GUIDE
Two feeders that look identical in a catalog can land far apart once they're tooled, integrated, and proven on your part. That's why we don't publish a price list: any number on this page would be wrong for most builds. What we can show you is what moves the number, in the order it usually matters.
The part sets the floor
Feeding is a per-part engineering problem. A simple, rugged part that orients easily needs simple tooling. A part that tangles, nests, or scratches needs gentler handling and more engineering to feed reliably, and that shows up in the quote whichever feeding technology you pick. Fragile or cosmetic parts usually push you off tooled bowls and toward vision-guided flexible feeding, which costs more up front and wins some of it back on changeover.
Variants multiply tooling, or they become software
On a custom-tooled vibratory bowl, each part variant needs its own tooling, and a changeover is a hardware swap with downtime. On a flexible feeder, a new variant is a software recipe. So the number of part numbers moves the two in opposite directions: more variants make a bowl program more expensive and barely touch a flexible feeder program. If you run one part that never changes, at high volume, the bowl keeps its price advantage and we'll tell you so.
Rate decides how many feeders you're buying
If one feeder comfortably makes your rate, you're buying one system. If the rate sits at the top of what one feeder can do, it becomes two feeders, a bigger platform, or a buffer between the feeder and the line. Spec the rate the line needs. Headroom you'll never use is one of the more expensive lines on the sheet.
The environment can outweigh everything above
Cleanroom class, washdown, and food contact each constrain materials and finishes, and sometimes they rule out a feeding technology altogether. A certified rating to a specific ISO cleanroom class is a narrower claim than "cleanroom suitable," so ask for it by name. If your room is validated to a class, bring that up in the first conversation, because it can change which hardware is even quotable.
What the feeder hands off to
A feeder rarely stands alone. When it presents parts to a robot, the vision, the gripper, and the guarding belong in the project budget even though none of them is the feeder. This is where quotes drift furthest apart, because each vendor draws the line in a different place. When you compare quotes, compare the handoff: what arrives oriented, where, and what still has to happen after that.
What a feed study is for
Before anyone commits, a feed study runs your parts on the proposed hardware and shows whether they feed at rate. Send the difficult lot along with the good one. It's cheap insurance against the most expensive failure in feeding, which is finding out after installation that the part never fed reliably.
When you don't need a feeder at all
Some parts don't justify a feeder. Trays, magazines, and gravity tracks are real answers at low rates, and if one of those covers your application we'll say so.
You leave knowing which five things about your part will move a feeding quote, and how to line two quotes up so they compare.
WHAT WE REPRESENT
The lines M6 represents for this application
- Bellco Feeders: custom vibratory bowls, step feeders, in-line tracks, and hoppers that get one part to the same place every cycle, at rate.
- Asyril: vibration-based flexible feeding with EYE+ vision for small, delicate, and high-mix parts.
- FlexiBowl by ARS: rotary-disc flexible feeding with vision for lines where the part changes often.
- Weber: step feeding matched to automated screwdriving.
KEEP READING
Related guides and pages
COMMON QUESTIONS
Common questions
What does a parts feeding system cost?
It depends on the part, the number of variants, the rate, and the environment, which is why we don't publish a price list. Tell us the part and the application and we'll get you a budgetary number you can plan around.
Is a bowl feeder or a flexible feeder cheaper?
For one part that never changes, run at high volume, a custom-tooled bowl usually wins on cost and raw rate. For parts that change often, tangle, or scratch easily, a flexible feeder usually costs less over the life of the line. We carry both, so the recommendation follows your part.
Why did two feeder quotes for the same part come back so different?
Usually scope. One quote includes the vision, the integration, and a feed study, and the other covers the feeder alone. Line them up by what arrives oriented at the pick point and the gap usually explains itself.