Compare what the supplier owns, not what they subcontract
Non-standard automation is usually assembled from purchased parts: frames, guides, motors, sensors, PLCs, vision cameras, conveyors. Almost every supplier buys those. What separates suppliers is whether the mechanical design, the electrical design, the control program and the final on-site debugging are done by the same team that signs your contract. Ask directly which roles exist in-house and who will be in the room during acceptance testing. A supplier with an integrated mechanical, electrical and control team can change a mechanism during commissioning without reopening a purchase order or waiting on an outside integrator.
On our side, that is the shape of the work: manufacturing automation services that run from process analysis and feasibility assessment through mechanical and electrical design, equipment manufacturing, system integration, test validation, on-site installation and operator training. Ask any supplier you are evaluating to walk their own process in the same order. If their answer stops at "design and manufacture", find out who installs, debugs and trains, and whether that person is paid by them.
Put the same questions to every supplier in writing
Send one requirement sheet to each bidder and require written answers to the same list. The differences in the answers are the real comparison. At minimum, ask for:
- The cycle time they commit to, measured on which product, with which changeover time between variants.
- The tolerances and alignment accuracy the machine must hold, and how they will be measured and recorded.
- Brands and models for PLC, servos, sensors, vision and moving components, so you can price spare parts for the next five years.
- Factory acceptance criteria written as tests with pass or fail results, not as a description of features.
- What is included on site: rigging, installation, debugging, operator training, drawings, source program, and the warranty period from acceptance rather than from shipment.
- Responsibility if the process window changes after the machine is delivered, and what a modification costs.
A supplier who cannot state acceptance criteria before signing is telling you that the acceptance conversation will happen later, on worse terms. Deliverables are a good test of experience. Expect a process analysis, an equipment layout, 3D structural design, 2D machining drawings, electrical schematics, the PLC and HMI program, fixture drawings, a BOM, a test report and an operating manual. Anything missing from that list is work someone else will do later at your cost.
Read the quotation for the work it leaves to you
Price gaps between bidders are rarely about the machine. They are about scope. One quotation may include safety guarding, an exhaust or cleaning station, and a dry-run at your material; another may include the frame, a program and nothing else. Normalize the quotations before ranking them: does the price cover the utility connections up to the machine, the fixtures for your part numbers, a second variant, spare parts, travel and the commissioning engineer's hotel? Then confirm the payment and milestone terms against the schedule, since a supplier with no cash flow will slip delivery regardless of how good the design looks.
Ask for evidence of similar problems solved, not for a brochure. A useful request is a short description of a line or station that was retrofitted rather than built new, because most factory automation work is upgrading existing equipment: adding automatic loading and unloading, adding a detection station, renewing a control system, or improving the takt of a line. Suppliers who have done that work talk about space constraints, downtime windows and the parts that arrived late. Suppliers who have not talk only about theory.
Judge the supplier by how they handle what cannot be automated
An experienced automation partner will tell you which stations should stay manual. Feasibility assessment is a real step, and it should identify which steps suit full automation, which suit semi-automatic handling, and which do not justify a machine at all. A bidder who promises to automate every step in your flow is selling a bigger order. For a first project, a single workstation, one inspection station or a loading operation is often the right scope, and the vendor's willingness to start small says something useful about how they will run the programme.
Also check whether the supplier can reach your process from the equipment side as well as the systems side. Some production steps are cleaning steps: parts degreasing, machine cleaning, vehicle or container washing in and around the plant. When cleaning is part of the flow, an industrial steam cleaning equipment supplier who also builds machinery can integrate the cleaning station into the line instead of installing it as a separate purchase that your team has to interface with later.
A short scoring sheet keeps the comparison honest
Score each bidder on a small number of weighted items and let the weights reflect your risk, not the vendor's pitch:
| Criterion | What to look for |
|---|---|
| In-house design and control capability | Named mechanical, electrical and software roles; source program delivered |
| Process understanding | Questions about your part, tolerances and takt before quoting |
| Scope clarity | Written exclusions, spares list, on-site costs and training included |
| Delivery evidence | Comparable stations or retrofits, with acceptance results you can verify |
| After acceptance | Warranty start, response time, spare-part supply, modification pricing |
If two bidders score closely, choose the one who asks for your drawings, your sample parts and a visit to your line before quoting. For our team that first conversation is where the process analysis and rhythm planning happen, and it is the cheapest point to discover that a station does not need a robot at all.
Before you sign
Put the cycle time, the acceptance tests, the component brands and the deliverable list into the contract, and tie the final payment to on-site acceptance rather than to delivery. Then compare suppliers one more time on a single question: who remains accountable when the machine is running your product on your floor at your takt? That answer, more than the quotation total, predicts the project.
If you want a first review of your process before you start collecting quotations, send us the part, the current manual method and the capacity you need. We assess which steps are worth automating and return a scheme, an action logic, a rhythm plan and a preliminary quotation you can put beside the other bids on equal terms. Contact our engineering team to arrange it.
