In non-standard automation, the brief is the deliverable that decides whether the builder can quote the job or has to guess. A machine that does not exist yet cannot be specified from a datasheet, so almost everything the buyer wants — cycle time, part tolerances, changeover behaviour, the acceptance test — has to be written down by the buyer before the first drawing is made. A short, specific brief lets the engineering team price the safety design, the vision system and the fixture work in one pass. A vague one produces a quotation full of exclusions and a machine that meets the paperwork but not the line.
The guidance below follows the way we work on custom projects at Shenzhen PowerDe Automation Precision Equipment, from equipment R&D and system integration to non-standard automation equipment delivered to a defined acceptance condition.
Start with the part, not the machine
Everything downstream is derived from the workpiece, so the brief begins with drawings and samples for every variant the machine must handle. For each variant state the dimensions and the tolerances that actually matter, the material and surface finish, how the part is presented (in a tray, on a conveyor, loose, in a rack), and which face or datum the machine can touch without leaving a mark. Send physical samples in the condition they arrive in, not a cleaned or polished ideal, because handling, fixturing and vision are all designed against what the machine actually sees.
Be explicit about the difference between nominal and worst case. A part dimension with a ±0.05 mm tolerance and one with a ±0.5 mm tolerance may look identical on a drawing, yet they drive completely different feed mechanisms, alignment methods and cost. If the incoming variation is known — a warped carrier, an inconsistent coating thickness, parts that arrive in mixed orientation — say so in the brief; hidden variability is the most common cause of a build that works in the workshop and fails on the shop floor.
State the process outcome in measurable terms
Name the operation the machine must complete and define the passing condition. For a lamination or bonding cell that may mean fitting error, vacuum level, temperature and press pressure; for a cleaning or degreasing step it means what has to be removed, from which surface, and how the result is judged. Where the process parameters are already fixed by your product — a cure temperature that cannot be exceeded, a pressure ceiling, a film that must stay below a certain stress — list them as constraints, not as suggestions.
Write the acceptance test the machine has to pass, including how it will be measured and by whom. If you hold an internal standard for appearance, adhesion or cleanliness, attach it. A builder who is told only that a machine should be “accurate” will design to their own comfort level; a builder who is given the measurement method and the pass threshold designs to yours. Where the requirement is genuinely uncertain, mark it as to be confirmed at trial rather than leaving it out — an open point in the brief is far safer than an unstated assumption.
Give the rate, the shift pattern and the downtime rules
Takt time and output are usually the numbers that size the whole machine, so define both: the cycle time per piece and the required daily or per-shift output, together with the number of operators allowed at the station. State the up-time expectation and what counts as planned downtime — changeover, consumable replacement, cleaning — versus unplanned stoppage. Those two categories decide how much redundancy, how many spare fixtures and how much operator intervention go into the design.
Include changeover, because non-standard machines rarely run one product forever. List every variant that must run on the same equipment, say how quickly a changeover is expected, and identify which parts of a changeover your team may perform with hand tools. Quick-change fixtures, recipe-based controls and manual adjustment are different engineering choices with different prices, and the brief is where you choose between them.
Describe the installation, not an idealised line
Machines are built to fit the space they land in, so the brief should carry the physical facts of that space: available footprint and height, floor loading, door and lift dimensions on the delivery route, aisle width for maintenance access, and whether the machine is inline, stand-alone or fed by existing equipment. For an inline cell, describe what feeds it in and what takes the parts out, including the interface height and the transfer method at both ends.
List the utility supply exactly as it exists on site — voltage and phase, compressed-air pressure and dryness, water quality if the process uses it, extract or drainage points, and network access if data has to leave the machine. If the machine works with heat, steam, solvents or moving parts, name the site safety and environmental rules that apply so guarding, interlocks and extraction are quoted as part of the build instead of added later. Where the line must run in a controlled environment, state the temperature, humidity or cleanroom class that the equipment has to operate within.
Say what the machine must do with data and with people
Define the human interface: language of the display, how recipes are created and locked, which faults must be reported to the operator and which must be logged for maintenance. If your plant tracks output or downtime, state the data you expect the machine to produce and the interface it must speak, so the controls are built with that hook from the start.
Write down who operates and who maintains the equipment, and how much training your team can absorb. A machine designed around engineers you do not have will not stay running. Consumables, wear parts and their replacement interval belong in the brief as well, because they determine whether a design is workable over years of production rather than over the acceptance week.
Separate hard requirements from preferences
Label each requirement as mandatory, preferred or open. Mandatory items — a tolerance, a cycle time, a safety rule, a supplier-mandated component — let the builder design without negotiating. Preferences give the engineering team room to propose a cheaper mechanism that still delivers. Open items should be listed as questions with an owner and a date, so they close before the design review rather than during assembly.
Attach a budget range and the date the machine must be running. Both are practical inputs: they set how much automation the design can carry and whether the schedule needs a staged build. A short, dated brief also protects you commercially, because scope changes later in the project are measured against a written baseline instead of a memory.
Check the brief against these before sending it out
- Drawings and physical samples for every variant, with the tolerances that actually matter
- The process outcome plus the acceptance test and how the result is measured
- Cycle time, daily output, operator count, up-time and changeover expectation
- Footprint, access route, utilities and site safety rules as they exist on site
- Data, HMI and maintenance expectations, plus consumables and wear parts
- Budget range, required running date, and open points with a named owner
How the brief moves into engineering
With those items on the table, an integrated engineering team can turn the requirement into a concept, a risk review and a firm quotation rather than a rough estimate. Our engineering work spans product R&D, hardware testing and manufacturing automation, and our own production history includes custom cells such as automated bonding production for automotive display devices and large-format OLED module bonding built to a named customer's process — machines that began as written requirements, not catalogue items. Cleaning and surface preparation are often part of the same cell, which is why our PowerDe cleaning equipment range, including the Fixed Steam Cleaning Machine PowerDe HW02, is specified with the same parameter discipline: 6 kW heating power, 160° steam temperature, 0.8 MPa vapour pressure and an 80 L SUS304 tank, with dry and wet steam modes.
If you are preparing a brief for a new cell and want the requirements reviewed before quotation, send the part drawings and samples together with the numbers above through our contact page or email sales@powerde.net. A review at that stage costs you nothing and usually removes the two or three assumptions that would otherwise surface as a change order after assembly.
