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38 / July 2021 powderbulk.com HOW TO WORK WITH EQUIPMENT VENDORS — PART II Project engineers are often asked to select vendors and work with them to install new equipment. These projects can have a long-lasting impact on the success of the company and the engineer's career. This two-part article describes how to success- fully work with an equipment vendor. Part I of this article, which appeared in the June issue of PBE, provided suggestions, along with dos and don'ts, to help make choosing and working with a vendor successful. Part II explains the necessary project services that go along with building your system and describes how to choose a vendor. Todd Smith, K-State Bulk Solids Innovation Center installation simple, you'll get a better price. That's because if the installation has uncertainty or looks difficult, then any installer will charge more or ask to do it on a time and material (T&M) basis rather than a fixed cost. Site work, civil work, and foundations: Site and civil work includes grading, excavating, soil testing, pouring concrete, building roads and accessways, and the like. Equipment suppliers aren't typically experi- enced with this type of work, so you're usually better off if you buy these services from a local construction company. They'll also know local soil conditions and how to manage local permits and paperwork. You'll need to get loading information from the equipment supplier and give it to the engineer who will design the foundations to ensure that they'll be able to support the equipment loads. Dismantling and rearrangement: Equipment dis- mantling and rearrangement (D&R) entails removing any old equipment or rearranging your equipment setup before installing new items. If you have to do this, it'll cost you. It's difficult for installation compa- nies to estimate the cost; therefore, they'll often want to bid it on a T&M basis rather than setting a fixed price. I n Part I of this article, we talked about the equipment part of a bulk solids handling project, but a project requires many services as well. Project services that you'll need Project services you'll need include equipment installation; site work, civil work, and foundations; equipment dismantling and rearrangement; layout and arrangement drawings; inspections or factory acceptance tests; system startup and commissioning; operator and process engineer training; and owner's manuals and document sets. You can subcontract some of these services separately if you want, but other services should certainly be included in your primary equipment vendor's scope of supply. Installation: Other than the cost of the equipment itself, installation is probably the most expensive and important part of your project. If your equipment scope includes expensive, high-value equipment, such as a mixer and loss-in-weight feeders, then installation may account for only 25 percent of the equipment costs. But if you're buying a lot of lower-cost equipment, such as a conveying system and storage vessels made of carbon steel, then the installation can run 50 to 70 percent of the equipment costs. It's okay to buy the installation services separately from the equipment — especially if you have some experience managing projects and know a good local installer. But make sure your installer has experience with your project's equipment type. On the other hand, many equipment suppliers will add installation to their scope if you ask them, which will make it easier for you and will reduce your risk of an incorrect installation since they know what they're doing and will take the entire responsi- bility. But the system supplier's installation may cost 15 percent more than buying it from a dedicated local installer. Finally, if you do what you can to make the Asking your vendor to perform a factory acceptance test verifying that your equipment is built and operating according to design specs is a reasonable request. However, if you want any testing of your actual equipment, then don't be surprised if they add a hefty fee.