2 questions “Funnel the Spec” to one product type.
Start at the top, follow the path down, end on the recommendation. Designed for distributors to send a customer ahead of a quote call.
Question 1
Is the job picking and placing parts, or is this workholding / sheet handling on a fixed table?
Pick-and-place · robot or gantry moves the cup to the part
Question 2a
What's the part surface — flat-rigid, curved/compliant, porous, or textured/oily?
If Flat rigid · glass, PCB, sheet metal
Recommend
Vacuum Cup (flat or shallow-bellows)
SMC ZP flat or shallow-bellows cup, NBR or silicone. Pair with SMC ZH ejector at the end-effector for distributed vacuum, and SMC ZSE sensor on the line for pick confirmation.
If Curved · compliant · thermoformed
Recommend
Vacuum Cup (deep-bellows)
Deep-bellows SMC ZP cup conforms to curved or compliant surfaces — the bellows compress to seal what a flat cup can't. Same ejector + sensor pairing.
If Porous · MDF, cardboard, foam
Recommend
High-Flow Vacuum Ejector
Porous parts leak vacuum continuously through the material — spec a multi-stage SMC ZH ejector with high flow capacity that can stay ahead of the leak. Cup geometry matters less; flow rate matters most.
If Textured · oily · printed surfaces
Recommend
Vacuum Cup (FKM or fluorosilicone)
Oil-resistant elastomers (FKM, fluorosilicone) on a shallow or flat cup geometry. Avoid NBR — it swells and tears on continuous oil contact.
Workholding · part sits on a vacuum table or chuck
The decision tree picks the lead product, but the spec is always the four-product set: ejector + cup + replacement cup allowance + sensor. The cycle gating is also worth flagging: high-speed cycling above 60 picks/min wants a multi-stage ejector with a vacuum release valve for fast cup detach; holding-mode work (long hold, infrequent release) can run a single-stage ejector with no release valve and save the air. Match cup material to the surface the customer's machine is actually touching — wrong elastomer destroys the cup in days.
Vacuum is what picks the part no gripper can touch. Spec the four products together — ejector, cup, spare cup, sensor — and the cycle works. Quote them piecemeal and one of them takes the line down.
SPC distributor playbook Vacuum End-Effectors · spec the system, not the parts