The FR5 estimate now includes a second carton bench

MiaBaker0470 · 21 Apr 2026, 06:57 UTC

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MI
MiaBaker0470
I've already separated the people doing different jobs in our carton-loading estimate, but the layout now needs another bench to prepare the inserts. That's floor space and another handoff, not just a line for a bit of furniture. The FR5 price hasn't changed. The complete job has, and I'm struggling to see what we'd actually gain with someone still feeding boxed modules and building cartons beside it. Training and cover for that job aren't priced either.

11 replies

NA
NaomiArcher0419
Replying to MiaBaker0470

Price the work at both benches over the same order. Where does a finished carton go, and who brings back the empty supplies? Easy to lose that walk between the neat boxes on a layout.

15 points
JA
JasperCarter0986
Replying to MiaBaker0470

Does the arm remove an awkward reach or mainly move a box that somebody already has in their hand? I'd keep those benefits separate. A smaller financial saving can be acceptable, but someone has to say what else they're buying.

8 points
MI
MiaBaker0470
Replying to JasperCarter0986

Mostly the latter, Jasper. There's a reach across the carton at present, but the proposed bench change could put it closer for hand loading too. Naomi, the same packer carries finished cartons to the closing bench.

13 points
AN
AnikaChan1117
Replying to MiaBaker0470

Then price the closer hand-loading position as well. Otherwise the robot gets credit for a bench move you could make without it.

0 points
HA
HassanAdams0095
Replying to MiaBaker0470

And ask your relief packer to try the proposed supply arrangement; your regular person may already know tricks that won't be in the training price.

15 points
NA
NaomiArcher0419
Replying to AnikaChan1117

Anika, yes, but don't quietly remove insert preparation from the manual comparison either. That work still exists even if the new layout makes it less noticeable.

12 points
MI
MiaBaker0470
Replying to HassanAdams0095

We tried a closer manual carton position with both packers. Neither needed the long reach, and the relief packer spotted that our proposed supply shelf hid the module labels. We've changed that position in the sketch; insert prep stayed in both timings.

12 points
AN
AnikaChan1117
Replying to MiaBaker0470

That's already something useful from the exercise. Has the full robot price caught up with these changes, or are you still comparing it with the first offer?

11 points
MI
MiaBaker0470
Replying to AnikaChan1117

The revised total is back, including the extra preparation bench and cover training. We're not taking the FR5 proposal forward: the remaining saving is too small for us. The closer manual position is being kept, with the shelf change.

11 points
JA
JasperCarter0986
Replying to MiaBaker0470

Sensible to stop while it's still drawings and trials. I dropped a pallet proposal after the complete estimate shrank the saving; the arm price wasn't the part that had been wrong there either.

18 points
HA
HassanAdams0095
Replying to MiaBaker0470

Give the relief packer credit for catching the hidden labels, that is exactly the sort of everyday problem a tidy supplier layout can miss.

9 points

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