Our vacuum quotation tests a loose panel, not the stack

Neither has our panels, Gabriel. They received the drawing and a photograph of the stack. The holding photograph uses a loose sample they already had.

Then the dearer option hasn't demonstrated separation either.

Agreed, Clara. I would not award it on the separator's name. I want equivalent proposed work priced so Sara can see which uncertainty each quote actually covers.

Could send a small untouched stack first, cheaper than discovering somebody's test panels were all lovingly peeled apart.

Are these panels packed with paper between them, Sara? Our receiving photo once hid that detail completely and the quoted handling method assumed bare parts.

Any film on the faces, or bare metal?

Would the proposed single-panel check distinguish a second panel hanging unevenly below the first?

Rebecca and Steven: no paper, but protective film on one face. The shallow folded edges nest. That detail is on the drawing; the film is only in our purchase description.

I'd send the purchase description too. Actually, send the relevant packing section rather than the whole commercial file. They could build something very convincingly around the wrong incoming condition.

And keep a few panels in their received state, Sara, so whoever loads the machine later isn't quietly expected to separate and straighten every stack beforehand.

What is the destination support? The quotation may finish at 'panel held', while your assembly fixture needs the tool to release without letting a corner drop

Leah's point could change the layout, not just the cups. A broad support under the panel might help during release, but only if the assembly work can still reach it. I would put that conversation beside the separation trial, not wait until the tool arrives.

Leah, the destination has four corner supports in the current sketch. The assembly designer has not agreed the middle support yet. I have added him to the quotation review.

Four corners on a sketch says very little about a thin middle.

True, but we don't know the span or formed stiffness either. Let the designer work with the actual panel before we prescribe a fifth support from here.

The suppliers now have the same packing description. One has included a trial with our nested panels. The other still offers a loose-panel holding test. I have asked for that difference to be priced explicitly.

Worth asking who separates the trial stack before you arrive. Sounds daft. It isn't.

We will supply a packed stack for the trial, Sam. Thank you for that distinction. It is now in the trial description, along with the destination support review.