I asked for a complete representative order in the pilot, then discovered the supplier price assumes my colleague prepares the enclosures and resets the fixture. Those hours are absent from my budget. I want a bounded study of one enclosure family before either of us commits more work.
Put those assumed tasks in front of your colleague before choosing the boundary. They may tell you the fixture reset is the whole problem, or that the enclosures arrive ready and you've priced the wrong work. What actually happens now?
We sort the enclosures, load them into a temporary holder and reset it between small batches. The supplier demonstration began with the holder filled. My colleague does that preparation in the current method too, but the proposed holder would change it.
Compare the current and proposed preparation over the same order, including clearing and resets, because existing work can change in amount even when both methods call it preparation.
Is there a proposed holder sample to try? I would rather spend a little checking how your colleague fills it than give the future robot credit for work nobody has timed.
A sample can be supplied as a paid study item. We have asked for its scope and cost, with our attendance and material needs identified. No order placed yet.
Then agree what would stop the study from becoming a full pilot by habit. If preparation and resets consume the benefit, somebody needs permission to say enough, not a duty to design a second holder.
Include representative awkward enclosures in that study too, so a convenient sample set does not make the proposed preparation look easier than the order your colleague actually receives.
And ask who owns the result. I mean who decides whether to fund the next stage, not who writes the report. Your colleague should not have to argue their way back into that decision.
We decide jointly. The study request now includes the relevant enclosure variation, complete order boundary and a decision before further development. The supplier still owes a price for that scope; I have not treated our own spending cap as their agreement.