80% of first-time automation projects fail.
The difference is readiness.
Start with Standard is how PITCO Engineering gets small and mid-sized manufacturers and logistics operations ready to automate. The plan, the standards, and the team ownership a project needs before the first panel is wired.
Automation fails before the first machine is installed
It is rarely the technology. First-time projects fall apart because the plant was not ready for one — no plan, no standards, no one inside the plant owning the work. What gets sold as a turnkey job is really an R&D project, and the line never runs the way the quote promised.
No standard to build on
Every project starts from a blank sheet. Naming, wiring, panel layouts, HMI screens, alarm structure, recipe handling — all decided ad hoc by whoever is on the job. Nothing carries from one machine to the next, so every line costs full price to engineer.
No realistic plan or ROI
The expectation is turnkey pricing and timelines for what is really an R&D effort. Without a plan tied to real numbers, budgets slip and the payback nobody actually calculated never shows up.
No one inside owns it
A project needs someone on staff who owns the scope, the decisions, and the handoff. Without that, integrators carry risk they will not price for — which is why serious integrators turn this work down, and why SME plants get left behind.
Start with Standard
Automation readiness, before you automate
Start with Standard is PITCO Engineering's program for getting a plant ready to automate. We take the decade of standardization work we have done for some of the largest manufacturers in the industry and bring it down to the scale of a small or mid-sized plant: a clear plan, a set of standards your team can build on, and the internal ownership a project needs to succeed.
It is not a software purchase, and it is not a sales pitch for a machine. It is the planning layer that turns automation from a gamble into a predictable project — one you can budget, staff, and trust.
Standards that are real engineering, not a workshop slide
Standards are only worth something if your integrators can build against them: actual naming conventions, panel and wiring standards, alarm structure, recipe handling — defined for your plant and your equipment. We work them out with your team so the first project, and every project after it, gets faster, cheaper, and more predictable.
What standardization does for your plant
A standard is not just paperwork for one project. Once your plant runs on one, the gains show up everywhere — in how you staff the floor, how you buy, and how you keep the line running.
Shorter RFQ and procurement cycles
With your standards already defined, an RFQ stops being a fresh engineering exercise every time. Scope, naming, and specifications are ready to hand to a vendor — so quotes come back faster, procurement moves quicker, and your next project starts sooner.
Better price control
A standard turns every quote from a guess into a known quantity. When integrators build to your defined naming, panels, and wiring, there is less to scope from scratch and less room for padded estimates — so you can compare bids on the same basis and hold pricing from one project to the next.
Leaner spare-part inventory
When your lines share the same drives, sensors, and components, you stock fewer unique parts and more shared ones. The same critical spare now covers several lines — carrying cost drops, and you are far less likely to be caught without the part you need.
Cross-trained operators and maintenance
When every line runs on the same HMI screens, the same alarm structure, and the same controls, your people are not tied to one machine. An operator or maintenance tech who knows one line can run and support the next, so coverage no longer rests on a single person.
From an assessment to a plant that's ready
Start with Standard runs as a clear sequence. It starts with an assessment. From there, two hands-on workshops give your team what it needs to standardize the plant itself — and if you would rather hand the build off, the last step is our done-for-you option. You decide how far to go.
Assessment
We walk your plant and your current process and give you a straight read on automation readiness: where the gaps are, what a realistic first project would cost and take, and whether the ROI is there. You get a clear picture whether or not you go any further.
Plan & standards
A hands-on, two-day workshop where your team learns to do the work. Together we build your plan and the standards your plant will run on — naming, panels, wiring, alarms, recipe handling — so your people know how it is done. You leave with a document your team and any integrator can build from.
Build the team
The second workshop puts ownership inside the plant. We train your operators, maintenance, and engineering and help you set up internal project ownership — so your team can run the standardization itself and support what gets installed.
Implement
Prefer not to do it yourself? This step is the done-for-you option. Instead of building your own standard, you can adopt ours — already developed and validated — and we handle the rollout. A full rollout to a plant that's ready typically takes five to seven months.
Step one is an assessment.
Request Your AssessmentBuilt for small and mid-sized manufacturers and logistics companies
If automation is on your roadmap but every quote feels like a gamble, Start with Standard gives you a plan and a number you can trust before you commit capital — and a realistic view of the return.
You are the ones who will live with whatever gets installed. Start with Standard puts the standards and the training in place so the line is something your team can actually run, support, and improve.
Start with Standard is built for manufacturers and logistics operations that want to automate once, properly — and keep building on it. Whether you're standardizing a whole plant or weighing your first project, it starts the same way: an honest read on where you stand.
Not sure where your plant stands? That's what the assessment is for.
Request Your AssessmentTen years of automation engineering —
now for your plant
Start with Standard is not a new company's idea. It is PITCO Engineering applying ten years of automation work for some of the largest manufacturers in the industry to the plants the industry has historically left behind.
A decade delivering automation projects for some of the largest manufacturers in the industry — the standardization experience Start with Standard is built on.
One vertically-integrated cold storage company cut electrical engineering from 22,000 hours to 800 once their work ran on a standard — an example of what standardization makes possible. Most plants can't self-standardize the way they did; that is why Start with Standard exists.
PITCO Engineering has done standardization work for companies like Tesla, Volkswagen, Blue Origin, and many others.
Common questions
We spend time at your plant and with your team, look at your current process and what you want to automate, and give you a straight read: the readiness gaps, a realistic cost and timeline for a first project, and whether the ROI is there. You come away with a clear picture — whether or not you work with us further.
No. The assessment stands on its own. Plenty of plants use it just to get an honest baseline before deciding anything.
No — that is the normal starting point, and it is part of what Start with Standard addresses. We help you put internal ownership in place and train your operators, maintenance, and engineering so the plant can run what gets installed.
The assessment is short. A planning workshop runs two days. A full standardization rollout for a plant typically runs five to seven months. You decide how far to go, and when.
We handle the planning and standardization — the assessment, the standards, and the plan — and we support your team through training and launch. We are not machine builders or system integrators ourselves. But we have a deep network of both, and we'll help you find the right ones for the project in front of you.
Request a Start with Standard assessment
Tell us a little about your plant. We'll get back to you to set one up — a straight read on what automating would really take, with no obligation to go further.
Why PITCO built Start with Standard
PITCO Engineering has spent ten years building automation for some of the largest manufacturers in the industry. Years ago, our team exhibited at the Automate show in Chicago. Dozens of small and mid-sized manufacturers came to the booth with the same frustration: they had talked to the larger integrators at the show, and no one wanted to work with them. They asked if we would. We said yes.
Over the next two years we visited dozens of small and mid-sized plants — general manufacturing, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, battery production, and more. We found the same pattern everywhere. These plants were not short on ambition. They were short on readiness — the planning, the standards, and the internal ownership a project needs before it even starts.
That gap is why most first automation projects fail, and why serious integrators avoid the work. Start with Standard is our answer: the decade of standardization experience we built for the largest manufacturers, applied to the plants that need it most.
If any of this sounds like your plant, start with an assessment.
Request Your Assessment