Three quotations arrive, three totals differ, and the buyer assumes the difference is margin. It usually is not. It is scope: one quote includes training, one excludes freight, one bundles software for a year and then charges again, and one leaves spare sensors out because nobody asked.
Comparing totals is the fastest way to buy the wrong machine, because the cheapest total is often the one with the most lines missing. The reliable method is slower and duller: put every quote into the same structure, then compare line by line until the missing lines become visible.
This article describes that structure as we would want a buyer to apply it to us, and explains what each line should contain before it can be compared with anything.
Why totals hide the differences
A quotation is a description of a scope, compressed into a table. Compression loses information, and the information it loses first is the boundary: what is included, what is optional, and what is simply not mentioned. Two quotes for the same machine can differ by a third and both be fair, because they are describing different purchases.
The buyer’s job is to decompress. That means asking each supplier to reissue the quote against a common template — machine, software, training, installation, freight, spares, warranty, payment terms — even if the supplier’s own format is different. Most suppliers will do this when asked, and the ones who will not are telling you something about how the contract will be administered later.
There is a second reason totals mislead. Currency and Incoterms change the number without changing the product. A quote in one currency delivered to a port and a quote in another delivered to a door are not comparable, and converting them at today’s rate produces a number that feels precise and is not.
Once the structure is common, the comparison becomes mechanical, and mechanical is what you want. The judgement should be spent on whether the scope is right, not on arithmetic.
The machine line: what should be itemised
The machine line should name the model, the configuration and the accessories that are physically part of the delivery. Which platform, which sensor layer, which camera arrangement, which cables, which power specification for your country. If the machine has optional modules, each should appear as its own line rather than being folded into a single description.
Ask what is not in the box. The answer is often more informative than the box: a second platform, a carry case, a printer, a mounting bracket, a spare mat. Some of these are genuinely optional; some become necessary the first week, and a buyer who discovers that after the invoice feels misled even when nothing was hidden deliberately.
Ask about the power and environment requirements explicitly. Voltage, frequency, operating temperature and floor conditions all appear in the manual and are easy to omit from a quotation because they are not products. A machine that arrives without the right power arrangement costs a week and a local electrician.
For insoles, the equivalent line is the production package: which blanks, which molding equipment, which consumables. A buyer comparing an insole production quote with a machine quote is comparing two different businesses, and the confusion is common enough that it is worth saying plainly.
One more item belongs on the machine line: the interface between the machine and the rest of your workflow. If reports are printed, which format and which printer. If records are attached to a client file, which file system and which export. If the output has to reach a design station or a lab, what the handover looks like and who owns the file at each step. A machine that measures well and exports badly is a machine that creates work, and the work will be done by whoever is least able to refuse it.
Software, licences and updates
Software is where quotations diverge most, because it can be sold, licensed, subscribed or given away, and the words used to describe those four models are almost identical. Ask directly: is the software included in the machine price, is there a licence per seat, is there a renewal, and what happens if the renewal lapses.
Ask what the software does when it cannot reach the internet. Local operation, local storage and export formats are the three questions that decide whether the system is usable in a room with poor connectivity, which describes a large share of clinics outside major cities.
Ask how updates arrive and whether they are included. Our connected units receive updates over the air, and the update is part of the product rather than a separate purchase. A supplier who charges for each version should say so clearly, because the arithmetic over five years changes the ranking of the quotes.
Ask about data portability in the same conversation. Can records be exported in a format that another system can open, and can they be exported in bulk? A clinic that has been running for years has an asset in those records, and the ability to take them elsewhere is part of the value of the purchase.
Training, installation and freight
Training should be described in hours and in people, not in adjectives. How many sessions, how many staff, on site or remote, in which language, and what happens when a new receptionist joins in eight months. We repeat training remotely for new staff, which matters more than it sounds: a system whose workflow only the original operator knows is a system that leaves when that operator does.
Installation is usually a small line and occasionally a large one. Ask who assembles, who configures, who confirms the calibration and who signs the acceptance. If the machine is installed by a local partner, ask what the partner is responsible for after the installation and how they are reached.
Freight deserves its own line with its own terms. Express, air and sea produce different numbers and different risks; the transit windows we work to are six to seven working days by express, ten to twelve by air and thirty to thirty-five by sea. Ask whether insurance is included, who clears customs, and what happens if the crate is held.
Packaging is part of freight. Ask for the crate dimensions and weight before you commit, because a machine that fits the room may not fit the lift, the doorway or the van. This sounds trivial until the delivery team is standing in a corridor with a crate that will not turn the corner.
Spares and the five-year arithmetic
A machine is a five-year relationship with a two-week transaction at the start. The spares line is where that relationship is priced, and it is almost always the line buyers under-specify.
Ask which parts are consumable, which are wear items and which are structural. Ask for a spare parts list with names, not categories. Ask how long parts are held for a model after it is discontinued, because the answer defines the useful life of the purchase more precisely than any warranty clause.
Then do the arithmetic honestly. Take the wear items, estimate how often you will replace them in a working year, and add that to the purchase price and to any software renewal. The result is a five-year number, and the ranking of the quotes often changes when the five-year number is used instead of the invoice.
Warranty sits inside this line. Ours runs twelve months on non-human damage with free replacement parts, which is a clear statement of the first year. The years after are governed by the parts list and the support model, so both should be requested before the order rather than after the first failure.
Ask also who holds the stock. A factory that keeps its own parts can commit to a lead time; a factory that orders parts as needed is quoting the lead time of its own supplier. The distinction rarely appears on a quotation and it decides how long a machine sits idle in a busy month, which is the only month that matters.
Payment terms, currency and Incoterms
Payment terms are risk allocation and should be read that way. A deposit protects the factory’s material purchase; a balance on shipment protects the buyer’s leverage. A quote that asks for everything in advance is describing a factory with no working capital or a buyer with no alternatives, and either way the terms deserve a conversation.
Currency should be stated once and used consistently across the comparison. If one supplier quotes in a currency you do not hold, ask for the equivalent in yours or for the exchange basis, and record the date. Otherwise the comparison moves every time the market does.
Incoterms decide where your responsibility starts. A delivered-price quote includes freight and clearance and hides both; a port-price quote is smaller and leaves you to arrange the rest. Neither is better, but the two cannot be compared directly, and mixing them in one table produces a decision that nobody can defend later.
Ask what documents travel with the shipment: invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, and the certification documents you will need for your importer or your tender. A supplier who produces these routinely will produce them again when a bank or a regulator asks.
There is a hidden line in most quotes, which is what happens to the price between the quote and the order. A quote with a validity date is a commercial document; a quote without one is an invitation. Ask how long the terms hold, what would change them, and whether a change in order quantity or configuration reopens the whole quotation. Buyers who ask this early tend to be the buyers who are not surprised by a revised invoice three months later.
Turning three quotes into one comparison
Build one table with rows for every line described above and one column per supplier. Fill it from the quotes, and mark every cell that the quote does not answer. The empty cells are the real output of the exercise, because they are the questions you would otherwise discover after the deposit.
Then add two rows that no supplier will volunteer: what happens when the machine fails in month fourteen, and who answers at eight in the morning in your time zone. Write the answer as a sentence, not a tick. Sentences expose structure; ticks expose enthusiasm.
Finally, weight the rows before you score them. A clinic that will run twenty sessions a day cares about throughput and support; a workshop that runs one production shift cares about file export and spares. The same table, weighted differently, produces different winners, and that is as it should be — the machine should be chosen for the room it will live in.
If two quotes remain close after all of this, choose the supplier whose answers were specific. Specific answers are the only reliable evidence that the same person will be specific when it matters, and that is the part of the purchase no quotation can describe.
Keep the finished table. It is the document you will return to when the first invoice arrives, when a part is late, or when someone asks two years later why this supplier was chosen. A purchase that can be explained in one page of rows is a purchase that survives staff changes, and staff changes are the most reliable event in any organisation.
Frequently asked questions
Can you send a quotation with every line itemised?
Yes, and we prefer to. Tell us the template you are using for comparison — machine, software, training, installation, freight, spares, warranty, payment terms — and we will reissue the quote against it so that nothing is compared across different scopes.
Is the analysis software included in the machine price?
Yes. The software ships with the system, and connected units receive updates over the air. Extra seats, custom report layouts and integrations are quoted separately so they appear as lines rather than as assumptions.
What are your payment and shipping terms?
Terms are stated in the quotation with the currency and the Incoterm, and freight is quoted as its own line. Transit runs six to seven working days by express, ten to twelve by air and thirty to thirty-five by sea after the machine passes its test routine.
How long is the warranty, and what does it cover?
Twelve months on non-human damage, with free replacement parts during that period. Wear items are listed separately so the cost after the first year is visible before the order rather than after the first failure.
Can we buy spare parts with the first order?
Yes, and we recommend it for wear items. A spare parts list with names and lead times is available so the first order can include what you are most likely to need in the first two years.
Do you install and train on site?
Installation and training are quoted as separate lines so you can see what is included. Training can be repeated remotely for new staff, which keeps the cost of staff turnover out of the equipment budget.
What documents come with the shipment?
Invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and the certification documents we hold — European Union certification and ISO quality system certification. We send the documents themselves rather than a logo.
What we would do next
If you are comparing quotes now, send us the template you are using and we will answer in the same structure: the F2 plantar pressure system page covers the machine, the FAQ page covers minimums, warranty, support and transit, and the certification page lists the documents we can send. Contact us with the room and the appointment length and the quote will be built around them.
Two related reads on the same decision: what shapes the price of a gait analysis platform and the questions that reveal who actually builds the machine.
This article is intended for professional and educational reference. It is not medical advice. Foot assessment equipment produces measurements and images; clinical interpretation and any decision about care remain the responsibility of a qualified professional. Certification scope is limited to the documentation we hold: European Union certification and ISO quality system certification.