UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO - NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SINGLE SOURCE CONTRACT: 20-023
Optical scanning digital microscope
The University of Waterloo (UW) intends to award a single source contract to Keyence Canada Inc. of
Mississauga, Ontario, for the purchase of a VHX-7100 Digital Microscope package. The budget for the
initial package is less than $125,000 CAD, not including tax/HST, but including warranty and
shipment.
This is an Advanced Notice indicating to the supplier community that UW intends to award a contract
for this equipment to a pre-identified supplier. If no other supplier submits, on or before the
closing date of this notice, a statement of specifications that satisfies the stated requirements
set out in this Notice, the competitive requirements of the University are considered to have been
met. Following notification to any suppliers not successful in demonstrating that their statement
of specifications meets the requirements set out in this Notice, the contract may then be awarded
to the pre-identified supplier.
If other potential suppliers submit statements of specifications during the fifteen-day calendar
day posting period, and meet the requirements set out in this Notice, UW will proceed to a Request
for Proposal process, in order to award the contract.
Process - Suppliers who can provide equivalent equipment with proven functionality required for the
research, within budget, are encouraged to submit a statement of specifications, in writing, to the
contact person identified in this Notice on or before the closing date of this Notice. The
statement of specifications must unequivocally demonstrate how the supplier meets these advertised
requirements within budget.
SPECIFICATIONS –
1. The image capture camera must be a minimum CMOS 12.22 megapixel-16 bit.
2. The image capture camera must be able to seamlessly and automatically change magnification from
of 20x-6000x.
3. The digital microscope must have at minimum 18 different magnifications.
4. The image capture camera must have a frame rate of 30 frames per second HDR.
5. The image capture camera must have a CMOS sensor with a minimum resolution of 4000 (H) x 3000
(V) pixels.
6. The image capture camera must have a high accuracy mode of 12000 (H) x 9000 (V) pixels.
7. The image capture camera must have a polarization set for all lenses.
8. The digital microscope must have a camera built into the support for the anti-collision system
and the focus view.
9. The digital microscope must have an integrated vibration control system.
10. The digital microscope must have an acquisition and assembly (stitch) capability.
11. The digital microscope must have the capacity of changing the magnification in automatic mode
without interaction with the lens.
12. The digital microscope must have a Teaching function (Including measurements).
13. The digital microscope must have the ability to save and export images in TIFF and JPEG.
14. The digital microscope must be able to stitch consecutive fields a view to a minimum of 50,000
pixels(H) x 50,000 pixels (V)
15. The digital microscope must allow a minimum tilt of 60 degrees on one side and 90 degrees on
the other.
16. The digital microscope must have a motorized stage in the X and Y axis with a minimum two-phase
stepper motor, a resolution of one (1) micron, a travel speed of 20 mm/sec and a minimum real
displacement of 100 x 100 mm.
17. The motorized stage must move in the Z axis with a two-phase step-by-step motor, a resolution
of one
(1) micron, a displacement speed of 10 mm/sec and a real displacement of 50 mm.
18. The digital microscope must have an autofocus function in the Z axis with a 0.1-micron
resolution and a 49 mm displacement.
19. The digital microscope must have software to perform, save and export the following
measurements: distance, angle, radius, automatic count of particles and ASTM grain size
measurement, occupied area measurements, 3D profile measurements, 3D volume measurements and surface roughness measurements.
20. The digital microscope must (at a minimum) be able to stitch together consecutive 3D profiles
and export those files into CSV, STL, STEP or ASCII file.
21. The digital microscope must have a minimum 27-inch color LCD monitor (IPS type).
22. The monitor should have a minimum resolution of 3840 (H) x 2160 (V) pixels.
23. The digital microscope must have a minimum internal data storage capacity of 1TB.
24. The digital microscope must come with training and support and no reoccurring maintenance fees
(i.e. calibration)
SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION
The University of Waterloo requested quotes on similar equipment, and trialled equipment from two
suppliers. The Keyence VHX-7100 with the functionality above was found to be optimum for the
research.
Date of issue: March 20, 2020
Closing Date: April 6, 2020, at 2:30 p.m. EST
Contact:
Christine Wagner, CPPB, CSCP – Research Coordinator and Senior Buyer Procurement and Contract
Services
University of Waterloo
Ph: 519-888-4567 ext. 32074
Email – procure@uwaterloo.ca
