United Kingdom-Nottingham: Future Automated Aerospace Assembly Demonstrator (FA3D2) Specifically WP2.1 – Modelling and Simulation WP2.3 – Digital Twin

Type of document: Contract Awards
Country: United Kingdom
OJEU Ref: (2020/S 207-506307/EN)
Nature of contract: Supply contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Contract award notice
Supplies

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: University of Nottingham
Town: Nottingham
Postal code: NG7 2NR
Country: United Kingdom
Contact Person: Procurement
Email: procurement@nottingham.ac.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address:

I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Education

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: Future Automated Aerospace Assembly Demonstrator (FA3D2) Specifically WP2.1 – Modelling and Simulation WP2.3 – Digital Twin
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 42990000
II.1.3) Type of contract Supplies
II.1.4) Short Description: The Centre for Aerospace Manufacturing (CAM) at the University Of Nottingham (UoN) works with partners from across the UK and European aerospace industry to deliver industrially focused research into aerospace assembly systems.
Advanced manufacturing is a key research priority area for Nottingham and the University has invested significantly in this research. The University made a strategic investment in automated assembly infrastructure through the Future Automated Aerospace Assembly Demonstrator (FA3D) project, which was commissioned in 2016. Based on the success of this project, funding has been secured from the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) for development of the second phase of this demonstrator.
The Future Automated Aerospace Assembly Demonstrator Phase 2 (FA3D2) will deliver a national experimental testbed and technology demonstrator in digital and informatics enabled aerospace manufacturing technology
II.1.6) Information about lots:
The contract is divided into lots: yes
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:464010.54
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.1) Title: WP2.1 — Modelling and Simulation
Lot No:1
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 42900000

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code: UKF14
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The minimum requirements of 3D modelling and simulation to enable virtual commissioning are as follows:
(a) all automation, tooling and associated control equipment must be modelled in 3D in the desired CAD package or supplied in the required format as set by UoN;
— as a minimum, the supplied solution must be able to accept CAD models in CATIA V5 R2017 as an input and be able to output to a compatible format. This requirement does not constrain the format used internally for the digital twin, and suppliers are free to recommend their preferred modelling and simulation package for that purpose.
(b) the CAD model must be supplied with embedded forward and inverse kinematics to enable simulation and verification of the FA3D2 and its associated processes.
(c) all acceleration and speed parameters must be set in the kinematics assemblies within the model to enable real time simulation and motion visualisation.
(d) process positions must be set within the kinematics for process specific positions such as home or closed for tooling clamps ,etc.
(e) smart devices must be generated to simulate actual device behaviour and enable PLC off-line programming.
(f) a post processor must be supplied to enable realistic simulation and off-line programming of the FA3D2 and its automated processes.
(g) a full process and method, along with suitable training data where possible, must be supplied to enable UoN users to generate off-line programmes for the automated processes including PLC code generation and verification.
(h) the supplier must demonstrate their 3D simulation and virtual commission capabilities and any previous implemented solutions within their tender submission.
(i) the installed system must be in accordance with the framework and requirements set out in Work Package 2: Smart Manufacturing and in collaboration with the successful tenderers of WP2.2 IoT Network Infrastructure, WP2.3 Digital Twin, and WP2.4 Data Analytics and Machine Learning.

II.2.5)Award criteria

II.2.11) Information about options
Options no
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: yes
Identification of the project:ISCF Funding (Industrial strategy Challenge Fund).

II.2.1) Title: WP2.3 – Digital Twin
Lot No:2
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 42900000

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code: UKF14
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The minimum requirements for digital twin generation are follows. See Figure 7 for the basic FA3D2 digital twin architecture and Figure 9 for the example FA3D2 digital twin minimum data flow.
(a) the supplier must provide an architecture diagram with their tender proposal, which illustrates their digital twin concept, hardware, software, and data flow.
(b) the supplier must provide a connected system, which enables bi-directional communication and visualisation of sensor and automation data. Systems within the cell must be able to access related messages from sensors or devices. These tags/messages will be used to trigger other events within the cell or instruct data to be extracted, transformed and loaded (ETL) at specified real-time interval/s.
(c) the supplier must provide UoN with the required architecture to enable a digital control room interface/dashboard which enables users to view/perform the following:
(a) real-time visibility of KPIs and issues for proactive problem resolution — supplier to suggest their achievable frequency.
(b) drill down into underlying line asset data for root-cause analysis and continuous improvement – supplier to demonstrate workflow.
(c) automatic notification (text, email or equivalent) when a machine signal or KPI deviates from normal behaviour — supplier to demonstrate proposed concept for alerts referring to server, tag, device, or machine issue.
(d) trend any PLC tag in minutes — time stamp, name and value in an open format, etc.
(e) enable remote troubleshooting of PLC issues.
(f) connect to existing factory assets via the installed micro server and/or gateway.
(g) send and revision control robot programs to the required controllers for execution.
(h) visualise the physical automated process running within the virtual environment — real time (supplier to specify frequency), this must be via a mobile tablet or other device proposed by the supplier such as augmented headset device.
(d) the supplier must provide an example of how a digital work instruction can be generated, published and visualised by the operator.
(e) UoN will require the capability to capture data within the digital work instruction. The supplier should demonstrate how process parameters can be captured within the instruction and ETL for future analysis.
(f) the installed system must be in accordance with the framework and requirements set out in Work Package 2: Smart Manufacturing and in collaboration with the successful tenderers of WP2.1 Modelling and Simulation, WP2.2 IoT Network Infrastructure, and WP2.4 Data Analytics and Machine Learning.

II.2.5)Award criteria

II.2.11) Information about options
Options no
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: yes
Identification of the project:ISCF Funding (Industrial strategy Challenge Fund).

Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below

1.Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition in accordance with Article
32 of Directive 2014/24/EU
No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to
open procedure

3.Explanation
Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union
is lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive:
The Centre for Aerospace Manufacturing recently tendered for 12 different Lots (PROC LSB ITT/1121) out of the 12 Lots only one lot was awarded. The majority of the lots need to be reconsidered and further considerations needed to be taken into account. Therefore a negotiated procedure without prior publication will be utilised under Reg 32, for Lots 1-4 work packages 2.1- 2.4.
It was determined that the grounds to use this procedure was as follows ‘where no tenders, no suitable tenders, no requests to participate or no suitable requests to participate have been submitted in response to an open procedure or a restricted procedure, provided that the initial conditions of the contract are not substantially altered’.
The original tender process that was followed was the open procedure and there was no suitable tender responses submitted therefore it was deemed that direct negotiation with the supplier who submitted the best understanding of the requirements. No significant changes have been made in relation to the original tender conditions. In this case rather than not awarding a lot and spending further time and money advertising for a new tender Regulation 32 was applied so that negotiations with the relevant supplier within the original process could be had.

IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:2019/S 177-430287
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: 1
Lot No: 1
Title: Modelling and Simulation

A contract/lot is awarded yes
V.2) Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract:2020-09-28
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received:1
Number of tenders received from SMEs:0
Number of tenders received from other EU Member States:1
Number of tenders received from non-EU Member States:0
Number of tenders received by electronic means:1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: no
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Siemens Advanta
Town: berlin
Country: Germany
Nuts code: DE30
The contractor is an SME no

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot(excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: 200711.46
Currency: GBP
Contract No: 2
Lot No: 2
Title: WP2.3 – Digital Twin

A contract/lot is awarded yes
V.2) Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract:2020-09-28
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received:1
Number of tenders received from SMEs:0
Number of tenders received from other EU Member States:1
Number of tenders received from non-EU Member States:0
Number of tenders received by electronic means:1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: no
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Siemens Advanta
Town: Berlin
Country: Germany
Nuts code: DE3
The contractor is an SME no

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot(excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: 263299.08
Currency: GBP

Section VI: Complementary information
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: High Court
Postal address: High Court, Strand
Town: London
Postal code: WC2A 2LL
Country: United Kingdom

VI.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
In accordance with Regulation 86 and 87 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the contracting authority has incorporated a minimum 10 calendar days standstill period starting from the day when contract award was notified to the bidders. Unsuccessful bidders will be provided with a debrief in the award decision at the start of the standstill period including details of their bid in relation to the winning bid comprising the reasons for the decision, the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful tender, the score of the economic operator and the name of the economic operator to be awarded the contract. Tenderers have a right to appeal provided for within the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Any such proceedings must be brought in the High Court of England and Wales.

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2020-10-20