the UR5e got a nice tray and the other arm got ours

Someone loaded the new tray off camera. Our tray came straight from stores with the caps still tilted about in it. So yes, different start lines.

Give both suppliers the same incoming condition for a whole-order comparison, even if they propose different ways of presenting the caps afterwards.

The one using our tray paused twice and the demonstrator sorted the caps. The neat-tray video never showed a tilted one, which isn't quite the achievement the sales email implies.

Ask for those interruptions in the comparison, not edited out of the next clip.

I wouldn't punish the neat-tray supplier just for making presentation better. We pay people to improve processes. I'd object if the price and labour for that improvement were missing, which sounds like the actual problem here.

That's what I mean, Nina. Happy to buy better trays if they earn their keep. Less happy to discover I'm employing a tray-filling person after calling it automated.

Include tray stock, cleaning and replacement as well as filling. You may still prefer that option once the less glamorous work is counted.

Fair enough. Has either supplier given a price for working with your current trays, or are they still trying to win with the prettiest transfer?

Only the second has priced our trays so far. I've asked both for a complete proposal and uncut trial sequence; no winner picked yet.