Automation User Tour
Welcome to the Local Automation user tour! Our user accounts have been specifically designed for businesses that buy and use automation technologies. As a registered automation user, you will gain access to a user's control panel which will allow to manage all aspects of your Local Automation account. Using this control panel, you can:
post automation questions
send projects "out for bidding"
submit requests for emergency technical support
update your local contact information
change passwords and login information
view responses to your questions and projects
User accounts are free, and it takes less than a minute to set one up! You only need a user account if you intend to post questions or projects. If you simply want to view the pages of LocalAutomation.com, you do not need an account.
A portion of the user's control panel is shown below:
Posting Questions
If you have an automation question, the fastest way to get an answer is to submit your question to LocalAutomation.com. At the end of each day, we will e-mail your question to all of the registered automation providers in your area, and by the next day, you should receive a number of helpful responses from highly-capable providers.
Your questions may pertain to any topic in the automation field, such as: new product information, product recommendations, technical support requests, price quotations, system integration notes, machinery design questions, product availability, wiring diagrams, and more! It's up to you. Simply submit a question and see who responds!
In order to help you maintain anonymity when posting questions and to avoid receiving overzealous solicitations from local providers, you will have complete control over the information that you reveal in your posting. The only required information is your location (city and state) and your question.
If you choose, you may include all of your contact information and allow providers to contact you directly, or you may post in confidence and require that providers reply to your posting via LocalAutomation.com.
It's up to you... and it's free! Simply open an account and try it out.
Posting Projects
It is a difficult task for automation users to verify that they are using the best technologies... from the best local providers... at a reasonable price. As a result, most companies require that new automation projects be sent "out for bidding" to a number of different automation providers.
This is our specialty. Simply describe your project, attach any pertinent documents, and submit. We will e-mail your project to all of the registered automation providers in your area, and within a short period of time, you should receive a number of responses from highly-capable, interested providers.
In order to help you maintain anonymity when posting projects and avoid receiving overzealous solicitations from local providers, you will have complete control over the information that you reveal in your posting. The only required information is your location (city and state), the title of your project, and a brief description of your project.
If you choose, you may include all of your contact information and allow providers to contact you directly, or you may post in confidence and require that providers reply to your posting via LocalAutomation.com.
It's up to you... and it's free! Simply open an account and try it out.
Editing Questions / Projects and Viewing Responses
In the user control panel, you will see a list of all questions and projects which you have submitted (see sample, below). You may view and edit the details of any question / project at any time by clicking on the appropriate "edit" link.
You may view all of the responses from your local providers by clicking on the appropriate "response" counter. The control panel is always live - when a new response comes in, you will see it update on your screen.
Urgent Support
When one of your machines goes down, you may require immediate on-site technical support or need to quickly locate a replacement part. For urgent situations, registered users can submit "urgent requests" to their local automation providers.
Urgent requests are similar to regular questions, with a few key differences:
1. When you submit your request, it will be instantly e-mailed to all of the providers in your area. Regular questions, on the other hand, are gathered into reports at the end of each day and sent to providers around 5:00 PM.
2. You can not post anonymously. All of your contact information will be included with your submission.
3. You will not be able to edit your request once it is submitted. The e-mails go out instantaneously.
This feature should only be used in emergency situations. Abuse of the feature will result in the cancellation of your user account.
What Does It Mean To Be Local?
When you post a question, project, or urgent request, it will be sent out to all of your "local" providers - including manufacturers, distributors, resellers, systems integrators, and more!
What does it mean to be "local"?
We define "local" differently for different parts of the country. In the Northeast, for instance, where sales territories are generally fairly small, "local" may be defined as "within 150 miles". In the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions, however, sales territories are generally very large, and "local" may mean "within 400 miles".
When you open your user account, you are required to enter your address. When you submit a question or project, we use that address information to identify "local" providers by measuring the distance from your location to each provider. If you are located in the Northeast, for instance, and a provider less than 150 miles away, that provider is "local". If you work in Colorado, a provider could be up to 400 miles away and still be "local".
Any provider that is identified as "local" will receive your questions and projects and be able to respond to you.
As previously mentioned - the definition of "local" varies from region to region. Each regional definition may be modified by LocalAutomation.com at any time (if deemed necessary). However, we will never set a "local" distance to less than 100 miles (radius) for any given region. Therefore, you are always guaranteed that your questions and projects will be visible to any provider within 100 miles of your location.
Summary
As a member of LocalAutomation.com, you can tap into your local network of talented automation providers in order to get answers to your difficult questions... to receive competitive bids on projects... or simply to receive advice on automation related topics. Why spend hours doing research on the internet when you can go right to the source?
If you have any questions about our user accounts, please visit our frequently asked questions page or e-mail us at support@localautomation.com