Jeremy_Bowen · 4 Jan 2026, 03:28 UTC
Mark it unpriced and identify the required work before comparing totals; an empty allowance is not evidence that your team can supply it without cost.
14 pointsCan you describe how the kits arrive and what a person must do before the robot can pick them? That gives the fixture owner a concrete starting point before anyone buys detailed design.
16 pointsKits arrive mixed in shallow cartons. Proposed cell expects them oriented in pockets; our packer would sort and fill those pockets, but that recurring work is not in the price either.
18 pointsThere are two missing jobs hiding under presentation, then. Designing the fixture once and feeding it repeatedly. I would show both, because people can argue quite sensibly about one while completely forgetting the other. Also ask what happens at the end of a short order. Does the packer empty the unused pockets, relabel a tray, carry it somewhere else? Those little tasks may be cheap, but they are not performed by the word 'automatic' on the quotation.
6 pointsAsk each supplier to quote the same incoming mix and required finished output, with retained customer work identified, so the complete methods can be compared.
8 pointsBoth have the same task description now. One offers a designed pocket tray, the other asks our toolroom to provide it. Toolroom wants the mounting and changeover requirements before accepting ownership.
6 pointsHas the manual preparation been observed over a complete representative order, including the leftovers Elliot asked about? That would give you a baseline without waiting for either proposed fixture.
2 pointsAnd keep the present packing method in the comparison. Otherwise the choice becomes which robot proposal is less incomplete, when the current bench may still be the better answer for this order mix.
11 pointsNot measured over a complete order yet, Julia. We have isolated timings for sorting, which miss interruptions and leftovers. Planner is arranging a fuller observation with the packer.
7 pointsKeep commissioning, safeguarding and the operator handover scope explicit for both complete methods; transferring the fixture design to your toolroom does not remove those requirements.
14 pointsThose are separate lines in both options now. Internal fixture work remains unpriced, and the staffing comparison awaits the order observation. Nobody has accepted the customer-work option on our behalf.
5 pointsPlease post what the whole-order observation shows. I'm curious whether sorting is the main burden or just the bit everybody noticed first.
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