How to compare palletizer quotes: scope, lead time, FAT, safety, training and maintenance contract

Did you send the same data to all three suppliers? If one got the layout and another only the case weight, you have three prices for three different machines. Before you work out how to compare palletizer quotes, check what you asked for.

What data should I send to get a palletizer quote?

Kaufman Engineered Systems, a manufacturer and integrator based in Ohio, publishes the eight data points it asks for before quoting (checked November 3, 2026):

1. Plant layout, with columns, ceiling height and forklift access.
2. All stacking patterns.
3. Dimensions and weight of each product.
4. Case type and cases per minute by product.
5. Pallet size and material.
6. Materials between layers: slip sheets, top caps, corner boards.
7. Case orientation at the infeed.
8. Where the conveyor starts and where it ends.

For a plant in Mexico, add shifts per day, peak speed, the maximum height your truck or your rack allows, available voltage and air, and whether the area handles food. You can get the stacking pattern from the cases-per-pallet calculator and the pallet and stacking guide. If you still do not know whom to write to, the company directory has what each one publishes. Send the same data package to all suppliers so their prices can be compared.

What a palletizer quote should include

This is the sheet we would use to review any proposal, ours included.

Separate costs exist and get published. The StackOrder sheet from Bastian Solutions, now part of Toyota Automated Logistics, starts at US$110,000 and adds scanners (US$15,000), bases (US$4,500), a larger end-of-arm tool (US$5,000) and start-up with training (US$5,000), at May 2024 prices. Atlas Robots makes clear that its prices are ex-factory, excluding VAT, installation and transport (checked November 3, 2026). Ask in writing about every missing line item before comparing prices.

Kaufman publishes US$175,000 to US$550,000 per system and attributes that to six factors: plant layout, gripper, customer specifications, control architecture, safety and case infeed. There is more on that in what moves the price of a robotic palletizer.

Every quote leaves something for your plant to cover. The usual items are floor and anchoring, electrical service, compressed air, forklift unloading, line downtime for the tie-in and product for testing. The StackOrder sheet, for example, calls for 8 CFM of air at 80 PSI and 120 V at 20 A in its base version. Ask for that list in writing, with dates.

When does the lead time start counting?

Three public lead times show why you have to ask. CSi palletising announces 6 weeks for its s-Pal, without saying whether that includes installation or applies to Mexico (September 29, 2026). Atlas Robots says its compact cells are delivered in 3 months, from Spain (checked November 3, 2026). At Target Robotics we give 12 weeks.

Those numbers can only sit side by side with four dates next to them: down payment, approved drawings, FAT and signed SAT. Ask that the contract state which event stops the clock and what happens if each party runs late. If your plant takes time to approve drawings or to finish the civil work, ask whether the date moves and by how much.

What gets tested in the FAT and what in the SAT?

The FAT (factory acceptance test) happens at the supplier’s shop before shipping; Vention, which publishes a checklist for palletizers, sums it up as confirming that the machine works, performs and meets its specification. The SAT (site acceptance test) happens in your plant, with the machine installed and connected to your line. IEC 62381:2024 defines checklists for both in process automation, and it serves as a reference even though it was written for another industry.

Hybernya publishes how a FAT ran at its facilities, with the customer reviewing, for a bag cell (September 2025). CAV Robotics counts its one-year warranty from the SAT sign-off. Write the speed to be measured into the protocol.

Agree in advance how long the machine must hold that rate continuously and what counts as an acceptable stop.

What safety documents should I ask for?

Ask for the cell’s risk assessment, the safety functions with their performance level and their validation, diagrams and manuals. They serve what NOM-004-STPS-1999, Mexico’s machinery safety standard, requires of the employer: a potential risk study, a specific operation and maintenance program, and training (sections 5.2 to 5.4). For the cell, the reference is ISO 10218-2, 2025 edition; for the safety-related control parts, ISO 13849-1.

Watch two words. “In accordance with” is a statement by the manufacturer, backed by calculation and validation; “certified” requires a third party. UL has scopes too: according to UL Solutions, UL 508A covers the panel and leaves out the equipment it controls, while the complete machine goes under UL 2011 and robots and integrated cells under UL 1740. If someone writes “certified,” ask for the holder, the scope and the number. Palletizing cell safety requirements has the detail.

Training, warranty and contract: what you pay afterward

Standard Bots puts service contracts at US$3,000 to US$7,000 per year, and Automation Distribution, speaking of cobots, puts maintenance at 3% to 5% of the purchase price (both checked November 3, 2026). With that 3% to 5%, a US$100,000 cell adds US$15,000 to US$25,000 over five years (Target Robotics calculation with assumptions: fixed price and zero inflation).

On warranty, CSi publishes 3 years for the s-Pal and CAV 1 year from the SAT. On support, Toyota Automated Logistics defines its response times in the contract and CSi ties 24/7 to selected service agreements.

At Target Robotics the one-week course in our own lab, for groups of 6, comes included with the machine (Target Academy). The annual 24/7 maintenance contract covers preventive and corrective maintenance, training and spare parts, with about 20 hours per year per robot. Ask the same questions of any proposal: how many people the course is for, whether it is given at your plant or with a robot in a lab, and what each hour beyond the contract costs.

How to compare palletizer quotes on a single sheet

1. Put everything in the same currency, with and without IVA, and note the exchange rate.
2. Copy the 13 line items from the table and give each supplier a column.
3. Turn every empty cell into a question by email.
4. If one supplier charges separately for what another includes, add it at the price that supplier gave you.
5. Add five years of maintenance contract or upkeep.
6. Ask them to justify the most expensive equipment.

That last point comes from one of our own jobs. A customer asked for a very expensive 3D camera. We analyzed the application with the supplier, showed that a camera 5 to 10 times cheaper did the job and handed over the report, working more to earn less. The most expensive line item on a quote is open to discussion too.

Before the purchase order, ask for two documents: the FAT protocol with the speed to be measured and the list of recommended spare parts with prices.