Intention notice - Procurement of phenotyping equipment (QSORTER)

The objective of the procurement: NMBU plans to enter into a contract for the procurement of an advanced phenotyping system for seeds (QSORTER) as a part of the establishment of a state-of-the-art phenotypingsin infrastructure. The facility shall support research and development within field phenotyping, phenotyping in controlled environments and seed …

CPV: 16613000 Machines for cleaning, sorting or grading seed, grain or dried vegetables
Place of execution:
Intention notice - Procurement of phenotyping equipment (QSORTER)
Awarding body:
Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet
Award number:
25/02518

1. Buyer

1.1 Buyer

Official name : Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet

2. Procedure

2.1 Procedure

Title : Intention notice - Procurement of phenotyping equipment (QSORTER)
Description : The objective of the procurement: NMBU plans to enter into a contract for the procurement of an advanced phenotyping system for seeds (QSORTER) as a part of the establishment of a state-of-the-art phenotypingsin infrastructure. The facility shall support research and development within field phenotyping, phenotyping in controlled environments and seed phenotyping. Justification for a direct procurement: After thorough market surveys, NMBU has not found other suppliers who can offer a system with equivalent functionality and robustness. The equipment in question must be able to: • Sort individual seeds of field crops (wheat, barley, oats, field beans) in a system with high throughput (e.g. 30 seeds per second). • Use both RGB and NIR spectroscopy for phenotyping during sorting • Have pre-contracted calibrations for parameters such as size, chemical composition (protein, oil), and disease infections (e.g. Fusarium in wheat). • Be fast and at the same time robust, in dusty seed processing plant with less clean samples, as NMBU mainly works with plant seeds at NMBU. • Used to develop separate calibrations of different parameters that NMBU finds suitable with the help of the tenderer. • Include training with installation and have a maintenance contract (minimum one visit per year). Market research: NMBU has assessed alternative systems, including the VideometerLab system. This system uses multispectral image processing, but does not combine NIR spectroscopy with image processing, has lower throughput and lacks the possibility of sorting in separate bins. It is mainly a laboratory instrument and it is not suitable for the demanding environment in the seed processing plant. Planned contract signing: The terms for the procurement without competition in accordance with the public procurement regulations § 13-4 first section letter b no. 2 are, thus, fulfilled. NMBU therefore intends to enter into a contract with the supplier of QualySense after the appeals deadline expires of ten days from publication of this notice. Appeals deadline: Any objections to this procurement must be received within 10 days from the notice date.
Procedure identifier : dc3757b8-cde1-4a0d-b1a7-e76880fce49a
Internal identifier : 25/02518
Type of procedure : Negotiated without prior call for competition

2.1.1 Purpose

Main nature of the contract : Supplies
Main classification ( cpv ): 16613000 Machines for cleaning, sorting or grading seed, grain or dried vegetables

2.1.2 Place of performance

Postal address : Kirkeveien 12
Town : Ås
Postcode : 1433
Country subdivision (NUTS) : Akershus ( NO084 )
Country : Norway

2.1.4 General information

Legal basis :
Directive 2014/24/EU

5. Lot

5.1 Lot technical ID : LOT-0000

Title : Intention notice - Procurement of phenotyping equipment (QSORTER)
Description : The objective of the procurement: NMBU plans to enter into a contract for the procurement of an advanced phenotyping system for seeds (QSORTER) as a part of the establishment of a state-of-the-art phenotypingsin infrastructure. The facility shall support research and development within field phenotyping, phenotyping in controlled environments and seed phenotyping. Justification for a direct procurement: After thorough market surveys, NMBU has not found other suppliers who can offer a system with equivalent functionality and robustness. The equipment in question must be able to: • Sort individual seeds of field crops (wheat, barley, oats, field beans) in a system with high throughput (e.g. 30 seeds per second). • Use both RGB and NIR spectroscopy for phenotyping during sorting • Have pre-contracted calibrations for parameters such as size, chemical composition (protein, oil), and disease infections (e.g. Fusarium in wheat). • Be fast and at the same time robust, in dusty seed processing plant with less clean samples, as NMBU mainly works with plant seeds at NMBU. • Used to develop separate calibrations of different parameters that NMBU finds suitable with the help of the tenderer. • Include training with installation and have a maintenance contract (minimum one visit per year). Market research: NMBU has assessed alternative systems, including the VideometerLab system. This system uses multispectral image processing, but does not combine NIR spectroscopy with image processing, has lower throughput and lacks the possibility of sorting in separate bins. It is mainly a laboratory instrument and it is not suitable for the demanding environment in the seed processing plant. Planned contract signing: The terms for the procurement without competition in accordance with the public procurement regulations § 13-4 first section letter b no. 2 are, thus, fulfilled. NMBU therefore intends to enter into a contract with the supplier of QualySense after the appeals deadline expires of ten days from publication of this notice. Appeals deadline: Any objections to this procurement must be received within 10 days from the notice date.
Internal identifier : 25/02518

5.1.1 Purpose

Main nature of the contract : Supplies
Main classification ( cpv ): 16613000 Machines for cleaning, sorting or grading seed, grain or dried vegetables

5.1.2 Place of performance

Postal address : Kirkeveien 12
Town : Ås
Postcode : 1433
Country subdivision (NUTS) : Akershus ( NO084 )
Country : Norway
Additional information :

5.1.6 General information

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) : no

5.1.16 Further information, mediation and review

Review organisation : Follo og Nordre Østfold tingrett -
Information about review deadlines : En evt. klage må sendes til innkjop@nmbu.no innen klagefristen, 30. juni 2025.

6. Results

Direct award :
Justification for direct award : The contract can be provided only by a particular economic operator because of an absence of competition for technical reasons
Other justification : NMBU plans to enter into a contract for the procurement of an advanced phenotyping system for seeds (QSORTER) as a part of the establishment of a state-of-the-art phenotypingsin infrastructure. The facility shall support research and development within field phenotyping, phenotyping in controlled environments and seed phenotyping. The equipment in question must be able to: • Sort individual seeds of field crops (wheat, barley, oats, field beans) in a system with high throughput (e.g. 30 seeds per second). • Use both RGB and NIR spectroscopy for phenotyping during sorting • Have pre-contracted calibrations for parameters such as size, chemical composition (protein, oil), and disease infections (e.g. Fusarium in wheat). • Be fast and at the same time robust, in dusty seed processing plant with less clean samples, as NMBU mainly works with plant seeds at NMBU. • Used to develop separate calibrations of different parameters that NMBU finds suitable with the help of the tenderer. • Include training with installation and have a maintenance contract (minimum one visit per year). NMBU has assessed alternative systems, including the VideometerLab system. This system uses multispectral image processing, but does not combine NIR spectroscopy with image processing, has lower throughput and lacks the possibility of sorting in separate bins. It is mainly a laboratory instrument and it is not suitable for the demanding environment in the seed processing plant. The terms for the procurement without competition in accordance with the public procurement regulations § 13-4 first section letter b no. 2 are, thus, fulfilled. NMBU therefore intends to enter into a contract with the supplier of QualySense after the appeals deadline expires of ten days from publication of this notice.

6.1 Result lot ldentifier : LOT-0000

6.1.2 Information about winners

Winner :
Official name : Ferrum Analytics and Sorting AG
Tender :
Tender identifier : QSorter Solution Quotation
Identifier of lot or group of lots : LOT-0000
The tender was ranked : no
Contract information :
Identifier of the contract : 25/02518
Title : QSorter Solution Quotation

8. Organisations

8.1 ORG-0001

Official name : Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet
Registration number : 969159570
Department : Innkjøpsseksjonen
Postal address : PB 5003
Town : Ås
Postcode : 1432
Country subdivision (NUTS) : Akershus ( NO084 )
Country : Norway
Contact point : Magnus Dagestad
Telephone : +47 67 23 00 00
Internet address : https://www.nmbu.no/
Roles of this organisation :
Buyer

8.1 ORG-0002

Official name : Follo og Nordre Østfold tingrett
Registration number : 926 725 920
Postal address : Postboks 64
Town : Ski
Postcode : 1401
Country subdivision (NUTS) : Akershus ( NO084 )
Country : Norway
Telephone : 64 00 30 00
Roles of this organisation :
Review organisation

8.1 ORG-0003

Official name : Ferrum Analytics and Sorting AG
Size of the economic operator : Large
Registration number : CHE-244.601.795 MWST
Postal address : Industriestrasse 11
Town : Schafisheim
Postcode : 5503
Country subdivision (NUTS) : St. Gallen ( CH055 )
Country : Switzerland
Roles of this organisation :
Tenderer
Winner of these lots : LOT-0000
The winner is listed on a regulated market
Notice information
Notice identifier/version : f6047a80-09cf-417d-ae1f-e550592736ad - 01
Form type : Direct award preannouncement
Notice type : Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice
Notice dispatch date : 19/06/2025 12:19 +00:00
Notice dispatch date (eSender) : 19/06/2025 12:19 +00:00
Languages in which this notice is officially available : English
Notice publication number : 00399278-2025
OJ S issue number : 117/2025
Publication date : 20/06/2025