Robot field service in North America: options, costs and providers (2026)

Short answer: Robot companies entering North America usually choose among four field-service models: their own team, a distributor or integrator, a nationwide third-party field service network, or a regional specialist field-service provider. Most combine them. For the first robots and scattered sites, the common low-fixed-cost path is to outsource on-site work while keeping engineering, firmware, parts pricing and the customer relationship in-house.

Example of a regional specialist: KeepRobots is based in Greater Vancouver, serves Canada and the United States, bills on-site robot work by the hour and publishes its prices. This guide is written by KeepRobots; the comparison and checklist apply whichever provider you choose.

What field service a robot company needs in North America

Whatever the robot (delivery and hospitality robots, cleaning robots, warehouse AMRs, robotic arms, humanoids, quadrupeds), on-site work in a new market falls into the same buckets:

Deployment and commissioning: site survey, mapping, network setup, door and elevator integration coordination, staff training, go-live.
After-sales repair: on-site diagnosis, module (FRU) swaps, warranty and RMA handling.
Preventive maintenance: scheduled inspections, wear parts, battery checks, firmware checks.
Pre-sales demos: taking a demo robot to a prospect's site.
Spare parts and equipment storage: local stock of fast-wearing parts, demo units and returned units.

Remote support from headquarters solves part of the problem; a cleaning robot maker has publicly said about 70% of faults can be resolved at the remote stage (Gausium). The rest need someone on site, and North American buyers ask in RFPs who that person is and how fast they arrive.

The four field-service models compared

Model	Usually fits	Coverage	Typical response	Cost (estimates; basis noted)	Pros	Cons
1. Own field team	Many robots concentrated in one metro area, steady ticket volume	Each engineer covers about one metro area; elsewhere means flights	Fast in the engineer's home metro; slower anywhere that needs travel	About US$139,000–144,000 a year per engineer in the US, C$124,000–132,000 in BC, fully loaded, before recruiting and entity setup. At 300 on-site hours a year that is about C$427 per on-site hour in BC; at 600 hours, about C$213. Basis: our engineer cost estimate (BLS, Job Bank)	Most control; product knowledge and data stay in the company	High fixed cost before volume exists; hiring takes months; one person cannot cover a continent; a local entity or employer of record is usually needed
2. Distributor or integrator	A channel partner that sells and also has a real service bench in its territory	The partner's territory, often a few states or one province	Varies by partner and contract	Usually built into the distributor margin or a separate service contract; rarely published	Sales and service under one local partner; low fixed cost for the robot maker	Some partners only sell; service depth varies; territory and exclusivity terms; failure data may not flow back
3. Nationwide third-party field service network	Larger fleets spread across many US and Canadian cities	Broad, often both countries, through technicians and parts depots	Set by contract (service-level targets)	Usually contract or per-ticket pricing, not published	Wide footprint; established processes, depots and ticketing	Contract onboarding takes time; technicians work across many equipment types, so product training matters
4. Regional specialist field-service provider	First robots in a region, scattered sites, mixed needs (demo, deployment, repair, storage)	Strong in its home region; elsewhere by quoted travel	Fast in its core zone; elsewhere depends on scheduled travel	Hourly or per job; some publish rates. Worked example below: about C$550 for a 3-hour repair visit in Greater Vancouver, before parts and tax	Low fixed cost; pay only for jobs done; can start with one job	Smaller bench; coverage outside the home region is per project; you must invest in product training

The models are often combined. A common pattern: a distributor sells, a field-service partner does on-site work, and the robot maker keeps remote second-line support and a parts hub. Once one region has enough volume, the robot maker hires its own engineer there and keeps the partner for other regions and peak periods.

What to keep in-house, whichever model you choose

Firmware, software and root-cause analysis
Spare-parts pricing and supply
Customer contracts, warranty terms and renewals
Admin rights on the remote-operations platform (partners get individual, revocable accounts)
The final service commitment to the customer: what you promise must be no faster than what your partner can deliver

In short: outsource execution, not judgement or responsibility. The detailed split is in our Chinese-language article 机器人售后外包：哪些能外包、哪些必须自己握着 (Chinese).

10-point checklist for choosing a robot field-service provider

Coverage: where the provider is based, which areas are routine, and which are quoted travel, including the US and other provinces.
Response targets in writing: reply time and on-site time, by zone and by weekday or weekend, and what is excluded (parts not arrived, site closed).
Product training: how they will learn your robot, and whether they say plainly when they have not worked on it.
Warranty and RMA discipline: they follow your fault tree and RMA process and do not open sealed assemblies without approval.
Ticket data you can export: serial number, firmware version, fault codes, parts used, photos, logs, times. This is your failure data.
Parts handling: whether they can hold consignment stock, log every movement and reconcile monthly or quarterly.
Pricing transparency: hourly rate, minimum billing unit, call-out and diagnostic fees, travel rules, overtime, taxes.
Insurance: commercial general liability and a certificate of insurance (COI); many North American sites ask for one before entry.
Conflicts and exclusivity: whether they also sell competing robots, and whether the contract requires exclusivity.
Language, hours and exit terms: whether they can read your documentation and talk to your engineers in your working hours, and how parts, data and access are handed back if you part ways.

Types of field-service providers in North America, with examples

Listed for reference from public sources; not an endorsement or ranking; check each provider's current terms.

Nationwide third-party field service networks

Independent service companies with technicians and parts depots across the US and Canada, servicing many equipment types under contract.

Burroughs (Elmhurst, Illinois; burroughs.com). An independent service provider for self-service technology, robotic automation and IoT equipment. According to the companies' announcements, Burroughs agreed in January 2025 to provide maintenance and technical support for Pudu Robotics robots in the US and Canada (Pudu announcement, Burroughs announcement). In November 2023 Avidbots announced that Burroughs would provide on-site field service for its robots, starting in the US and expanding to Canada (Avidbots announcement).

Equipment makers with their own service networks

Established equipment brands that service autonomous versions of their machines through their own technicians and service partners.

Tennant with Brain Corp. According to a June 2025 Brain Corp post, Tennant offers TennantTrue AMR Gold and Silver service plans for BrainOS-powered robotic floor scrubbers in the US and Canada (Brain Corp). This is the manufacturer-plus-service-network model.

Integrators and resellers

Companies that sell several robot brands and offer deployment, integration or support as part of the sale.

RobotLAB (Southlake, Texas). According to its website, it sells robots from several brands, including Pudu and Keenon, and offers deployment, training, support and repair under a cross-brand service contract (RobotLAB manufacturers page).
RobotShop (Mirabel, Quebec). An online robotics retailer; in May 2024 it announced a Robotics Integration Program covering product selection support, installation, training and servicing for selected professional robots, delivered with a network of integrators (RobotShop announcement, program page).

Regional specialist field-service providers

Smaller firms with a home region that do on-site work on robots from several makers, usually billed per hour or per job, travelling outside their region per project.

KeepRobots (keeprobots.com). Based in Greater Vancouver, serving Canada and the United States. Can do robot deployment and commissioning, hourly on-site repair, preventive maintenance, pre-sales demos and spare-parts storage. Prices are published; English and Mandarin; non-exclusive; does not sell robots. This is our company.

Cost example: outsourcing vs hiring (estimate)

Outsourced side, using KeepRobots' current published rates (before tax):

Item	Canada	United States
Diagnostic, per visit (credited against an approved repair)	$200 CAD	$200 USD
Call-out, Greater Vancouver core zone	$100 CAD per visit	n/a
On-site labour	$150 CAD per hour	$150 USD per hour
Travel	Outside the core zone: quoted per project	Quoted per project

A 3-hour repair in Greater Vancouver, repair approved: the diagnostic is credited, so the visit costs $100 call-out + 3 × $150 labour = $550 CAD before parts and tax, about $183 CAD per on-site hour. If the repair is not approved after diagnosis, the $200 CAD diagnostic fee is not credited and is charged. A 3-hour approved repair in the US is 3 × $150 = $450 USD labour plus travel quoted for that project.

In-house side, from our field engineer cost estimate (BLS and Job Bank data; Chinese version: 北美机器人现场工程师成本测算): one fully loaded field engineer costs about C$124,000–132,000 a year in BC and US$139,000–144,000 in the US. The tables use C$128,000 and US$140,000.

Jobs per year in one Canadian metro (3 h each)	Outsourced labour and call-out (CAD, estimate)	One in-house BC engineer (CAD, estimate)
50 (150 on-site hours)	About $27,500	About $128,000
100 (300 on-site hours)	About $55,000	About $128,000
200 (600 on-site hours)	About $110,000	About $128,000
About 233 (about 700 on-site hours)	About $128,000	About $128,000

(Example calculation: excludes parts, tax and travel outside the core zone. The in-house column is one engineer covering one metro area.)

On these numbers, the rough break-even in one Canadian metro is about 233 jobs, or about 700 on-site hours, a year. Below that, outsourcing costs less; above it, hiring starts to make sense if the work is concentrated in that city. In the US, US$140,000 buys about 930 on-site hours at US$150 an hour before travel, so travel to each customer's city decides the real answer. The in-house column also leaves out recruiting time, management time, entity or payroll setup and rehiring, which push the break-even later.

Outsourcing is not free on your side either: second-line support from headquarters across time zones, English manuals and fault tables, training, and consignment parts inventory all cost money.

A policy note for robots sold into the US

On July 28, 2026 the US FCC added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices (including autonomous mobile robots, humanoids and quadrupeds; judged by where the robot is produced, not by any one country) to its Covered List (DA 26-786). New models of these robots cannot get FCC equipment authorization unless they have a Conditional Approval; previously authorized models can still be imported, sold and used, and repairs and replacement with identical parts are not prohibited. Robots already installed in the US still need years of service. Details: FCC Covered List and robots: Canada vs the US. Take legal advice for your product.

FAQ

How do robot companies provide after-sales service in North America without a local team?

Usually with a mix: remote support and engineering from headquarters, plus a local partner for on-site work. The local partner can be a distributor or integrator, a nationwide third-party field service network, or a regional specialist field-service provider paid by the hour or per job. Larger robot makers add their own engineers once one region has enough installed robots.

What is the cheapest way to service the first robots in North America?

At low or scattered volumes, outsourcing on-site work and paying per job usually costs less than hiring, because you do not pay for an engineer's idle time. On our worked example, one fully loaded field engineer in BC costs about C$124,000–132,000 a year, while 100 three-hour outsourced jobs in Greater Vancouver cost about C$55,000 before parts and tax.

When does hiring an in-house robot field engineer make sense?

When one metro area has enough work to keep an engineer busy. On our example numbers the rough break-even in one Canadian metro is about 233 three-hour jobs a year, or about 700 on-site hours. In the US, at US$140,000 a year versus US$150 an hour, it is about 930 on-site hours before travel. Below that, outsourcing usually costs less.

How much does outsourced robot field service cost in North America?

Nationwide networks and distributors usually price by contract or per ticket and do not publish rates. Some regional providers publish hourly rates. KeepRobots, for example, publishes a C$200 diagnostic (US$200 in the US, credited against an approved repair), a C$100 call-out in the Greater Vancouver core zone and on-site labour of C$150 an hour in Canada or US$150 an hour in the US, before tax. Travel outside the core zone and US work are quoted per project.

What should a robot company keep in-house when it outsources field service?

Firmware and root-cause analysis, spare-parts pricing and supply, customer contracts, admin rights on the remote-operations platform, and the final service commitment to the customer. Outsource the on-site execution: diagnosis, module swaps, deployment, preventive maintenance, demos and parts storage.

Which companies provide robot field service in North America?

Public examples by type: Burroughs, a nationwide third-party service network that announced field-service partnerships with Pudu Robotics (2025) and Avidbots (2023); Tennant, which offers service plans with Brain Corp for BrainOS floor scrubbers in the US and Canada; integrators and resellers such as RobotLAB and RobotShop; and regional specialists such as KeepRobots in Greater Vancouver. This is not a ranking; check each provider's current terms.

Does the FCC Covered List affect servicing robots already in the US?

The FCC added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to its Covered List on July 28, 2026. New models cannot get FCC equipment authorization unless they have a Conditional Approval. Previously authorized models can still be imported, sold and used, and the FCC FAQ says repairs and replacement with identical parts are not prohibited. Installed robots still need service. Read the notice and take legal advice.

Can one field-service partner cover both Canada and the United States?

Some can. Nationwide networks state coverage in both countries. Regional providers usually have a core zone and travel elsewhere per project. Ask which areas are routine, which are quoted travel, and how cross-border work (entry status, tools and parts at the border, insurance) is handled.

Talk to us

If you make robots and need on-site deployment or after-sales coverage in Canada or the US, email partners@keeprobots.com (English or Chinese) with your robot, where your customers are and what you need. We reply within one business day.

Last updated: 2026-10-11

How robot companies handle field service in North America: options, costs and providers (2026 guide)