I proposed an FR5 enclosure-unloading pilot and priced the arm and gripper. My colleague asked who makes the nest and babysits the trial. Apparently I'd budgeted his patience. How would you bound this properly?
Why does my cheap FR5 pilot need everyone else's spare time?
ZaraBell0656 · 25 Jul 2025, 07:57 UTC
19 replies
Replying to ZaraBell0656
What decision should the pilot answer, and what is the smallest representative job that would let both of you make that decision?
23pointsReplying to SamBarnes0594
Whether it saves attended time on one repeat enclosure job. Not whether we can make an arm move. We've already seen that bit.
12pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
Then price the nest first. It won't machine itself out of enthusiasm.
9pointsReplying to AmyAllen0293
Toolroom wants actual enclosure samples before estimating it. I've arranged those. Their time goes in the pilot cost, yes.
15pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
Include a way to change worn contact bits without remaking the nest. A cheap trial fixture can be sensible, but not if every little fault becomes a new machining job.
20pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
Have you measured the current attended time, including preparing and clearing the trays? Otherwise the pilot may improve against a baseline that omits the same work.
10pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
We once borrowed a technician for a trial because it would only take a little while. He ended up finding missing fittings, making a support, explaining the display and staying beside the operator for the first attempts. The transfer itself was quick. When his manager asked where the afternoon had gone, nobody had written it down. I'd give someone the boring job of recording help as it happens, including help from people who wander over and then disappear before the debrief. It is very easy to remember only the person standing at the screen.
10pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
Who is authorised to stop the trial when its agreed time or spending limit is reached?
20pointsReplying to HarishAllen0315
Sam, my colleague and I will both be able to stop the trial. Harish, baseline is just the unloading task so far. We're extending it to the whole repeat order.
19pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
Include recovery. My clean-run handover missed exactly the work that kept calling me back.
14pointsReplying to RobinBennett0773
I wouldn't design a production nest for a question a rough trial can answer.
6pointsReplying to AmyAllen0293
Neither would I, Amy. Replaceable contacts aren't a request for a gold-plated fixture; I'm trying to avoid binning it at the first pad change.
19pointsReplying to RobinBennett0773
Toolroom offered a basic trial nest with replaceable contacts. We're reviewing it with the integrator. Grace, we've added outside help to the time sheet, even when nobody charges our budget.
13pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
Will you distinguish setup assistance from assistance needed on every order? Both cost time, but they affect the longer-term estimate differently.
7pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
Thanks, Zara. And count your own time too, because I was the person quietly omitting mine in that story.
8pointsReplying to HarishAllen0315
Grace, yes, my time goes in too. Setup goes in one column, recurring work in another. We have a spending cap and a review point, not an automatic promise to buy the cell.
7pointsReplying to ZaraBell0656
What result would make you stop pursuing it?
18pointsReplying to HanaBennett0709
That needs agreeing before the result arrives, especially if it saves a few seconds but needs continuous attendance.
5pointsReplying to HanaBennett0709
If it can't reduce attended time on the whole order without shifting the work elsewhere, we stop. Colleague agreed. Trial hasn't run yet, but he's willing to help now the request has an end.
14pointsDiscussion closed
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