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Guide · Expanding into North America

How to expand a robot company into North America: a step-by-step guide (2026)

· 13 min read

Short answer: when a robot company expands into North America, the order matters more than any single step. A sequence that works: check each model's status under the FCC Covered List and decide whether the US or Canada comes first → start certification months before shipping → base a demo unit in North America and run pre-sales demos properly → survey every site and book IT and elevator approvals before the robot arrives → before the first robot goes live, decide who goes on site locally, where spare parts sit and what the SLA and warranty say → only hire your own North American field team once one metro area has enough visits to keep an engineer busy.

This page is the step-by-step entry point to 34 field notes and 4 guides on this site. Each stage lists what to do, common mistakes and a rough timeline, then links to the article that covers it in depth. Figures come from those articles, which list their sources at the end; timelines are planning estimates, not measured data. Written by KeepRobots, a robot field service company in Vancouver. We do on-site deployment, repair, maintenance, demos and spare-parts storage for robot makers; we do not sell robots, certify products, broker customs or give legal advice.

The 8 stages at a glance

StageKey tasksTimeline (estimate)Read next
Stage 0: Choose the market: US or Canada firstCheck each model's FCC authorization status; check whether you already have US customers; pick the first country and the service radiusDecide at project start; every later step follows from itUS or Canada first; FCC Covered List and robots; Robotics companies in Canada
Stage 1: Certification and complianceUS: FCC + an OSHA NRTL listing (UL, ETL); Canada: ISED + an accepted mark (CSA, cUL, cETL); UL 3300 for service robots; UN 38.3 for batteries; importer of record and insurance certificateStart months before the first shipmentFCC Covered List robots; Robot certification in Canada; UL 3300 for service robots; Cobot and robot arm installation in Canada and the US; Robot deployment checklist; What insurance does a robot company need to sell in North America
Stage 2: Demo units and pre-sales demosTemporary import route (ATA Carnet, Canada 9993.00.00, US TIB); batteries as dangerous goods; a demo unit based in North America with a named custodian; T-14 site questionnaireWork back about 8 weeks from a trade show; a demo runs from T-14 to T+1Running a robot sales demo in North America without a local team
Stage 3: On-site deploymentSite survey; Wi-Fi and IT security review; elevator and door integration; mapping and tuning; staff training; written acceptanceAbout 1–3 days on site for mapping, training and go-live; elevator and IT approvals often take weeksRobot commissioning checklist for Canadian sites; Robot IT security; Elevator integration for service robots in BC; Robot deployment cost and timeline in Canada and the US
Stage 4: After-sales model, SLA and warranty/RMAOwn team, distributor or field service partner; L1 local, L2/L3 at the factory across 15 hours; five SLA clocks; warranty labour rates, no-fault-found and advance replacement termsSettle before the first robot goes liveHow robot makers entering North America can offer on-site robot service without hiring a team; Nationwide robot service network or a dedicated field service partner; Robot after-sales SLA in North America; Robot warranty and RMA in North America; Training a third-party robot field technician; Robot warranty service in Canada; How much does robot repair cost in North America; Shipping a robot back to China for repair; Robot field service in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest from Vancouver; Robot maintenance services
Stage 5: Spare partsConsumables, wear parts and core modules; importer of record; consignment stock with a local partner; wear parts such as drive wheels on a scheduleAir from China about a week, ocean three to six weeks door to doorRobot spare parts in Canada; What to stock for a ten-robot cleaning fleet; How long do delivery-robot drive wheels actually last
Stage 6: Cost: hire field engineers or outsourceFully loaded cost of one engineer vs paying per visit; break-even by robots per metro area, not total fleetHire in a metro once visit data says one engineer would be kept busyShould a robot startup outsource field service; Robotic field service engineer salary in the US and Canada
Stage 7: Choose a field service partnerCoverage, SLA wording, training, parts consignment, insurance, data access, pricing, co-branding, red flagsShortlist before the first site goes liveWhat to look for in a North American robot service partner; How robot OEMs set up an authorized service partner network in North America; How robot companies handle field service in North America; Robot field service companies in North America; Robot service companies in Canada
By robot type: By robot type: humanoid, quadruped, delivery, cleaningWhat each robot type adds in the fieldBy robot typeHumanoid robot repair in North America; Quadruped robot; Delivery robot service in restaurants and hotels; Cleaning robot service center in Vancouver

Stages 0–2 can run in parallel: while certification is in progress, a demo unit can already be in Canada. Stages 4 and 5 must be in place before the first robot goes live at a paying customer.

Stage 0: US or Canada first

The US is the bigger market; Canada can be the easier place to start. On July 28, 2026 the FCC added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices (explicitly including autonomous mobile robots, humanoids and quadrupeds) to its Covered List (Public Notice DA 26-786). New models in scope can no longer receive FCC equipment authorization. The rule is country neutral: it turns on where a robot is produced, not on the maker's nationality. Fixed industrial robot arms are excluded. Models the FCC authorized before July 28 can still be imported, sold and used. Canada runs its own radio certification through ISED, and as of October 2026 we found no Canadian measure similar to the FCC's.

So the first task is not finding customers but checking models. Authorized model and existing US customers: sell in the US and use Canada as a parts and service base. New model without FCC authorization: start in Canada and take US questions to a US lawyer. Common mistake: picking the US on market size alone and finding out just before shipping that a new model cannot be authorized. For where Canada's robotics industry sits, see the 2026 map of robotics companies in Canada.

What KeepRobots can do at this stage: be your North American reference site and service base in Vancouver: storage for demo units and spare parts, pre-sales demos and pilot support, close to the US West Coast. See Vancouver robot field service partner.

Stage 1: Certification and compliance (FCC, UL/NRTL, CSA, ISED)

United States: radios and digital circuits go through the FCC; electrical equipment used in workplaces needs a listing from an OSHA-recognized NRTL (UL, ETL and others). For new models covered by the FCC robot entry, the main way back in is a Conditional Approval from the Department of War, tied to a plan to manufacture in the US. As of November 6, 2026, the FCC had announced 15 robot Conditional Approvals (Husqvarna, ANSCER, Matic Robots, Volley Automation, Vulcan Robotics, Haystack Robotics, T-Robotics, ARAPL, ATI Motors, Lightberry, SunScout, Swap Robotics Canada, OMRON, ABB Robotics, Pantograph); none is a quadruped, and the only humanoid is Lightberry's Lumi (per the company). Equipment authorization rules in force since October 13, 2026 (91 FR 57798) add a component rule for new applications; per the FCC's FAQ, repairs and identical-part replacements on authorized robots are not prohibited.

Canada: the robot and its charger need a certification mark accepted in Canada (CSA, cUL, cETL and others from a body accredited by the Standards Council of Canada), and radios need ISED certification with an "IC:" number on the label; an FCC grant does not replace it. UL 3300 (ANSI/CAN/UL 3300) is the binational standard for service robots that move around people. No law names it as mandatory, but it is increasingly the standard a lab uses, and OSHA added it to the NRTL program effective December 31, 2025. Robot arms and cobots installed at a customer site also face a field electrical inspection and a risk assessment.

Timeline: start months before the first shipment. Common mistakes: a US mark but no Canadian one; a charger that was never certified; no UN 38.3 test summary for the battery, discovered at the freight forwarder. The 30-item deployment checklist also covers the importer of record, 120 V / 60 Hz power and the certificate of insurance customers will ask for.

Robot arms and cobots: fixed arms are outside the FCC robot entry, but the site checks are stricter on electrical approval. Every part that connects to power needs a Canadian (SCC-accredited) or US (NRTL) mark, or a field evaluation (CSA SPE-1000:2025 in Canada, the local AHJ in the US), and the customer's safety lead will want a risk assessment to ISO 10218:2025, adopted as CSA Z434:26 and ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025. Document pack and acceptance checklist: Cobot and robot arm installation in Canada and the US: certification marks, field evaluation, CSA Z434 and acceptance.

Read in depth:

What KeepRobots can do at this stage: walk through what a Canadian site will ask for before your first install, so you know which certification body to talk to. Certification itself must come from an accredited body; we do not certify products.

Stage 2: Demo units and pre-sales demos

A demo unit for a trade show or a customer trial has to clear customs, battery, radio and electrical rules. Temporary import routes include the ATA Carnet, Canada's tariff item 9993.00.00 and the US TIB. Lithium batteries are Class 9 dangerous goods, and packs over 160 Wh travel as dangerous-goods cargo, not in passenger baggage. For a trade show, plan about 8 weeks ahead.

Once the unit is in North America, a demo works without a local team if four things are settled: the demo unit lives in North America with a named local custodian; the site questionnaire goes out at T-14 days and the route is verified in person at T-7; the person running the robot on the day can recover from a fault without phoning anyone, with factory engineers on a schedule that respects the time difference; and an after-demo pack goes out within one business day, saying who fixes the robot locally and how fast. Common mistake: a great demo, then no answer to "who comes when it breaks?"

Read in depth:

What KeepRobots can do at this stage: receive, unpack, store and check your demo unit in Vancouver, survey the site in advance, and support your sales team on site or run the demo for you.

Stage 3: On-site deployment

The robotics work is much the same as at home. What takes time is the building: a network the robot can join, approved by the site's IT and security team; an elevator interface agreed with the building, with any controller work done by a licensed elevator contractor (in BC, alterations go through a licensed contractor and Technical Safety BC); a decision for every door and gate; floors and thresholds within spec; a charging spot with a suitable 120 V outlet; named staff on every shift for training; and written acceptance criteria. In Quebec, plan French-language training material and labels from the start.

Timeline (estimate): mapping, training and go-live take about 1–3 days on site; elevator integration and testing take from a few days to several weeks, mostly waiting on the elevator contractor and building approvals. Common mistake: the robot arrives before the elevator plan, so commissioning day becomes a survey day.

Start the IT review first: the customer's security team will ask how the robot authenticates (802.1X), which segment it lives on, what it connects to, how your engineers get in remotely, where data is stored and how vulnerabilities are reported. A ready-made document pack saves weeks; see Robot IT security: the questions North American IT teams ask before a robot goes on their network.

Read in depth:

What KeepRobots can do at this stage: deploy and commission your robots at customer sites in Canada and the US: site survey, network and mapping, elevator and door integration coordination, staff training, go-live and written handover, reported in Chinese for your HQ if needed. See robot deployment services in Canada and the USA.

Stage 4: After-sales model, SLA and warranty/RMA

There are three basic models: your own field engineers, a distributor or integrator, or an independent field service partner paid per job. Most overseas makers start with a mix of remote support from the factory plus a local partner, and hire only where the fleet is dense. What you can hand to a partner: on-site diagnosis, module swaps, deployment and preventive maintenance. What you should keep: firmware and root-cause analysis, parts pricing, the customer contract and the final service promise.

Vancouver is 15 hours behind Beijing all year (BC stays on UTC-7 from 2026), so split support into tiers: a local L1 that takes the call and goes on site, L2/L3 at the factory, with planned hand-overs. A credible SLA is not one "4-hour response" number but five clocks (acknowledgement, remote diagnosis, on-site arrival, restore, permanent fix); make only the first three binding, time them in the robot's local business hours and holidays, and pay misses in service credits. Warranty disputes come from edge cases nobody wrote down: when the warranty starts, who pays for a no-fault-found visit, advance replacement, consumables, and damaged lithium batteries on the way back.

Common mistake: sending every fault back to the factory. Moving only the failed module under an RMA, with the replacement already in the country, is usually faster.

If a partner does the on-site work, what they can fix depends on what you hand over: an English service manual per field-replaceable unit, fault trees, a spare-parts BOM, named diagnostic accounts by level, a firmware procedure, standard repair times and a report template, plus per-technician certification. The checklist and KPI definitions (time to site, first-time fix rate, MTTR) are in Training a third-party robot field technician: what robot makers should hand over.

Before a robot goes back to the factory in China, check whether the fault really needs it: usually only sealed joint or gearbox modules, factory-calibrated assemblies, a bent frame or batch failures do, and often only the failed module has to travel. The export filing, 19 CFR 10.8 declarations, Section 301 on the repair value, CBSA D8-2-10 and battery rules are in Shipping a robot back to China for repair: customs, cost, downtime — and when to fix it locally.

If you choose a third party, the next choice is between a nationwide network (technicians in many metros, working to your written procedures) and a dedicated partner (fewer people who learn your robot and work with your engineers); many makers split work between both by task: Nationwide robot service network or a dedicated field service partner? How robot OEMs choose in the US and Canada.

Read in depth:

What KeepRobots can do at this stage: be your local L1 in North America: take service calls, diagnose on site, swap modules, do preventive maintenance and send ticket data (serial number, fault code, parts used, photos, logs) back to your system. Paid by the hour, on site only when needed, non-exclusive, under your brand or ours. See North America field service for robot makers, robot after-sales service in Canada and robot repair and field service in the USA.

Stage 5: Spare parts

Spare parts answer four questions: what to stock (consumables, wear parts, core modules), how much, where it sits and how often it is refilled. Without opening a Canadian company, most makers ship consignment stock to a local service partner: parts stay the maker's property until used, and every part in or out is logged. Someone must be the importer of record, either the maker as a Non-Resident Importer with a Canadian Business Number and a CARM account, or a Canadian company.

Most robot parts in Chapters 84 and 85 of Canada's Customs Tariff are duty-free at the MFN rate; standalone lithium-ion battery packs carry 7%, and 5% GST applies on top. Air freight from China takes about a week, ocean freight three to six weeks door to door. Wear parts such as drive wheels fail slowly, so changing them on a schedule costs less than waiting for a breakdown. Common mistake: no importer arranged for the first shipment, so parts sit at the border.

Read in depth:

What KeepRobots can do at this stage: hold your spare parts, spare units and swap units on consignment in Vancouver, with monthly stock and usage reports; ship locally when a customer needs a part, or bring it on the repair visit.

Stage 6: Cost — hire field engineers or outsource

Government wage data plus benefits, payroll taxes, a vehicle, travel and tools put one full-time robot field service engineer at roughly US$139,000–144,000 or C$124,000–132,000 a year fully loaded (our estimate). What decides the value is how many hours a year the engineer actually spends on site. Count robots per metro area, not total fleet: on the example assumptions in our hire-vs-outsource break-even, hiring in one metro starts to pay off at around 55–60 robots, fewer if your robots need more visits and more if they need fewer.

The usual answer is staged: outsource first, collect visit data, hire your first technician in the busiest city once the data says so, and keep a partner for every other city. Common mistake: hiring before there are tickets, so the engineer spends most of the year waiting.

Read in depth:

What KeepRobots can do at this stage: work by the hour: diagnostic C$200 per robot, per visit in Canada or US$200 in the US (credited when you approve the repair), C$100 call-out in the Greater Vancouver core zone, on-site labour C$150/hour in Canada or US$150/hour in the US, all before tax; travel outside the core zone and for US projects is quoted per project. Start with a single job; no annual contract needed.

Stage 7: Choose a field service partner

Ask any candidate the same things: which areas are routine and which are quoted travel; how they word response and arrival times; how their technicians get trained on your robot; whether they will hold consignment parts and report on them; what insurance they carry and whether they will name you as additional insured; what data and remote-access rights they need; how they price; and whether they can work under your brand. The guides below list public North American providers by type, so you can compare more than one.

Read in depth:

What KeepRobots can do at this stage: be one of the providers you compare. We are a regional specialist based in Vancouver, covering Canada and the US, in English and Mandarin. See third-party robot service provider for manufacturers.

By robot type: humanoid, quadruped, delivery, cleaning

Common field faults and service scope by robot type: solutions by robot type.

Frequently asked questions

How do I expand a robot company into North America?

In order: check FCC Covered List status and pick the US or Canada first; start certification (FCC and an NRTL listing in the US, ISED and CSA/cUL/cETL in Canada) months before shipping; base a demo unit in North America; survey sites and book IT and elevator approvals before deployment; put a local field service partner, spare parts and an SLA in place before the first robot goes live; hire your own field team only where one metro area has enough visits to keep an engineer busy.

How do robot companies handle deployment and after-sales in North America without a local team?

Most combine remote support from the factory with a local field service partner paid per job, consignment spare parts held in the country and a back-to-back service agreement. The partner does site surveys, commissioning, on-site diagnosis, module swaps and preventive maintenance; the maker keeps firmware, root-cause analysis, parts pricing and the customer contract.

Should a robot company enter the US or Canada first?

Robot models the FCC authorized before July 28, 2026 can still be imported, sold and used in the US, so makers with authorized models and US customers can start there and use Canada as a service base. New foreign-produced mobile robot models in scope cannot get FCC authorization without a Department of War Conditional Approval; Canada uses its own ISED certification, and as of October 2026 we found no similar Canadian measure. Ask a US lawyer about your specific product.

What does the FCC Covered List mean for robots entering the US?

Since July 28, 2026 (DA 26-786), new foreign-produced advanced robotic devices, including autonomous mobile robots, humanoids and quadrupeds, cannot receive FCC equipment authorization unless they obtain a Department of War Conditional Approval. As of November 6, 2026, the FCC had announced 15 robot Conditional Approvals, none for a quadruped and one for a humanoid (Lightberry Lumi, per the company). Previously authorized models can still be imported, sold and used, and repairs with identical parts are not prohibited. Fixed industrial robot arms are excluded.

When should a robot maker hire its own field engineers in North America?

When one metro area has enough on-site work to keep an engineer busy. One engineer costs roughly US$139,000–144,000 or C$124,000–132,000 a year fully loaded (estimate). On our example assumptions, hiring in one metro starts to pay off around 55–60 robots; below that, an hourly partner usually costs less.

What does KeepRobots charge?

KeepRobots works by the hour with no annual contract: diagnostic C$200 per robot, per visit in Canada or US$200 in the US (credited when you approve the repair), C$100 call-out in the Greater Vancouver core zone, on-site labour C$150/hour in Canada or US$150/hour in the US, all before tax; travel outside the core zone and for US projects is quoted per project.

Sources

Related pages

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If you make robots and are planning North America, email partners@keeprobots.com (English or Chinese) with your robot, where your customers are and which stage you are at. We reply within one business day.

中文版：机器人出海北美全流程指南（2026）

Last updated: 2026-11-09

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