Marketing through a system integrator: what makes one recommend your product

When a plant hires a system integrator to build a robot cell or a control system, the bill of materials is usually written by the integrator. The end user approves a quote, and the component brands in it are the ones the integrator knows, trusts and can support. What plant managers want to hear still matters, but they hear it from the integrator. For a maker of sensors, drives, grippers, vision systems, software or machines sold into automation projects, that makes the integrator your most important sales channel and, often, your real customer.

Integrators recommend products they can quote quickly, support without drama and make a fair margin on, from suppliers who train them and send them work in return. Of the supplier programs below, Inductive Automation’s publishes the most about how it trades on those things; FANUC’s and Rockwell’s overview pages publish no requirements at all. A smaller component maker can offer all five in a one-page program: transparent pricing and quoting tools, a named applications engineer, published discounts protected by project registration, training that counts toward something, and leads shared on clear rules. Then track integrators’ projects as your own pipeline.

What does a system integrator need from a component maker?

The Control System Integrators Association describes its members as firms that “maintain a full-time business providing control and information system integration applications and technology,” most with a primary area of expertise plus secondary technologies and industries. In practice an integrator sells engineering hours and takes on project risk. Every unfamiliar component adds hours to the quote, risk to the schedule and a support call they may not be paid for. Your product has to make their job shorter and safer.

Safety now weighs more in that choice. ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025, the US adoption of the 2025 ISO 10218 revisions, went on sale on Sept. 10, 2025, according to A3’s own release on Business Wire, which Automation.com republished five days later. A3’s Sept. 4, 2026 summary says Part 2, which covers robot applications and cells, has grown to about three times its previous length, adds or updates topics including cybersecurity, safety-function performance requirements and safety-function information, and requires an assessment when a robot system is integrated into a particular application. It tells integrators to consider the robot, the end effector, the workpiece and peripheral equipment. If your product sits in a robot cell, the integrator now needs your safety data to complete their risk assessment, so publish it.

From	To	What moves
Component maker	System integrator	Partner pricing they can see, a configurator, CAD, wiring and program files, safety data, and a named applications engineer
System integrator	End user (plant)	A quote with the bill of materials
End user (plant)	System integrator	Approval of the quote
System integrator	Component maker	Project registration at the quote stage, then the purchase order
Component maker	System integrator	Leads, introductions and a directory listing

The integrator writes the bill of materials. What you give them decides whether your brand is on it. Source: Our position, from six integrator programs and directories read Oct. 26, 2026.

What do integrator programs require, and what do they give back?

We read the public pages for six programs on Oct. 26, 2026. Two are run by associations and four by automation suppliers.

Program	What it requires	What the integrator gets	How leads reach integrators
A3 Certified Robot Integrator	On-site audit, practical assessment of key personnel, safety training; valid two years, then renewed	Industry recognition; listing on A3’s certified integrator page	Directory of certified integrators
CSIA Certified	Third-party audit against CSIA’s Best Practices; re-audit every three years	A credential CSIA pitches to plant managers as pre-screening	Industrial Automation Exchange, searchable by industry, specialty, product and certification
Inductive Automation Integrator Program	Five published levels. Gold needs a Gold-certified employee and $25,000 in product sales since joining; Premier needs two, plus two technical reviews, $125,000 across five end users, $75,000 every calendar year, a solution story and co-marketing	Free technical support, free certification tests, discounts by level, co-marketing at higher levels	Integrator Search from the second level up; end users go straight to the integrator’s site
FANUC Authorized System Integrator	Not published on the locator page	Listing in a locator searchable by distance, industry and application	An “Introduce me” button on each listing
Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork	Not published on the overview page	Membership in a network that also includes distributors, EPCs, OEMs, licensed developers and technology partners	Partner listings by type
Siemens Solution Partner	Expertise proven against global standards, rechecked at regular intervals; partner-specific training	The Solution Partner emblem; a network Siemens put at more than 1,500 partners worldwide in a 2021 US brochure	Partner Finder

Inductive Automation’s guidelines, last updated Nov. 19, 2025, are the most useful model for a smaller maker because they are specific. Every level is defined by certifications held and product sold. Every benefit is tied to a level. The guidelines even say what an integrator gets from appearing in search: a profile with certification level, specializations, experience and location, and a direct link to their own website. The one thing left unpublished is the discount schedule.

CSIA also runs a partner membership for suppliers that want to reach integrators, through its conference, sponsored newsletter content, its podcast and market data, and it notes that “some CSIA channels do have the potential to generate a classic lead list.” If integrators are your channel, that is one of the few places they gather by design. The spring shows are another, and our ProMat and Automate 2027 plan treats ProMat as the place to line up integrator conversations.

What makes a system integrator recommend your product?

Our position, from the programs above and how integrators make money, is five things.

1. Quote speed. Give them partner pricing they can see without calling, a configurator, and CAD, wiring and program files ready to drop into their design. Every hour you save them on the quote is an hour they do not have to charge or absorb.
2. Support with a name on it. A named applications engineer with a stated response time beats a general support line, which is why Inductive Automation and Siemens build support and training into their programs.
3. Margin they can count on. Publish the discount for each tier, and make it a rule that the integrator who registers a project first keeps it. An integrator who brings you a project and watches you sell direct will not bring the next one.
4. Training that leads somewhere. Inductive Automation gives free certification tests by level. Training that leads to a credential the integrator can show customers is worth more to them than a lunch-and-learn.
5. Leads in return. Offer directory listings with real profiles, and make introductions when an end user asks you for help. FANUC’s locator puts an “Introduce me” button on every listing.

How do you track integrator projects as pipeline?

Set up integrators as accounts in your CRM, and add a project object that links the integrator, the end user and your products. Ask integrators to register projects early, at the quote stage, in exchange for pricing protection. Track four fields per project: end user and site, stage, your products on the bill of materials, and expected order date.

That gives you three things you cannot get otherwise: a forecast that starts months before the purchase order, a list of end users you would never have found, and data on which integrators actually specify you. Review it quarterly and put most of your program budget behind the integrators who register and close.

How does a smaller component maker build an integrator program?

Keep it to a page and two or three tiers. Publish the requirements (for example, one trained engineer and a set number of projects a year) and the benefits at each tier. Give every tier technical support and a listing. Give upper tiers better pricing, early access to new products, joint case studies and the leads you get from your website. Publish your safety data and integration files for everyone, because withholding them only slows down the integrators who are already choosing you.

In your industry

Automation and industrial tech

Integrators are your main route to the plant. Focus on quote speed and safety documentation, both of which the new robot safety standards make more important.

Industrial machinery and equipment

If your machine goes into automated lines, the integrator decides how it connects. Publish your communication protocols, interface documents and a contact for integrators, and list the integrators who have connected your machine before.

What to do Monday

List the 20 integrators who specified your products in the last two years and how much they bought. Call the top five and ask what slows down quoting your product and what they wish you would publish. Then write a one-page integrator program with tiers, requirements and benefits, add a project registration form to your partner page, and post your safety and integration files where any integrator can download them.