At Pioneer, system installation is an integral piece of our business. As a part of designing and building robotic and automation systems, installation is a requirement before a system is functional and deemed production worthy. Installation often does not include engineering startup support, debug, or on-site production support. We define installation as assembling the system at the customer’s facility prior to commissioning. These items are typically outlined during the sales process and the customer ultimately decides which options to include before the order is finalized. We design, build, and integrate systems across many various industries and facilities and typically these options are dictated by the specific facility and their capabilities and resources available. We offer everything from drop shipment with instructions to commissioning full turnkey systems for production.
Not only do we install our own design and build systems, we also install robotic paint systems through FANUC America. The first thing for an installation is to identify the scope of the install from the customer or contractor supplied RFQ. Once the scope of the installation is defined, we determine if it will be necessary for an on-site visit or if there are sufficient drawings and information supplied to provide an accurate quote.
There are (10) steps that can be used to put together a budgetary cost for an installation:
- Material for the installation; even for our design/build systems, it is paramount to determine we have the correct material and quantities needed for a proper installation. Coordinating power and air drops and those distances are a key part to providing an accurate quote.
- Equipment required; we often will need to supply a forklift or telehandler to safely unload the equipment and properly rig the robots to guide through the facility and into their final position.
- Is engineering support required? As an option we will provide engineering and startup support to commission the system.
- Cost for project management, trip preparation and planning, coordination/status update meetings; these are often costs that are often overlooked and not factored in but an important piece to staying on budget.
- Equipment and material loading, and any shipping cost. When installing one of our design/build systems, installation materials are shipped with the bulk of the system. If we are only providing installation, shipping costs will need to be factored in.
- Installation days (labor); estimated hours of each trade necessary to complete the installation.
- Travel for the installation crew; travel time, lodging, and meal per-diems will need to be factored in for all trips and personnel.
- Added cost if working over weekends and overtime; it is important to have a predetermined install date and duration to plan resources, overtime and weekend work can increase labor significantly if not factored in.
- Subcontractor cost if required; it does occur that we have resource and scheduling conflicts which we resort to supplementing subcontractor labor, this can also significantly increase labor costs if not factored in.
- Add the cost of the nine steps above, clearly define the scope of work included in the quote, add all the nine line items listed and you have a completed budgetary installation quote.
Contact sales@pis.us for all inquiries from robot installation to a complete turnkey system.
