Plan a robot program’s procurement questions
Prepare a quote-ready scope before asking for a proposal. Describe the intended program, exact operating setting, configuration, people, and support needed; then ask suppliers to separate one-time and recurring categories. This makes proposals easier to compare without assuming a price, funding source, savings, or return.
Scope the program before the quote
State the program purpose and intended users, the task or learning activities, where and how often the robot will operate, who will operate it, and what evidence will show that the program is ready. Identify the model and options under consideration, software access needed, expected integration, and any site or institutional conditions already known. Mark unknowns rather than filling them with assumptions.
Create a technical baseline that suppliers can answer against. List the required configuration and interfaces, what is included, what is optional, and which services or dependencies come from another party. Ask for model identifiers and software versions. If the proposal changes any assumption, require it to identify the change and its effect on scope. The U.S. Government Accountability Office cost-estimating guide recommends defining scope, schedule, technical baseline, work breakdown, assumptions, data, risks, and updates; it is general lifecycle and estimation guidance, not a required school procurement rule (GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide).
Map one-time and recurring categories
Use categories to request complete information. Leave the proposal field blank when the supplier has not provided a separately supported figure. Do not combine unlike items into one unexplained total.
One-time categories
- Robot and confirmed configuration — quoted amount: ______
- End effectors, sensors, compute, controllers, and other options — quoted amount: ______
- Delivery, handling, import or tax treatment, and site delivery conditions — quoted amount: ______
- Installation, configuration, commissioning, and acceptance support — quoted amount: ______
- Initial training, integration, documentation, and required software — quoted amount: ______
- Room, power, networking, storage, or security preparation — quoted amount: ______
- Initial spares or other required accessories — quoted amount: ______
Recurring categories
- Support, maintenance, inspections, and repairs — quoted amount: ______
- Software, license, cloud, connectivity, or account fees — quoted amount: ______
- Replacement parts, consumables, batteries, and calibration — quoted amount: ______
- Refresher training, integration help, and update support — quoted amount: ______
- Storage, transport, and ongoing facility or IT work — quoted amount: ______
Ask the supplier to mark each category included, excluded, optional, or unknown, and to state the period and assumptions for any recurring item. These are categories for a complete conversation, not predictions that every program will incur every item. Ask your procurement team which taxes, contracting terms, or cost fields its own process requires.
Ask about delivery and support
Request the proposed delivery contents, acceptance steps, configuration records, and manuals. Ask when the institution takes responsibility for storage, charging, updates, or routine maintenance. Clarify how support requests are submitted, what information the supplier needs to diagnose a problem, which tasks require a technician, and how replacement parts or software changes are handled. Confirm whether training includes the named operators and whether future staff turnover changes the support arrangement.
Ask suppliers to identify dependencies outside their proposal, such as a separate network, computer, license, installation service, or approved integration partner. Record the owner and status of each dependency. An excluded requirement should remain visible in the comparison rather than disappearing inside a headline total.
Prepare institutional review
Engage the institution’s procurement, finance, IT and security, privacy, legal, facilities, accessibility, and safety reviewers early enough to identify the information each needs. Ask whether cameras, microphones, remote access, accounts, cloud features, data collection, or firmware updates create review questions. Collect supplier documentation for those reviewers; do not treat a marketing statement as a substitute for a technical or policy assessment.
Record decision owners, required approvals, open questions, and the evidence needed to close them. GAO’s guide discusses estimating uncertainty and documenting assumptions, but local purchasing rules come from the institution and applicable public requirements—not from treating a federal guide as a school mandate.
Compare proposals on the same basis
Use a common scope sheet and ask each supplier to answer the same questions. Compare configuration, inclusions, exclusions, support, delivery assumptions, software access, recurring commitments, and unresolved items. Keep quoted amounts blank until an authorized proposal supplies them. Do not infer savings or return from a robot demonstration or from projected use that has not been measured.
When a proposal uses a different model or package, ask the supplier to map the difference to each must-have task. A lower total is not comparable if it omits a required interface, service, or accessory. Save the proposal date and document version, record who reviewed each assumption, and request a revised proposal when scope changes. The result should be an auditable decision record, not a guessed budget.
Method and limits
This worksheet applies general lifecycle-estimating practices to a robot-program planning conversation. The GAO source is broad guidance for cost estimation and management; it does not prescribe a school purchasing process. Have technical staff verify the proposed baseline and dependencies, and confirm institution-specific approval steps and required fields with the responsible staff. Supplier scope, model versions, and support terms can change. Maker-source check: October 20, 2026.