Special-purpose machines: how a custom machine goes from idea to installation
How a custom machine builder takes a special-purpose machine from brief to installation — the phases, what to prepare and why one roof matters.
A special-purpose machine is built for one job that no catalogue machine does well enough. A good custom machine builder takes it through six phases — brief, design for manufacturing, simulation, manufacturing, assembly and testing, installation — and the fewer hand-offs between those phases, the better the machine. We design the mechanics, electronics and controls ourselves, make the parts on our own floor in Prague, and install and service the result worldwide. This article walks through how that works and what you can prepare to make it go faster.
What makes a machine “special-purpose”
A catalogue machine is designed once and sold many times. Its maker spreads the engineering cost over hundreds of units and asks every customer to adapt to it. A special-purpose machine works the other way round: the machine adapts to your part, your process, your floor space and your operators.
That changes the engineering problem in a few ways:
- There is no previous unit to learn from. Every assumption has to be checked in the design and simulation phases, not discovered in the field.
- The first unit is the production unit. It has to be robust from day one, because there is no second iteration funded by series sales.
- Integration matters as much as the mechanism. The machine has to fit the line around it: material in, parts out, safety, data, maintenance access.
- Service is part of the design. A one-off machine is only as good as the team that can keep it running for years.
The term covers a wide range: an automated assembly station, a robot cell for a specific handling task, a test rig, a piece of field hardware. What they share is that someone has to design them from a requirement rather than pick them from a price list.
From idea to installation: the six phases
1. Brief and requirements
Everything starts with the job the machine has to do. We want to understand the part or product, the cycle you need, the process steps, the environment the machine will live in and who will operate it. At this stage the most useful thing is not a finished specification but an honest description of the problem — including what you have already tried.
The output is a requirement we both sign up to: what the machine must do, what it may not do, and how we will know it works.
2. Concept and design for manufacturing
Our design engineers turn the requirement into a concept in SolidWorks and Autodesk Fusion. Because the same team runs the shop floor, design for manufacturing (DfM) is not a separate review — it happens while the machine is being drawn. A frame is designed as bent and laser-welded sheet metal from the start; a bearing housing is designed to be finished in a single clamping; a complex bracket is designed for SLS rather than forced into a shape that needs a mould.
3. Simulation and validation
Before metal is cut, motion and reach are checked digitally. Robot paths are simulated in FANUC RoboGuide, so reach, cycle and collisions are known before a robot is ordered or a fixture is made. Sheet-metal geometry is tested against the downstream bend sequence in software before any material is committed. Problems found here cost an hour of engineering; the same problems found on the floor cost weeks.
4. Manufacturing in-house
This is where a custom machine builder with its own production differs most from one that only designs and outsources. Our chain runs under one roof:
| Step | How we make it |
|---|---|
| Frames, enclosures, panels | CNC punching, forming and in-plate threads on a TRUMPF TruMatic 1000; bending on a TruBend 5170 with automatic ToolMaster tool setup |
| Structural joints | Fibre-laser welding on FANUC CRX cobots — low heat distortion, laser pre- and post-cleaning in the same workflow |
| Precision mechanics | Turning, milling, drilling and tapping on a nine-axis Mazak INTEGREX in a single clamping; blanks cut on an automatic Kasto saw |
| Complex plastic parts | SLS in PA12 on an EOS FORMIGA P110 Velocis, finished on DyeMansion |
| Electronics and controls | Designed in-house alongside the mechanics |
Owning the chain means a design change on Tuesday can be a new part later in the week, without a new purchase order and a new supplier queue. More details on the equipment are on our technology page.
5. Assembly and testing
The machine is assembled and run on our floor before it ships. This is where the requirement from phase 1 earns its keep: the machine is tested against what we agreed it must do, with your parts wherever possible. Anything that does not meet the requirement is fixed here, where every tool and every engineer is a few metres away.
6. Installation and service
The machine is then installed at your site. Our team is the same team that designs PhotoRobot’s robots and installs them across the world, so installation abroad is routine work rather than an exception. After handover the machine stays supported — robustness and years of uptime are design goals, not a sales promise added at the end.
What to prepare for a machine brief
You do not need a specification to start a conversation. But the more of this you can share, the faster we can say whether and how the machine can be built.
- The part or product. Drawings, 3D models or physical samples, including the variants the machine has to handle.
- The process. What happens to the part today, step by step, and which steps the machine should take over.
- The cycle and volume. How many parts per shift or per year, and the cycle time you need.
- The interfaces. How material arrives and leaves, what equipment sits before and after, and what data the machine must exchange.
- The site. Floor space, access for installation, power and compressed air available, environmental conditions.
- The people. Who operates and maintains the machine, and how much they should have to touch it.
- Constraints and standards. Safety, hygiene or industry rules the machine has to meet in your market.
- The definition of done. How you will judge that the machine works — ideally as measurable acceptance criteria.
If some of this is unknown, say so. Helping you define it is part of the brief phase.
Why one roof matters
A special-purpose machine usually fails at the boundaries: between the designer and the fabricator, between mechanics and controls, between the builder and the team that has to install it. Every boundary is a place where an assumption gets lost.
When mechanical design, electronics, controls, sheet metal, CNC machining, welding and SLS are under one roof, those boundaries become conversations across the floor. It also means the machine is designed for the processes that will actually make it — which is usually where weight, part count and assembly time come down. If your project is less a machine and more a run of parts, see our guide to small-batch manufacturing.
What we have built
Our public references show the range. A trailer-mounted superstructure integrating a telescopic column with over 4 m of reach for installing AI camera systems. A handheld electrochemical cleaning pistol for removing weld discolouration and surface oxides from stainless steel. And the hardware behind PhotoRobot itself, redesigned for in-house automated production: FRAME V6 assembly went down to 2.5 days with one worker, and CUBE COMPACT assembly to 4 hours with one worker. See the work page for details.
FAQ
How is a custom machine different from adapting a standard one?
A standard machine with modifications keeps its original architecture and limits. A custom machine starts from your requirement, so the architecture itself is chosen for the job. Which is better depends on how far your need is from what the catalogue offers — that is one of the first things we assess.
Do you build only the mechanics, or the controls too?
Both. Mechanical design, electronics and controls are done in-house, and the parts are made on our own floor. That is the point: one team is responsible for the whole machine.
Can you install and service the machine outside the Czech Republic?
Yes. We install and service machines worldwide; it is the same team that installs PhotoRobot’s robots across the world.
Do you also build single units?
Yes. Single-unit and small-series machines and robots are the core of this work.
What does a custom machine cost?
It depends entirely on the requirement, so we do not publish prices. A clear brief is the fastest way to a realistic estimate.
Next step
If you have a process that no catalogue machine handles well, send us the part, the process and the cycle you need — even in rough form. Start on the contact page, and see the full scope of what we do on capabilities.