For Carl

Industrial Automation Sales Playbook

Carl, we’ll build your new sales representative’s first 100 accounts in 10 days. The first 25 are below, and they’re yours either way.

If your AE seat stays open another quarter, ignore this. If it doesn’t, the next two minutes are worth it.

What we noticed

Your site puts machine design, controls and industrial data, and panel building under one roof, so a plant that calls about one can be offered all three. Your posting says you have served medical device, pharmaceutical, energy, semiconductor and automotive plants since 2005.

Your Sales Representative posting went up on November 7 and asks for an established network of industrial automation contacts. The plants a new rep can call before that network exists are on this page.

October 29 You spoke at the BIPA meeting
November 7 Sales Representative posted
November 9 The first 25 accounts are on this page

What changes for your new AE

Your new sales representative starts day one with 100 accounts you approved, each with the reason to call now, and drafts to the first five, instead of spending the first months finding who is hiring. A plant that posts for a controls or manufacturing engineer is telling you a line is being built or changed, and the list shows where that is happening this month.

28% of a rep’s time goes to selling Source: Salesforce, State of Sales (7,700+ sellers, 2022)
6.2 months average ramp for a new AE Source: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies)
$103K paid before a new AE is fully productive Arithmetic: $200K median OTE × 6.2 months ÷ 12. Inputs: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies)
48% of AEs hit quota Source: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies)

Your first 25 accounts

Picked from how your posting and your site describe your buyers. Each one has the reason it’s here and the source.

Yours either wayKeep these 25 whether or not we ever talk.

Cut any you wouldn’t callTell us why, and we replace it. We keep going until you’d keep at least 80 of the 100.

PROCEPT BioRobotics San Jose, CA · Surgical-robot production line
1

The posting asks for one engineer to design new production equipment and update its control systems. That is machine and controls work you sell, so the first call is about which of it they would hand to an outside team.

Signal: Oct 30, 2026 Source

Buyer: VP of Operations or Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Skeleton Technologies San Jose, CA · Ultracapacitor line with its own automation standards
2

A new line is being commissioned and the first automation hire is writing the controls standards now. You get to the call before the standards harden around one integrator.

Signal: Oct 30, 2026 Source

Buyer: Head of Engineering or Director of Operations
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Amprius Technologies Fremont, CA · Lithium-ion cell assembly stations
3

They are hiring someone to raise throughput on stations that are already running. Station upgrades and added controls are the work your machine and controls teams do, so you can ask where the bottleneck is.

Signal: Oct 20, 2026 Source

Buyer: VP of Manufacturing or Director of Manufacturing Engineering
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
FormFactor Livermore, CA · Precision automated equipment for semiconductor test products
4

The role describes the same blend you sell: machine, motion, vision and controls. They are staffing it in house, so the call is about overflow and the projects that need a build team now.

Signal: Oct 26, 2026 Source

Buyer: Director of Manufacturing Engineering or Automation Manager
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
PHNX Materials San Leandro, CA · Pilot-scale materials equipment
5

A pilot plant needs panels, wiring, PLC programming and interlocks built before it can run. That is your panel shop and controls team, and the first hire is being made before the pilot is built.

Signal: Oct 6, 2026 Source

Buyer: Head of Engineering or Operations Lead
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Noah Medical San Jose, CA · Medical robotics, new product introduction
6

The hire is setting up floor layout and equipment qualification for a robotics platform. Test fixtures and automated stations for that line are the kind of build your medical-device customers already buy.

Signal: Oct 29, 2026 Source

Buyer: VP of Operations or Head of Manufacturing Engineering
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Elixir Medical Milpitas, CA · Implant manufacturing
7

The posting puts capacity and equipment issues in the first lines of the job. The VP of Operations posted it himself, so the person who decides is easy to find.

Signal: Oct 21, 2026 Source

Buyer: VP of Operations
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
EBR Systems Santa Clara, CA · Cardiac pacing device manufacturing
8

The posting lists transfer and scale-up as a duty. A device that is moving from development to commercial volume needs stations and fixtures that did not exist a year ago.

Signal: Oct 21, 2026 Source

Buyer: VP of Operations or Director of Manufacturing
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Bloom Energy Fremont, CA · Furnaces and thermal process equipment
9

The role reports into an equipment engineering and automation group, so you know who owns the buying. They build proprietary equipment in house, which makes the first call about the controls and panels around it.

Signal: Oct 21, 2026 Source

Buyer: Director, Equipment Engineering and Automation
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
10x Genomics Pleasanton, CA · Reagent and consumables manufacturing
10

The job lists small automation projects, which are easy to hand to an outside build team.

Signal: Oct 8, 2026 Source

Buyer: Director of Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Aperia Technologies Hayward, CA · Tire inflation hardware for commercial fleets
11

Scaling up production processes means specifying equipment. Scaling up production processes means specifying equipment, and equipment is what you build.

Signal: Oct 26, 2026 Source

Buyer: VP of Operations
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Ferrotec Livermore, CA · Semiconductor components and systems
12

A second automation role was posted on September 29, so the need has repeated. A repeat need is where an outside controls group fits.

Signal: Oct 26, 2026 Source

Buyer: Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Charge Robotics San Leandro, CA · Robots for solar construction
13

A robot builder starting to manufacture needs assembly fixtures and test stands. It also tests whether a young company with no line yet is a buyer or too early for you.

Signal: Sep 28, 2026 Source

Buyer: Head of Manufacturing or Co-founder
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Lonza Vacaville, CA · Biologics manufacturing site
14

The role owns skids and process equipment on the floor, so there is a steady list of controls and HMI changes. Your pharmaceutical HMI work is the reference to bring.

Signal: Oct 30, 2026 Source

Buyer: Site Engineering Manager
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
PsiQuantum Milpitas, CA · Photonic quantum hardware
15

Sites under construction means equipment is being bought now. The hardware is advanced, so the test is whether the conversation is about stations and cells rather than the product.

Signal: Nov 4, 2026 Source

Buyer: Director of Manufacturing Engineering
Why it’s ranked here

A strong fit.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Headway Technologies Milpitas, CA · Thin-film wafer processing
16

This is a process-engineering role, not a machine role, so it scores low on fit. It is on the list to find out whether a semiconductor line buys controls and data work from you.

Signal: Oct 22, 2026 Source

Buyer: Sr. Manager, CMP Manufacturing Engineering
Why it’s ranked here

In the middle.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Therm-X of California Hayward, CA · Heaters and sensors for high-technology industries
17

A product transfer between sites means test and assembly equipment gets duplicated. They are a local manufacturer with a product transfer under way.

Signal: Oct 29, 2026 Source

Buyer: Operations Manager
Why it’s ranked here

In the middle.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
LGC Biosearch Technologies Petaluma, CA · Oligonucleotide manufacturing
18

The role is a contract, so the work is wanted fast and the headcount is not there. That is the opening for a project team.

Signal: Sep 28, 2026 Source

Buyer: Head of Manufacturing, Petaluma
Why it’s ranked here

In the middle.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
VIAVI Solutions Santa Rosa, CA · Thin-film coating platforms
19

The role is about keeping coating tools up and requalifying them after modification. Upgrades and retrofits are the part of your controls work they would send out.

Signal: Oct 31, 2026 Source

Buyer: Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Why it’s ranked here

In the middle.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Abbott Pleasanton, CA · Medical device manufacturing site
20

The same site keeps posting for engineers who develop new processes and equipment. The buyer is a manager well above an entry-level posting.

Signal: Nov 7, 2026 Source

Buyer: Site Engineering or Operations Manager
Why it’s ranked here

In the middle.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Beckman Coulter Life Sciences San Jose, CA · Laboratory instrument manufacturing
21

A company that sells automation to labs is also a buyer of it on its own floor. It tests whether a large instrument maker uses an outside integrator for the site.

Signal: Oct 28, 2026 Source

Buyer: Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Why it’s ranked here

In the middle.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Tesla Fremont, CA · Battery cell manufacturing equipment
22

They design their own machines. This tests whether a company with that much in-house machine design ever sends overflow to a builder your size.

Signal: Nov 5, 2026 Source

Buyer: Cell Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Why it’s ranked here

An edge case, on purpose. It’s here to test a rule: a very large in-house machine-design group, to see whether the size rule holds.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Pleasanton, CA · Genetic-analysis automation platforms
23

The work is automation for lab workflows, not a production line, and the hire is staff level inside a very large group. It tests whether lab automation belongs on your list at all.

Signal: Oct 27, 2026 Source

Buyer: Director of Engineering, Genetic Sciences Division
Why it’s ranked here

An edge case, on purpose. It’s here to test a rule: lab-workflow automation at a very large company, not a production line.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Applied Materials Benicia, CA · X-ray inspection and metrology systems
24

The site is in your own town. It is part of a very large company, so this tests whether a neighbor of that size buys from a local integrator.

Signal: Oct 22, 2026 Source

Buyer: Manufacturing Engineering Manager, Benicia
Why it’s ranked here

An edge case, on purpose. It’s here to test a rule: a global semiconductor equipment maker with a site next door to you.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.
Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Sacramento, CA · Unmanned aerial systems manufacturing
25

Defense is outside the five industries you list. It tests whether Sacramento is inside your territory and whether you take aerospace work.

Signal: Nov 2, 2026 Source

Buyer: Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Why it’s ranked here

An edge case, on purpose. It’s here to test a rule: an industry you do not list, in a city at the edge of your territory.
- Makes a physical product in the Bay Area or Northern California, where your site says you serve.
- In an industry your posting names: automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy or semiconductor.
- Posted a manufacturing, automation or controls engineering role in the last two months, a sign a line is being built or changed.
- The posting or the company describes equipment, a line or a station you could design, build or control, not software or lab work alone.
- Not already on your customer wall.
- Small enough that an outside integrator makes sense; the score drops for very large groups with their own machine design.

Your new sales representative’s first 100 accounts, in 10 days

The first 25 are above, and they’re yours either way.

Email Kash

We build a handful of these a month, for founders hiring now.

10 days

from kickoff to your team running it

100 accounts you approve, each with the reason
Drafts to the first five, in your voice
Your team runs it without us
Any account you cut, we replace

How does CKC Automation sell?

An outside read from your posting, your site, your press and your posts, built to be corrected: tell us anything that’s wrong. Tap a clip to play it from that moment.

What your customers sayFrom Sales Representative, Industrial Automation posting, California Automation Firms Merge, Are Purchased by Michigan Company (Plant Automation Technology), Case Studies, ckcautomation.com home page, About CKC Automation, Panel, Your recent LinkedIn posts, Controls / Data, Machine

CACKC Automation posting

“we serve diverse industries across the Bay Area and West Coast — including automotive, medical device, pharmaceutical, energy, and semiconductor”
CKC Automation posting · Sales Representative, Industrial Automation posting
CACKC Automation press release

“from small startups to large manufacturing companies”
CKC Automation press release · California Automation Firms Merge, Are Purchased by Michigan Company (Plant Automation Technology)
CACKC Automation posting

“Established network of industrial automation contacts”
CKC Automation posting · Sales Representative, Industrial Automation posting
CACKC Automation case study

“A pharmaceutical facility needed to replace an outdated, text-based control interface with a modern touchscreen HMI.”
CKC Automation case study · Case Studies
CACKC Automation case study

“A medical diagnostics laboratory needed a more efficient way to scan, identify, and sort sample tubes arriving from healthcare providers.”
CKC Automation case study · Case Studies
CACKC Automation site

“Collection, analysis, and presentation of facility and production data for decision makers.”
CKC Automation site · ckcautomation.com home page
CACKC Automation site

“bringing together machine design, controls and industrial data, and control panel manufacturing under one roof”
CKC Automation site · ckcautomation.com home page
CACKC Automation site

“Our size allows us to be agile and responsive while maintaining the capabilities to handle complex projects.”
CKC Automation site · About CKC Automation
CACKC Automation site

“Local & Responsive – Bay Area-based rapid support.”
CKC Automation site · ckcautomation.com home page
CACKC Automation site

“We collaborate with your electrical and controls engineers to refine designs, validate component choices, improve manufacturability, and share responsibility for documentation and testing.”
CKC Automation site · Panel
CACKC Automation posting

“Follow up on inbound and outbound sales leads to move opportunities forward”
CKC Automation posting · Sales Representative, Industrial Automation posting
CACKC Automation posting

“Prepare and deliver customer presentations, proposals, and RFQ responses”
CKC Automation posting · Sales Representative, Industrial Automation posting
CDLinkedIn

“It's great to see one of the first CKC machines back in action!”
Carl DiPietro, LinkedIn · Your recent LinkedIn posts
CACKC Automation site

“Hardware upgrades, retrofits, platform migrations, and control system expansions for improved reliability and performance.”
CKC Automation site · Controls / Data
CACKC Automation site

“We take equipment from concept to production”
CKC Automation site · Machine

Words you use

“Precision Automation for Peak Performance”
“build-to-print”
“robotic workcells”
“UL 508A”
“Local & Responsive”

How the list learns your calls

In the first session you react to accounts like these: keep or cut, and why, the way you’d tell a cofounder. Each reason becomes a rule you can read, the pool re-scores, and ten more show whether it learned. Keep eight of ten and the hundred is built on your rules.

You cut one on the call, and say why
It becomes a rule
The pool re-scores
Ten more test it

Which questions can only you answer?

Your posting and your site say who you serve, but not which plants you would never spend a quote on, or what a plant has to show before it calls an outside integrator instead of hiring. About 30 minutes of you reacting to real accounts answers these.

1
Which industry do you go to first: medical device and pharmaceutical, where your customer wall is deepest, or energy and semiconductor?
Rows 1, 6, 7 and 8 are medical device; rows 2, 3 and 9 are energy; rows 4, 12 and 15 are semiconductor. Your answer reorders the list.
2
Does a startup still building its first line belong on your list, or do you wait until it has a production site?
Row 5 (PHNX Materials) is at pilot scale and row 13 (Charge Robotics) has no line yet.
3
When a posting is for an in-house engineer, who do you call: the hiring manager or the operations lead?
Row 7 (Elixir Medical) was posted by its VP of Operations; row 1 (PROCEPT) asks for equipment and control-system work in the posting itself.
4
Do you sell to the Bay Area sites of very large companies?
Rows 22 to 25 (Tesla, Thermo Fisher, Applied Materials and Kratos) test this. Row 24 is in Benicia.
5
Is lab automation your work, or only production lines?
Rows 10 (10x Genomics), 18 (LGC) and 23 (Thermo Fisher) are lab and liquid-handling automation.

What does your Sales Representative - Industrial Automation’s first morning look like?

Without

The CRM you have now. The early weeks go to learning which accounts you’d call, and why.

With · Sales Representative - Industrial Automation, first morning

PBPROCEPT BioRoboticsDraft written
STSkeleton TechnologiesDraft written
Amprius TechnologiesDraft written
FormFactorDraft written
PHNX MaterialsDraft written

A hundred accounts you approved, the rules behind them and drafts to the first five, so their time goes to buyers.

From week two, your mornings too: one brief, drafts to approve, every message sent by you.

How the 10 days run

What happens in the ten working days?

November 16, 2026 to December 1, 2026. About a day of your time in total.

Before by November 16
You send the customers you’d clone and three deals that went wrong, plus 10 to 20 emails or posts you wrote. “How you sell” is drafted from your talks and posts.
You: 20 minutes
Day 1 November 16
The playbook session: we fill the gaps and correct the draft together. Your CRM is connected.
You: 2 hours
Day 2 November 17
Your first rules are written; a few hundred companies are scored against them.
You: none
Day 3 November 18
You review the first 25 (talking it through is fine).
You: 30 minutes
Day 4 November 19
Your reasons become rules; you see the re-score and judge 10 more. First touches are written in your voice to the accounts you kept, and you read ten. Touches start logging to the CRM.
You: 30 minutes
Day 5 November 20
The hundred is built. The research tool is set up; you test it on three accounts you know.
You: 15 minutes
Day 6 November 23
The morning run is set up; your first morning, with us.
You: 30 minutes
Day 7 November 24
You review all hundred, and any cut is replaced. Team training, session one.
You: 1 hour 20 minutes
Day 8 November 25
Your first morning on your own. Training session two, hands-on for each person.
You: 1 hour plus your morning
Day 9 November 30
Your second morning on your own. Each person on your team runs the morning alone.
You: your morning
Day 10 December 1
Your third morning on your own. A week of touches is in the CRM. Handover sign-off.
You: 30 minutes plus your morning

Who builds it?

The person in the video does the work with you, from the first session to the handover.

$100M+in deals sold in a single year

$0 to $10MARR in 12 months, for a company I built

“Kash and I built ERT Credit together in 2021. He took my MVP and turned it into a SaaS that hit $10M ARR in twelve months.”

Jordan Anderson, CEO, PayStreetgobridgehead.ai/about
“Analytical in approach, technologically-knowledgeable, and earnest in conviction, Kash was able to drive pipeline in a notoriously challenging tech region.”

JBJason Brandt, Managing Director, Sales, ePlus inc.LinkedIn recommendation, April 2020

Where does this go from here?

Three options. Each one is fine.

Not a fit

Say so in a line, and that’s the end of it.

Not now

Keep the 25 and the read on how you sell, and share them. When the role fills, the offer stands.

Talk with Kash

Ask Kash to call you, or email him. He calls to set up a 30-minute strategy session. Bring your cofounder or your sales leader.

Your new sales representative’s first 100 accounts, in 10 days

The first 25 are above, and they’re yours either way.

Email Kash

We build a handful of these a month, for founders hiring now.

10 days

from kickoff to your team running it

100 accounts you approve, each with the reason
Drafts to the first five, in your voice
Your team runs it without us
Any account you cut, we replace

CKC Automation sales playbook, in brief

CKC Automation, in Benicia, California, designs and builds custom automated equipment, UL 508A control panels and industrial data systems for manufacturers across the Bay Area and West Coast, in medical device, pharmaceutical, energy, semiconductor and automotive.Sales Representative, Industrial Automation posting, ckcautomation.com home page

Its Sales Representative posting, from November 7, asks for someone to build a pipeline, research target customers and plan outreach in NetSuite, with an “established network of industrial automation contacts.”Sales Representative, Industrial Automation posting

Machine design, controls and industrial data, and panel building sit under one roof, and the site lists local, responsive Bay Area support as a reason to buy.ckcautomation.com home page, About CKC Automation

The first 25 accounts for a new sales representative are Northern California manufacturers, each scored on six rules and backed by a dated, sourced signal such as a posting for a controls or manufacturing engineer: fifteen strong fits, six in the middle and four edge cases that test the rules.

Prepared by Kash Badami at Bridgehead · November 9, 2026 · Every source

Questions founders ask

Can’t my AE build this when they start?

They can. But wouldn’t you rather they were selling? Reps spend 28% of their time selling, and the average new AE takes 6.2 months to ramp. This replaces the weeks they would spend building the list and learning what you already know.

28%: Salesforce, State of Sales (7,700+ sellers, 2022) · 6.2 months: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies)

How much sooner does my new AE get to work?

From day one, because the accounts you approved and the first drafts are waiting. The average new AE takes 6.2 months to ramp, and at a $200K median OTE that is about $103K paid before they are fully productive. Only 48% of AEs hit quota.

6.2 months: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies) · $103K: arithmetic ($200K median OTE × 6.2 months ÷ 12); Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies) · 48%: Bridge Group, 2026 AE report (158 companies)

We tried an outreach tool and it sounded like a robot. How is this different?

Nothing goes out on its own. Every account on the list is one you approved, every draft is written to one person, and you send each message yourself. It learns your voice from what you’ve written and from every edit you make.

How much of my time does it take?

About a day, spread across the ten working days: the 2-hour session on how you sell, short list reviews you can talk through, two training sessions and your first mornings. The hours your AE gets back go to selling, where reps spend just 28% of their time today.

28%: Salesforce, State of Sales (7,700+ sellers, 2022)

What happens after you leave?

It keeps learning. Each week it proposes rule changes from what your cuts, replies and silences showed, and you approve or reject each in a line.

Where does my data live?

In your own accounts: your Claude, your CRM, your files. Nothing runs on anyone else’s side, and any rule can be changed in plain English.

How is it priced?

The first engagement is one fixed price for the ten days. It depends on how many people we train and which systems we connect, so Kash quotes it on a short call. After handover, you can keep us on a retainer to keep supporting your sales process and refining it, if you choose that route.

The research behind this page 8 sources · 1 postings · 27 customers · 34 stores looked at

Your talks and posts

ckcautomation.com home page, November 9, 2026
About CKC Automation, November 9, 2026
Case Studies, November 9, 2026
California Automation Firms Merge, Are Purchased by Michigan Company (Plant Automation Technology), August 1, 2023
Your recent LinkedIn posts, October 29, 2026
Panel, November 9, 2026
Machine, November 9, 2026
Controls / Data, November 9, 2026

Your open roles

Sales Representative - Industrial Automation, first posted November 7, 2026

Your customers

Abaxis · CapsoVision · Genentech · Medtronic · Stryker · AbbVie · Bayer · Boston Scientific · California Water Service · Dexcom · EBMUD · Ghirardelli · Gilead · Intuitive · Johnson & Johnson · KLA · Lockheed Martin · Lucid · Novo Nordisk · Panasonic · PG&E · Baxter · Qcells · San Francisco Public Utilities Commission · Teleflex · U.S. Pipe · Zoetis (santehq.com/customers and your posts). Customer photos are from santehq.com/customers.

How the 25 were picked

34 stores found and scored on 6 rules; the 25 chosen to teach: 15 strong, 6 middle, 4 at the edges. Logos are from each store’s own site.

Sources: CKC Automation’s own site, its Sales Representative posting, a 2023 press release on its merger, and each account’s own LinkedIn job posting, each opened and saved on November 9, 2026.
Every account’s signal is a posting for a manufacturing, automation or controls engineer, found by searching LinkedIn job listings in 24 Bay Area and Northern California cities and keeping only plants in your industries.
Five companies were dropped because their logos are on your customer wall: Intuitive, Shockwave Medical (a Johnson & Johnson company), KLA, Lucid and Lockheed Martin. None of the 25 appears on ckcautomation.com.
Two more were dropped because their postings were closed (Jupiter Endovascular, Peak Energy), one because it is a mechanical contractor (Therma) and one because the posting is a recruiter’s for an unnamed client (VoltForce).
A posting for an engineer shows a line is being built or changed. It does not show what the company buys from outside, so the fit rules score what the posting says and nothing more.