Let’s face it, is anything really free these days? What does it even mean? To be exempt…unconstrained, without obligation…? To me, it seems that once those spin doctoring folks in marketing got their hands on it, the true gesture of ‘free’ changed forever and, in turn, we are all the more dubious. Packaged in ways like complimentary, gratis, on the house! However you say it…there’s usually a catch! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely opposed to the concept. Of course, my attention can still be ensnared by the promise of getting something for nothing…but, and there’s always a but, I really know that somewhere along the line…someone has to pay!Steering this back into our world now, let’s talk about the idea of free advice. Who is giving it and what are they saying? Deciding on who to speak to could determine whether that advice really ends up being free….or, ends up costing you far more in the long run. By no fault of their own, free advice from the wrong people can be biased or, worse still, completely unbeneficial to your business. You need to consider how that will that affect you in the long run? It’s certainly not going to be ‘free’!To protect your business, the best advice is independent advice. And the safest source of independent advice is from industry professionals and dare I say it…from Consultants! The consultant service at Robotize offers two crucial points of difference...we're specialists and we're independent. When you’re dealing with Robotize, you can be sure that you’re dealing with industry experts who specialise in reviewing all the options available and delivering only the most apt solutions to suit your needs. An average consultant confirms your own findings. A good one tells you things you didn't know. But a great one tells things you didn't know you didn't know.Robotic and automation industry professionals, like the ones at Robotize, understand your world. We’ve worked in your world, know the challenges you face, and understand the language you speak. What’s more we understand the equipment others are trying to sell you. This common background translates to an effective grasp of the nuances of particular processes and in turn, allows for a more informed solution to be created. Affiliations, favouritism, bias and associations do not come into play for an independent consultant. That is not to say that the advice from supplier is not appropriate, it simply means that rather than only selling you a particular brand or model of equipment an independent advisor is completely impartial.In addition, although something is packaged as free. You need to look at where the costs are banking up. Someone has to pay for the concept of free consulting. To generate engineering solutions, design, reports, budgets, quotes takes time…and as we all know…time is money!Ultimately you have to decide if you are interested in price or cost. Price is what you pay now; cost is what you pay over the life of your project and for the years and years that follow. Do you want to be responsible for the system that failed to meet future demand, ran over budget, lacked flexibility or for which you could not get reliable technical support?Take the first step toward the right advice by calling Robotize Today on 1300 916 431 or find out more at www.robotizeconsulting.com.au