One of the most common questions we get from engineering managers and operations directors is some version of: "We want to automate this process. What is it going to cost us?" It is a reasonable question, and frustrating to be told it depends without any useful context to work with.
This article gives you that context. We will break down typical UK costs by project type, explain what drives price variation, and help you understand the difference between the models integrators use to price their work. None of this replaces a proper scoping conversation, but it will give you a realistic starting point before you pick up the phone.
Why Automation Costs Vary So Much
The honest answer is that factory automation projects span an enormous range. A simple PLC upgrade on a standalone machine is a fundamentally different scope to integrating a six-axis robotic welding cell into an existing production line. Both are automation projects. One might cost £15,000 and take three weeks; the other might be a £400,000 programme running over six months.
The variables that matter most are:
- Mechanical complexity: how many axes, actuators, conveyors, or robot arms are involved
- Integration depth: does the new system need to talk to an existing MES, ERP, or SCADA platform
- Site conditions: working in a live production environment, or a greenfield install
- Safety requirements: CE marking, functional safety assessment (ISO 13849), guarding design
- Hardware specification: branded PLCs (Siemens, Allen-Bradley, Beckhoff) carry very different costs to generic alternatives
- Engineering hours: design, programming, commissioning, and documentation all add up
Rule of thumb: For most mid-sized UK manufacturers, a properly scoped automation project runs somewhere between £30,000 and £500,000. Projects under £20,000 tend to be targeted retrofits or single-machine upgrades. Projects over £500,000 are typically full-line redesigns or multi-cell installations.
Typical Costs by Project Type
The table below gives realistic engineering-led estimates for the most common project types we work on. These figures include design, programming, commissioning, and documentation, but not hardware procurement unless stated. Hardware is usually purchased directly by the client or passed through at cost.
| Project Type | Typical Range (Engineering) | Typical Duration | Key Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLC retrofit / upgrade (single machine) | £8,000 – £25,000 | 2–6 weeks | Code complexity, migration risk |
| SCADA development or upgrade | £15,000 – £60,000 | 4–12 weeks | Tag count, historian, reporting requirements |
| Single robot cell (programming + integration) | £20,000 – £80,000 | 4–10 weeks | Path complexity, tooling, vision systems |
| Conveyor system design and commissioning | £25,000 – £120,000 | 6–16 weeks | Length, sortation logic, throughput rate |
| Robotic palletising cell (full turnkey) | £80,000 – £250,000 | 10–20 weeks | Robot + hardware included; SKU count, pallet patterns |
| Electrical design (panel + schematics) | £5,000 – £40,000 | 2–8 weeks | Panel count, circuit complexity, ATEX requirements |
| Virtual commissioning programme | £10,000 – £45,000 | 3–10 weeks | Model fidelity required, simulation platform |
| Full production line automation | £150,000 – £600,000+ | 16–52 weeks | Scope, vendor coordination, safety, civil works |
These figures assume standard UK day rates for experienced automation engineers and are based on projects we have delivered across automotive, FMCG, logistics, and life sciences. Your project may sit above or below these ranges depending on the factors described above.
What Drives the Price Up
Understanding what inflates a quote gives you leverage when scoping. The most common cost drivers we see are:
Working in a live production environment
If the line cannot stop, engineering work moves to nights and weekends. That adds shift premiums, extends the overall programme, and requires more rigorous risk assessment before any intervention. A project that would cost £40,000 in a clean shutdown window can easily reach £65,000 when squeezed around production hours. If you can give your integrator planned downtime, it pays for itself.
Legacy control systems with no documentation
Inheriting a PLC programme written fifteen years ago with no comments, no functional design specification, and no electrical drawings is a material risk. Engineers have to reverse-engineer the logic before they can safely modify or replace it. On complex machinery, that discovery phase alone can run to 10–15 days of engineering time.
Scope creep
Automation projects have a habit of expanding once the system is being built. The client sees what is possible and reasonably asks for additional features. Additional I/O points, extra interlocks, new HMI screens, modified reject handling. These are all legitimate improvements, but each one costs time. The best protection is a thorough functional design specification agreed before programming begins.
Safety and compliance requirements
CE marking a machine, conducting a functional safety assessment to ISO 13849, or designing to ATEX standards for hazardous environments all add meaningful cost. This is non-negotiable engineering work, not a margin builder. Budget for it from the start.
The projects that run over budget almost always had one thing in common: the scope was not properly defined at the start. A well-written functional design specification is not overhead. It is the single best investment you can make before a line goes live.
What You Can Control
Cost is not entirely outside your influence. These are the decisions that consistently produce better value:
- Define the scope clearly before going to market. Vague briefs produce wide, risk-padded quotes. The more specific your requirements, the more accurately an integrator can price the work.
- Standardise on a PLC platform. If your site already runs Siemens S7, sticking with it across new projects reduces programming time, spares complexity, and ongoing maintenance cost. Mixing platforms costs money across the whole asset lifecycle.
- Plan your shutdown windows early. Giving your integrator eight hours versus forty-eight hours to commission a system is a significant cost difference. Coordinate planned maintenance shutdowns with project timelines.
- Invest in documentation. A well-documented system is cheaper to modify, cheaper to maintain, and cheaper to hand over to a different contractor later. Insist on it as a deliverable.
- Consider virtual commissioning for complex projects. Front-loading the commissioning work in simulation, before the physical kit is on site, consistently reduces live commissioning time and the associated risk. For multi-cell or high-throughput lines, the investment in a virtual model typically pays back within the same project.
Not sure what your project should cost?
We offer a free line review for UK manufacturers. No commitment, no sales pressure. We will walk your process with you and give you an honest view of scope, risk, and realistic budget before you commit to anything.
Book a Free Line Review →Day Rate vs Fixed Price vs Design-and-Build
How your integrator prices the work matters as much as the headline number. The three most common models are:
Time and materials (day rate)
You pay for actual hours worked at an agreed day rate. This is appropriate when the scope is not fully defined, or when you want flexibility to evolve the brief during the project. The risk sits with you. If the project takes longer than estimated, you pay more. The upside is that you are not paying a risk premium for uncertainty the integrator cannot quantify.
Fixed price
The integrator prices a defined scope and delivers it for a fixed sum. Changes outside that scope are managed via a formal change control process. Fixed price works well when the specification is tight and stable. It gives you budget certainty, but only if you hold the scope. Every change request is a commercial conversation.
Design-and-build (turnkey)
The integrator takes responsibility for the full delivery: design, hardware procurement, build, programming, commissioning, and handover. This is the highest-cost model in headline terms, but it concentrates risk and coordination with a single party. For organisations without in-house project management resource, the total cost of ownership can be lower than managing a multi-vendor programme in-house.
Duke's approach: We work across all three models depending on what serves the project best. For early-stage scoping and feasibility, time and materials gives you honest answers without inflated contingency. For well-defined programmes, fixed price gives you budget control. We are transparent about which model fits which situation.
Getting an Accurate Quote
To get a quote you can actually rely on, your integrator needs the following as a minimum:
- A description of the process being automated, covering throughput targets, product variants, cycle time requirements
- Existing electrical drawings or a site survey, if available
- Any constraints: production hours, access restrictions, preferred PLC platform
- A clear statement of what success looks like: what does the system need to do, and how will you measure it
- The procurement model: are you buying hardware directly, or passing it through the integrator
With that information, a competent integrator can produce a structured estimate with clear inclusions and exclusions. Without it, any number you receive is a guess dressed up as a quote.
The Cost of Not Automating
One thing worth putting alongside these numbers: the cost of the status quo. Labour costs in UK manufacturing continue to rise. Skilled operators are harder to recruit and retain than they were five years ago. Throughput constrained by manual processes does not scale. Defects caused by fatigue or inconsistency carry quality and warranty cost.
A robotic palletising cell at £150,000 that replaces two operator positions pays back in under two years at current wage rates, and then delivers returns for fifteen or twenty years of asset life. The question for most manufacturers is not whether automation makes financial sense. It is which projects to prioritise first and how to execute them without disrupting production in the meantime.
If you are at that scoping stage, we are worth talking to. Duke Control Systems works across automotive, FMCG, logistics, and life sciences. Our free line review exists precisely to help you answer those questions before you commit budget.