A Five-Step Approach to Derisking Your Custom Automation Investment

The stakes are high when pursuing a custom automation project: sunk capital, missed time-to-market or, worse yet, the “solution” doesn’t solve the problem by providing meaningful cost savings or throughput. If you need to automate, how do you get it right?

Nobody needs a “Houston, we have a problem” moment.

A successful ─ and less stressful ─ automation project involves a systematic approach that clearly integrates your goals at every step of development. The method summarized below is designed to validate assumptions early, transform unknowns into actionable data, and align engineering with expected business outcomes.

The result is functional and efficient automation that works for your unique challenge. Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Definition and Market Review

Every engagement begins by understanding the business case. Is there justification for this project? This includes gathering operational and process data as well as quantifying manufacturing losses/gaps. Your automation partner should be out on the production floor studying the operation and asking probing questions to carefully define the problem and envision next steps.

With a solid grasp of the ask, the market for off-the-shelf equipment solutions is then researched and benchmarked for proven OEM technologies. If a fit exists, it’s integrated. If not, custom automation is considered.

Step 2: Concept Development

In creative workshops that involve a multi-disciplinary team, potential solutions are generated and immediately evaluated against real-world constraints including mechanical, utilities, electrical/controls, and structural considerations. Concepts are reviewed for risk versus reward and technical feasibility, ensuring that a range of pathways and trade-offs are clearly presented. Cost ranges are discussed with you, and boundaries established for planning purposes.

Step 3: Proof of Principle

Now, it’s time to test assumptions and evaluate the concept(s). During this phase, one or two concepts are carried into targeted experimentation. Product behavior often leads to unpredictable physics requiring physical prototyping. Physical prototyping and engineering analysis are used to prove concepts and identify critical operating conditions.

Utilizing finite element analysis for stress and modal vibrations, kinematic motion analysis, kinetics diagrams, and timing diagrams, engineers can often assess how the concept will behave. Physical prototyping and analysis allow engineers to de-risk the boldest aspects of the design before spending significant capital. A more detailed cost is determined at this stage.

Step 4: Engineering and Execution

Once the principle is validated, our teams translate it into engineered equipment. Design packages are developed in detail, component requirements are precisely sized, and controls logic is programmed. Fabrication is done under engineering oversight, and clients confirm performance during factory acceptance testing. Expect to see detailed 3D CAD assemblies, bill of materials and spare parts, PLC and HMI programming, virtual controls simulations, and testing protocols emerging from this phase.

Step 5: Realization

The final step is plant-floor realization, which includes shipment and installation of equipment as well as integration, commissioning, and training. Leading equipment providers will offer startup support, maintenance instructions, and warranty coverage. When partnering with Foth, this phase includes validation, so you will know that your first-of-a-kind automation equipment or system works in your operation as intended.

Foth’s Serial 1 Automation Stands Out

Most OEMs engineer for replication. We engineer for differentiation. As consulting engineers, our mandate is not to sell equipment, but to deliver solutions to your toughest science and engineering challenges. We provide a competitive advantage through our client-centric process, supplying more than just a machine that drives savings and revenue.

Our clients own the design and intellectual property of Serial 1 equipment, including the ability to leverage it strategically. Without OEM dependency, you are free to replicate or modify equipment as your needs evolve.

Beyond our process and design expertise, our clients find end-to-end capabilities in-house:

• 40-plus engineers, designers, and project managers dedicated to developing custom equipment for some of the biggest CPG and light industrial manufacturers in the U.S.
• Mechanical, electrical, controls and integration specialists under one roof.
• Extensive experience in high-volume food and beverage, industrial, and consumer goods environments.
• Part of a broad organization with expertise in construction, facilities, process, packaging, and logistics, ensuring infrastructure is never an afterthought.
• A brand-agnostic, engineering-first approach: We don’t push a product. We design the right solution.

Key Takeaways

Combining structured business case analysis, ideation, proof-of-principle testing, and well-rounded implementation, Serial 1 Automation enables you to utilize equipment made for your operation’s unique use, thus maximizing opportunity while minimizing risk exposure. Engaging with developers early prevents rework and drives value creation. By partnering with a firm that gives ownership of intellectual property to you, you can turn automation into more than a machine. Serial 1 Automation becomes a long-term competitive advantage.