Clarify scope before supplier calls
Before you call an automation integrator
Most integrator calls start too early: a robot brand, a photo of the station, and three companies asked to price a job that operations, engineering, and finance still describe differently.
This page is the step those calls skip. Clarify the plant-floor job first. Then write the RFQ. Then choose who builds it. Innovation Peer is an advisor in Woodbridge, Ontario — not the company that designs, installs, or commissions the cell.
The problem the search is really about
Plant managers looking for robotic welding, CNC tending, palletizing, or an AMR often land on an integrator because that is who publishes the phrase. The useful first question is whether this station is ready to be priced.
If the process boundary is still a sentence, every quote will be for a different machine. That is an unclear job, and a clearer scope fixes it before anyone is hired.
When you are ready to call — and when you are not
You are ready for a shortlist when you can name where the automated work starts and stops, the rate including the peak, what is presented to the station, and what you will leave out: building work, the upstream machine, taxes, and a multi-year service contract.
You are not ready when the owner of the project is unsettled, when you cannot say what success is in plant language, or when you are hoping the integrator will discover the process for you. A free process review is the step before that call. It is a one-page summary — feasibility, gaps, options, and next step — not a booked installation.
What to collect before the RFQ
Photos and a sketch are enough to start. These are the facts that make two proposals comparable. If an item is unknown, write unknown.
- Process boundary and the outcome you actually want
- Part, case, or load: size, weight, and the families that must run
- Average and peak rate, and the shift pattern
- Interfaces you will not change: machine doors, conveyors, aisles, and IT
- Site limits: footprint, ceiling, power, air, fumes, and pedestrians
- Explicit exclusions, so a low number cannot quietly drop guarding or commissioning
What this is not
Innovation Peer does not install the system, does not rank Ontario integrators, and does not run a pay-to-rank directory. Vendor pages are a lookup. Introductions happen only after you approve what is shared.
Published CAD ranges on the cost pages are planning support for specific examples. They are not a budget to paste into an RFQ, and they are not a price an integrator owes you.
Related pages
Questions
Is Innovation Peer an integrator?
No. We help you clarify one plant-floor project before supplier conversations. Design, build, and commissioning stay with the integrator you choose.
Should I send an RFQ before a free review?
Only if you can already fill the checklist on this page. If the boundary, the rate, or the exclusions are still blank, the review is the earlier step.
Will you introduce us to suppliers?
Only after you approve what is shared. Requesting a review does not authorize that introduction.
Request a free process review
If you are about to call integrators and the process is still a paragraph, request a free process review of one job first. We will not be the company that installs it.