requirement to tender. • Ideally a training package will be included, to be delivered to relevant in-country users. Suppliers should indicate the options available, whether through the use of a virtual platform or face-to-face in-country.