January, 2026- Q: When should a stamper choose a standard control over a custom one?
A: The time to consider a standard press control is when you’re either retrofitting or replacing one that’s already on the press, without replacing the whole control system, and you don’t need to integrate anything new. You might need to have a tolerance for multiple user interfaces on the press, as well.
Q: When should a custom control be used?
A: The time to go the custom route is when specifying a brand-new control for a brandnew press. In this case, you would work with the press OEM, and we would collaborate with the OEM or integrator to build a custom control that fits your application requirements.
Other reasons for choosing custom are when you’re going to completely strip the controls off your press and you want to replace motor starters, the press controls, automation controller and so on; or if you have any other requirements that a standard control cannot fulfill, such as the need to incorporate a loop control, a programmable logic controller or something else. Users also often choose custom when consolidating a number of disparate controls for ancillary equipment under a single user interface.
Q: How should stampers specifying custom controls approach the project?
A: The most important thing to consider before proceeding with a custom control provider, regardless of whether it is a control manufacturer such as Wintriss, an OEM or an integrator is the knowledge and expertise that they bring to the table.
As a manufacturer of controls with many years of experience in the industry, we have extensive experience in quoting and building custom controls. As such, a very important step a stamper can take when quoting a custom control is to have one designated point person who is responsible for the project to provide complete, comprehensive information on the requirements of the build, preferably in a checklist format.
Our quote process includes the use of a prequalification form that helps identify all the control build requirements, including if anything exotic is needed. A checklist comes in handy because it avoids having a customer reject a quote that includes elements that they did not need or want.
In addition to the need to identify all requirements in the discovery process, it is not uncommon for provided information to be incorrect, which can lead to issues such as a wrong size starter or wrong parts and can lead to unexpected delays. So the more work we can do with the end user, integrator and/ or the OEM during quoting and through defining the scope of the project up front (in addition to good information and communication), the better the results will be for the customer.
A little detective work can also be helpful, such as looking at examples of an integrator’s prints or looking into the history of what changes were made to an existing control and why these changes were made. You should ask an integrator to show you prints and documentation for other projects because if they did a poor job on documents, the chances are good that their lackluster performance will compromise your project, as well. Some integrators or vendors may not be willing to provide examples, but if they do, the names of the customers should be redacted.
The backstory of what changes were made on an existing control and why helps to look into what happened to the control over time and ensure that all changes were documented. Was a new motor starter or a drive installed? Was the control rewired, and if so, why? Also, is there an existing schematic of the wiring to review, and have there been any problems as a result of the changes?
To summarize the whole process, take great care to provide in-depth, accurate information about what will be required for the new custom control along with all related documents, and appoint one person to champion the project. And always ensure that the control manufacturer being hired has many years of press control experience.
Wintriss Controls Group LLC, 800/586-8324, wintriss.com.
