Checklist
Robot pilot checklist: 60 to 90 days before you scale
A good robot pilot is small, timed and measured: one job, one area, one robot type, 60 to 90 days, and success criteria written down before the robot arrives.
Decide up front what you will measure, who owns the pilot, and what happens if it works or fails.
Use the checklist below, then contact Brighter Robots to plan yours.
Brighter Robots helps businesses find the right robot for their operation. Specialized AI agents research the options, check the vendors and run the numbers for manufacturing, warehouses and restaurants. You approve every step.
What is a robot pilot?
A pilot is a time-boxed trial of a real robot doing a real job in your building, with a baseline to compare against. It is not a vendor demo, and it is not the first phase of a rollout you have already committed to.
The output is a decision: scale, adjust or stop. A pilot that cannot end in "stop" is a purchase, not a pilot.
Why do pilots fail?
- No baseline. Nobody measured the job before the robot, so nobody can say what changed.
- Too many variables. New robot, new process, new layout and new software all at once.
- No owner. The robot belongs to "operations" and so to nobody.
- Site surprises. Wireless gaps, a ramp, a door, a floor seam or a dark corner the robot cannot see.
- Wrong job. The robot works, but the job it does was never the bottleneck. Start with how to find the right robot.
- Open-ended terms. No end date, and a contract that quietly becomes a rollout.
How to prepare: before the robot arrives
Pick one job and one area
Name the flow, the start point, the end point and the shift. Everything else is out of scope for this pilot.
Measure the baseline
Record today’s numbers for that job for at least a couple of weeks: units per hour, steps per shift, errors, overtime, damage. Keep the method simple enough to repeat.
Write the success criteria
Two or three measurable targets, agreed by operations, finance and the vendor. Write the "stop" condition too.
Name the owner and the crew
One accountable owner, the operators who will work with the robot, and who the vendor calls when something stops.
Walk the site with the vendor
Floor, slopes, aisle width, doors, lighting, charging location, wireless coverage, and where people cross. Fix what you can before day one.
Settle safety and IT
Risk assessment, speed and zone settings, emergency stops, network access and data handling. Ask which standard the robot is tested against.
Agree the commercial terms
Start date, end date, what is included, what happens to the hardware at the end, and the price of scaling if it works. No long commitment hidden inside a pilot.
How to run it: during the pilot
Keep the process stable
Change one thing at a time. If you must change the layout or the software, note the date so the numbers can be read.
Log every stop
What stopped the robot, where, how long, who fixed it. Patterns in this log are the most useful output of a pilot.
Review weekly
Owner, operators and vendor, same time each week. Compare to baseline, read the stop log, decide the next week’s fixes.
Ask the operators
The people working next to the robot know first whether it helps. Ask them what they would change.
How to decide: after the pilot
Compare to the criteria
Did it hit the targets? Partly? Separate "the robot could not" from "we did not set it up well".
Model the scale case
Upfront cost, monthly cost and payback for the number of robots a rollout would need. For your numbers, contact us.
Decide: scale, adjust or stop
A clear "stop" after 90 days is a good outcome. It cost one pilot instead of a rollout.
Brighter Robots plans and runs pilots as step five of how it works: which robot, where, for how long, and what counts as success. If you are still choosing between robot types, start with AMR vs AGV or the warehouse robot guide.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a robot pilot run?
60 to 90 days is a practical range. Shorter pilots rarely cover a full cycle of normal and busy weeks. Longer ones drift into a rollout without a decision.
How many robots should a pilot use?
As few as can do one job on one flow. One robot arm or a handful of mobile robots is typical. The goal is a clean comparison, not coverage.
Should we pay for a pilot?
Often yes, and that is fine if the terms are clear: fixed length, what is included, and what scaling costs. Be wary of free pilots tied to long commitments.
What should we measure?
Whatever the job costs you today: units per hour, steps or travel per shift, errors, damage, overtime and robot uptime. Pick two or three and measure them the same way before and during.
What if the vendor wants a long contract?
Ask for a pilot term with a priced option to scale. If a vendor will not separate the two, that tells you something about the risk they expect you to carry.