# Open Factory > Research on the equipment that runs factories and datacenters, written for the people who buy it. Open Factory publishes research, lead-time and price data, models and calculators on machinery, electrical gear, power and cooling, with a procurement focus. Open Factory is a research publication on factory and datacenter equipment procurement: lead times, prices, data models and calculators for transformers, switchgear, gensets, chillers, machine tools and the people who buy them. Machine access: JSON API at https://open-factory.com/api/v1/index.json (OpenAPI at https://open-factory.com/api/v1/openapi.json) and an MCP server at https://open-factory.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key needed for the free tools). Docs: https://open-factory.com/developers/ ## Models and data - [Book-to-Bill League Table](https://open-factory.com/models/book-to-bill-table/): Quarterly orders, backlog and book-to-bill for every listed electrical, power and cooling OEM, from filings only, with the read-across for buyers: which classes are getting longer and which are clearing. Current headline 3.0x Powell Industries book-to-bill, quarter ended June 30 2026: $934M of orders on $312M of revenue; public reading 3.0x as of 2026-08-03 - [Datacenter MEP Cost Table](https://open-factory.com/models/mep-cost-table/): Capex per MW by component on the Turner & Townsend and JLL baselines, air-cooled and liquid-cooled, with each line's lead time from the Lead-Time Monitor and the carrying cost of delay. Current headline $9.8M per MW all-in datacenter build cost, Phoenix and Columbus, Turner & Townsend Data Centre Construction Cost Index 2025; public reading $9.8M per MW as of 2026-03-13 - [Large-Load Cost Table](https://open-factory.com/models/large-load-cost-table/): What a 50 MW connection costs and takes in 15 US markets: study fees, security per MW, minimum bills, contract terms, exit fees and realistic energization year, from tariffs and dockets. Current headline 2033 realistic energization year for a new 50 MW load in Northern Virginia, Dominion Energy, from a 2026 application; public reading 2033 as of 2026-08-21 - [Lead-Time Monitor](https://open-factory.com/models/lead-time-monitor/): Published lead times for eleven equipment classes compiled from OEM lead-time guides, Census M3 unfilled orders over shipments, ISM supplier deliveries and backlog disclosures in filings. Every cell carries its OEM and date. Current headline 50 weeks LV switchgear, published lead time, Schneider Electric Lead Times Guide, September 2026 edition; public reading 50 weeks as of 2026-09-02 - [OEM Disclosure Scorecard](https://open-factory.com/models/oem-disclosure-scorecard/): Does the OEM publish lead times, list prices, backlog in dollars, capacity in units and delivery performance? Scored from observable facts, source beside every cell, right of reply before publication. Current headline 12 of 90 Cells scored Yes across 18 OEMs and five disclosure criteria, filings and OEM sites checked September 2026; public reading 12 of 90 as of 2026-09-10 - [Public Bid-Tab Price Book](https://open-factory.com/models/bid-tab-price-book/): Transaction prices from public utility, municipal, state and federal procurement awards for transformers, MV switchgear, gensets and chillers, normalized to $/kVA, $/section, $/kW and $/ton bands with n, region and award date. Current headline $69/kVA Pad-mount 3-phase 225 to 500 kVA, median of 60 public awards, 11 buyers in 11 states, 2024 to 2026; public reading $69/kVA as of 2026-08-24 - [Equipment Price Benchmark](https://open-factory.com/models/equipment-price-benchmark/): Contributed quotes and invoices for machine tools, robots and electrical gear, normalized to spec. Launches as a contribution form and a promise; distributions publish only when a cell has five or more contributors and eight or more quotes. Current headline Contribution form open no distribution is printed until a cell meets the size rules; contributions received so far: none ## Indices - [Book-to-Bill League Table headline](https://open-factory.com/indices/): 3.0x as of 2026-08-03. Powell Industries, quarter ended June 30 2026, orders $934M on revenue $311.7M, reported ratio. Source: Powell Q3 FY2026 earnings release, 8-K Ex. 99.1, filed August 3 2026. Eighteen OEMs in the table; full table is Pro. - [Datacenter MEP Cost Table headline](https://open-factory.com/indices/): $9.8M per MW as of 2026-03-13. All-in build cost, Phoenix and Columbus. Source: Turner & Townsend, Data Centre Construction Cost Index 2025, cost per watt by market; compiled 13 March 2026 for Chillers Are the 60-Week Problem. Component lines are Pro. - [Large-Load Cost Table headline](https://open-factory.com/indices/): 2033 as of 2026-08-21. Realistic energization year for a new 50 MW load, Dominion Energy Virginia. Source: JLL Global Data Center Outlook 2026, p.18 (about seven years to power in Northern Virginia); Dominion queue 70 GW against a 24.6 GW peak, February 2026. Table as of 21 August 2026. - [Lead-Time Monitor headline](https://open-factory.com/indices/): 50 weeks as of 2026-09-02. Low-voltage switchgear (LVDO), made to order. Source: Schneider Electric Lead Times Guide, September 2026 edition, published 2 September 2026. Eleven classes tracked; class detail is Pro. - [OEM Disclosure Scorecard headline](https://open-factory.com/indices/): 12 of 90 as of 2026-09-10. Yes cells across 18 OEMs and five criteria (lead-time guide, list prices, backlog in dollars, capacity in units, delivery performance). Backlog in dollars: 10 of 18 OEMs. No OEM publishes delivery performance. - [Public Bid-Tab Price Book headline](https://open-factory.com/indices/): $69/kVA as of 2026-08-24. Median public award price, pad-mount 3-phase 225 to 500 kVA, n=60, 11 buyers, 11 states, awards 2024-02-06 to 2026-08-24. 2,712 award lines, 51 published bands. Bands free; rows Pro. ## Tools - [Copper and Wire Price Sheet](https://open-factory.com/tools/copper-wire-price-sheet/): Latest copper price to $/ft of metal by NEC conductor size, with an escalation-clause calculator for bids. Status: Live - [Genset TCO](https://open-factory.com/tools/genset-tco/): Ten-year cost of a standby or prime generator set: diesel vs gas vs dual fuel, fuel, maintenance, permitting, Tier 4 aftertreatment, run hours. Status: Live - [Large-Load Interconnection Cost](https://open-factory.com/tools/interconnection-cost/): MW and market to study fees, security deposit, minimum-bill exposure and realistic energization year, from the Large-Load Cost Table. Status: Live - [Lead-Time-Adjusted Schedule](https://open-factory.com/tools/lead-time-schedule/): PO dates and equipment classes in; critical path, temporary-power cost and energization month out, using the Monitor's current published lead times. Status: Live - [PJM Capacity Charge Estimator](https://open-factory.com/tools/pjm-capacity-bill/): Peak load contribution and zone to the annual capacity charge at the 2025/26 to 2028/29 clearing prices, and what ELRP claws back. Status: Live - [Quote Check](https://open-factory.com/tools/quote-check/): Spec in (class, kVA or kW or sections, voltage, region), price band and published lead time out, from the Bid-Tab Price Book and the Lead-Time Monitor, with n and date. Status: Live - [Tariff Exposure Calculator](https://open-factory.com/tools/tariff-exposure-calculator/): HTS code plus country of origin to landed cost under Sections 232 and 301 and the current reciprocal schedule, with the Federal Register or CSMS citation and a checked-on date. Status: Live - [Transformer Sizing and Cost](https://open-factory.com/tools/transformer-sizing-cost/): Load, voltage class and impedance to MVA, price band from the Bid-Tab Price Book and published lead time from the Monitor. Status: Live ## Roadmaps - [Factory Automation Roadmap](https://open-factory.com/roadmaps/automation-roadmap/): PLC lead-time cycles, cobot share, software-defined automation, humanoid pilots graded against buyer economics, and the tariff calendar for machine tools and robots. Last revised 2026-09-10 - [Cooling Roadmap](https://open-factory.com/roadmaps/cooling-roadmap/): Air to direct-to-chip to 600 kW Kyber racks: inlet temperatures, W-series, CDU generations, water, refrigerants, and when chiller capacity arrives. Last revised 2026-09-10 - [Datacenter Electrical Roadmap 2026 to 2032](https://open-factory.com/roadmaps/datacenter-electrical-2026-2032/): Rack density 130 kW to 1 MW, 800 VDC, BESS as UPS, solid-state transformers, prefab e-houses: what ships when, and what it strands. Last revised 2026-09-10 - [Large-Load Policy Tracker by State](https://open-factory.com/roadmaps/large-load-policy-tracker/): Texas SB6 and Batch Zero, AEP Ohio's DCT, Georgia PSC, Virginia GS-5 and the SCC, PJM's backstop, FERC co-location orders: every rule that changes what a 50 to 100 MW connection costs, with the dates that come next. Last revised 2026-09-10 ## Articles - [Dry Cooler or Cooling Tower: What the Water Bill Says in 15 Markets](https://open-factory.com/articles/dry-cooler-vs-tower-water-bill/): Douglas County $24.80 per kgal, 6 million gallons per MW-year, Google's sites, Houston 3,339 wet-bulb hours, dry-cooler fan penalty, four markets where hybrid pays, the 50 MW BoM. 2026-10-16, Cooling - [Fiber Laser Cutters: What a $500,000 Price Gap Buys](https://open-factory.com/articles/fiber-laser-price-gap/): Chinese 12 kW machines from $45k FOB, the 41% duty stack, IPG's 10-K and Raycus at a 2.88% margin, federal awards from $645k to $1.75M, Trumpf and Bystronic terms, the PO checklist. 2026-10-11, Machinery - [Tariffs, September 2026: The Actual Schedule for Machinery and Electrical Gear](https://open-factory.com/articles/tariff-schedule-2026/): IEEPA struck down Feb 20, Section 122 ran to Jul 24, Section 301 forced-labor tariffs on 60 economies, Section 232 metals at 50/25/15/10 with the Annex III 15% tier to Dec 2027, the robotics probe with no rate, HTS by HTS. 2026-09-09, Procurement - [SendCutSend: How a Bootstrapped Reno Shop Became a $1 Billion Parts Factory](https://open-factory.com/articles/sendcutsend/): $110M from Sequoia, Paradigm and the Collisons, 30 million parts, 300,000 customers, 2 to 4 day sheet cutting, Reno, Paris and Arlington plants, 12 aluminum gauges, the $1B pledge, how to order. 2026-09-05, Procurement - [Modular Is Not Cheaper: A 50 MW Prefab Electrical Room, Line by Line](https://open-factory.com/articles/skids-vs-stick-built/): Crown Texas, Powell and PCX purchase orders, 22% faster and 1 to 3% dearer, freight and crane at $450k a block, FAT scope, who owns the slot, three public projects compared. 2026-09-04, Electrical - [The Recommended Spares List Is Where the Margin Hides](https://open-factory.com/articles/recommended-spares-margin/): Spares at 0.8% to 20% of the award, one utility's breaker price 2023 to 2025, PLC spares bid 40% apart, PM at $2,376 to $7,481 per genset, Modicon end-of-service dates, the four clauses. 2026-08-22, Procurement - [800 VDC Will Strand Your White-Space Frame Agreement](https://open-factory.com/articles/800vdc-strands-frame-agreements/): NVIDIA 800 VDC shipping from Vertiv H2 2026, what changes SKU in 2027 (UPS, busway, PDU) and what does not, ABB's zero orders, how to write the change clause. 2026-08-21, Electrical - [What 50 MW Costs in 15 US Markets](https://open-factory.com/articles/what-50mw-costs-15-markets/): Dominion $1.5M per MW and 14 years, AEP Ohio 72.5% minimum at 50 MW, Texas $50,000 per MW only above 75 MW, Georgia 15-year contracts, JLL 2.5 to 7 years to power, the three markets still live in 2028, Large-Load Cost Table v0. 2026-08-21, Power - [Liquidated Damages at 0.5% a Week: Why Caps Sit at the Vendor's Margin](https://open-factory.com/articles/liquidated-damages/): Cap norms by equipment class, what a week of delay costs per MW, negotiating above the cap, LD vs schedule bonus, real clauses from utility bid tabs. 2026-07-20, Procurement - [How to Write an RFQ for Capital Equipment in 2026](https://open-factory.com/articles/rfq-capital-equipment/): Ocala's $1.1M PPI escalator, LDs at $250 a day capped at 5%, 25/35/30/10 milestones, FAT as the payment trigger, IEEPA refund allocation, 156-week pad-mounts, the six templates. 2026-07-14, Procurement - [The 2% Funnel: 474 GW Requested, 9 GW Approved, 5.8 GW Energized in ERCOT](https://open-factory.com/articles/ercot-funnel/): Oncor's 298 GW of requests, Batch Zero, Abbott's August pause and the December audit, who the 3.9 GW are and what they did differently. 2026-07-08, Power - [CloudNC and Limitless Labs: AI Is Coming for the CNC Programming Bottleneck](https://open-factory.com/articles/cloudnc-limitless-labs/): CloudNC $20M and 1,000 shops, Lockheed as investor and customer, Limitless $20M Series A with Blue Origin and Cadillac F1, 4,790 programmers for 16,619 shops, CAM Assist inside Mastercam and NX, what a seat should save. 2026-07-01, Machinery - [The R-454B Summer: What the Refrigerant Switch Did to Chiller Prices](https://open-factory.com/articles/refrigerant-transition-prices/): AIM Act steps to 60% and 30%, cylinders at $345 to $2,000, Honeywell's 42% surcharge, Chemours pricing up 11%, 563 lb in a 500-ton chiller, EPA's May 2026 reconsideration, the purchase-order clauses. 2026-06-30, Cooling - [OFCI vs Design-Build: How Hyperscalers Buy Chillers and Colo Developers Do Not](https://open-factory.com/articles/ofci-vs-design-build-chillers/): Owner-furnished 78 weeks out, the 15% markup in public contracts, deposit and storage carry, sales-tax exemptions in three states, warranty clocks, Modine's $165M deposit, the clause set and the reservation playbook. 2026-06-26, Cooling - [Grainger's 2017 Confession: The Year a Distributor Admitted Its List Prices Were Fiction](https://open-factory.com/articles/grainger-confession/): 450,000 web-priced SKUs, 1.7 point U.S. margin hit, 811 Hot List SKUs at 50% off, Fastenal 62% through vending and eBusiness, Amazon Business $35B, how to read a contract price file. 2026-06-21, Procurement - [Reading a Switchgear Quote: The Eleven Line Items That Hide the Schedule](https://open-factory.com/articles/switchgear-quote-anatomy/): Base price, copper escalator, GOES surcharge, testing, freight, storage clause, cancellation terms, LD schedule, factory acceptance witness, spares, drawings. 2026-06-13, Procurement - [1,250 Hours: Reading BMW's Humanoid Pilot as a Buyer](https://open-factory.com/articles/humanoid-pilot-as-buyer/): Figure 02 at Spartanburg, Agility's $8,500 a month vs a $30.50 worker, the 3,500-hour breakeven, Interact Analysis under 100k units by 2030, humanoid disclosure scores, what to sign and refuse. 2026-06-10, Machinery - [The $306k Machine: A Record Half-Year With Fewer Units](https://open-factory.com/articles/machine-tool-record-fewer-units/): USMTO $3.44B in H1 2026, units down 2.6%, aerospace and power generation over automotive, JMTBA's JPY 203B month, Germany at 73% utilization, Italy down 38.7%, what it means for 2027 delivery and price. 2026-05-25, Machinery - [From 36 Weeks to Stock: The ControlLogix Lead-Time Cycle](https://open-factory.com/articles/controllogix-36-weeks-to-stock/): Rockwell bulletins 35 to 208 days, backlog $1.6B to $5.6B, a $25,920 surplus CPU, Siemens DI destocking, 250 bps of price, ISM at 60.6, the second-sourcing playbook. 2026-05-17, Machinery - [Grainger vs McMaster vs Amazon Business: A 50-SKU Price Basket](https://open-factory.com/articles/mro-price-basket/): Three of six storefronts blocked, Fastenal 126% above the cheapest, Amazon cheapest in 10 of 12 categories, Grainger's 811-line Hot List at 50% off list, 136,638 vending machines, the buying rule by category. 2026-05-14, Procurement - [A Factory Owner's Guide to the PJM Capacity Charge](https://open-factory.com/articles/pjm-capacity-factory-bill/): $28.92 to $333.44 per MW-day, the $7.27B datacenter attribution, five hours that set a Pennsylvania plant's bill, ELRP at $112k per MW-year, the $12B modeling fight, the PLC playbook. 2026-05-08, Power - [A Robot Costs $61k. The Cell Costs $150k](https://open-factory.com/articles/robot-61k-cell-150k/): IFR 621k installs, A3 $61,198 per arm, Fanuc CRX up 12% to $51k, UR20 at $54k to $73k in federal awards, three cells line by line, payback by shift, welder wages by state, the integration multiple and three contract clauses. 2026-05-08, Machinery - [The $60 Million Deposit: How Equipment Slots Became Datacenter Currency](https://open-factory.com/articles/slot-economy/): GE Vernova 116 GW and 63 GW of paid reservations, Siemens 95 GW and Mitsubishi 35 GW, $25.8B of turbine deposits, Vertiv deferred revenue at $3.6B, Modine's $165M, deposit terms by equipment class, who holds the slots. 2026-05-08, Power - [Who Gets the IEEPA Refund](https://open-factory.com/articles/ieepa-refund-fight/): CIT refund order March 4, importers of record, tariff surcharges passed to buyers, the contract clause nobody wrote, Skadden's allocation language, bonded warehouses as the 2026 hedge. 2026-04-29, Procurement - [Behind the Meter, In Front of the Queue: 90 GW Announced, 2 GW Running](https://open-factory.com/articles/behind-meter-90gw/): xAI Colossus at 1,498 MW of turbines, the GSU transformer nobody prices, 143-week GSU lead times, DOE 202(c) orders, what a developer can actually energize by 2028. 2026-04-28, Power - [Compressed Air Is 10% of Your Factory's Power Bill](https://open-factory.com/articles/compressed-air-10-percent/): About $6.6B a year, 2,962 DOE leak audits at a 4-month payback, 62 CAGI sheets from 17.2 to 22.8 kW per 100 cfm, VSD rebates of $75 to $220 per hp, the 200 hp sheet comparison. 2026-04-23, Cooling - [Five Majors Bought Their Way Into Liquid Cooling. Here Is the Price List](https://open-factory.com/articles/cooling-ma-price-list/): Eaton and Boyd $9.5B at 22.5x, Ecolab and CoolIT $4.75B at 29x, Schneider and Motivair $850M, Vertiv and PurgeRite, Trane and LiquidStack, what 29x does to your CDU quote. 2026-04-19, Cooling - [Recips vs Turbines vs Fuel Cells for a 100 MW Bridge](https://open-factory.com/articles/turbines-recips-fuel-cells/): 16 to 18 months vs 24 to 30 vs 36+, $/kW from Wartsila, Caterpillar, Bloom and GE Vernova deals, heat rate, permitting, resale, Oracle's 2.8 GW Bloom MSA. 2026-03-24, Power - [Nox Metals: The Detroit Startup Cutting Aluminum Plate in 36 Hours](https://open-factory.com/articles/nox-metals/): $11.5M seed led by Hyperion, Y Combinator and Palmer Luckey, a 30,000 sq ft Ferndale factory, 6061 and 7075 plate to 24.5 in, instant quotes, the 93-cent Midwest premium, how to place a first order. 2026-03-18, Procurement - [The 2 MW Plant Service Upgrade Nobody Budgets Right](https://open-factory.com/articles/2mw-plant-service-upgrade/): Utility-owned pad-mount at 52 to 104 weeks, Ohio's 40% CIAC vs Georgia's revenue allowance, the 30-day AHJ clock, arc-flash study at $6k to $70k, the 20-week sequencing gain, Large-Load Cost Table. 2026-03-15, Electrical - [Chillers Are the 60-Week Problem](https://open-factory.com/articles/chiller-60-week-problem/): Air-cooled 40 to 60 weeks, water-cooled 50 to 70, Munters into 2028, Trane and Carrier and JCI backlogs, R-454B's summer, OFCI 18 months out, the 20 MW procurement calendar. 2026-03-13, Cooling - [What a Haas VF-2 Really Costs in 2026](https://open-factory.com/articles/haas-vf2-true-cost/): $70,995 list, 63 used listings and 3 prices, PM at 2 to 3.5% a year, spindle rebuild $8k to $25k, ten-year bill ~$173k before labour, Section 179 at $2.56M, the quote form. 2026-03-13, Machinery - [What 2,439 Public Change Orders Show About Electrical and Mechanical Contractors](https://open-factory.com/articles/change-orders-212-invoices/): Median 1.8% of award, 9.5% of the dollars, 69% of mods give no reason, five line items that grow, labor units vs billed hours, clause language and contractor ratios. 2026-03-04, Procurement - [Copper at $6.77: How a 50% Tariff Shows Up in a 200-Amp Panel](https://open-factory.com/articles/copper-tariff-panel/): COMEX record, $1,000 per ton premium over LME, copper wire PPI +17.9%, busway and cable quotes, aluminum substitution, the escalator clause. 2026-02-14, Procurement - [The Used and Refurbished Market Nobody Indexes](https://open-factory.com/articles/used-refurbished-market/): 15 bids for one 2,500 kVA pad-mount, used gensets at $47 to $335 per kW, eight oil and insulation limits, the Charlotte refurb line, dealer stock at 1.8x the median bid, five checks before wiring money. 2026-02-04, Procurement - [1872, Foundational Industries and Hadrian: Three Blueprints for the Autonomous American Factory](https://open-factory.com/articles/1872-foundational-industries-hadrian/): 1872's $15M and Path Robotics welding in a 1903 Cincinnati plant, Foundational's $25M AI-native rack factory, Hadrian's $1.37B at $7.87B and 3 million sq ft, the 330,000-welder gap, what a buyer can order and when. 2026-01-11, Machinery - [Japan Is Eating the US Capex Boom](https://open-factory.com/articles/japan-eats-capex-boom/): JMTBA North America JPY 40.7B, +44%, 37 cents of every USMTO dollar, the yen at 158, one 15% rate for Japan, Taiwan and Germany, US assembly plants, a Taiwanese 5-axis in Ohio. 2026-01-11, Machinery - [Who Bought the EV Plants' Machines](https://open-factory.com/articles/ev-plant-machines-second-hand/): $34.8B of cancellations in 2025 across 61 projects, Intel Ohio to 2030-31 and TSMC's 3 nm fab to 2027, the 510-lot Lion Electric catalog, Nikola at 3 cents on the dollar, Canoo's KUKA and Manz lines, Natron's $74M battery plant, buyers by sector. 2026-01-10, Machinery - [When a Megapack Beats a Static UPS](https://open-factory.com/articles/bess-as-ups/): Lithium BESS vs double-conversion UPS for a 20 MW hall, $/kW, footprint, 58.4% duty on Chinese cells, Powin's Chapter 11, fire code, who is buying it. 2026-01-08, Electrical - [The OEM Disclosure Scorecard: Who Tells Buyers Anything](https://open-factory.com/articles/oem-disclosure-scorecard/): Eighteen electrical, power and cooling OEMs scored on whether they publish lead times, list prices, backlog in dollars, capacity in units and delivery performance, source beside every cell, replies printed verbatim. 2025-12-23, Electrical - [Rockwell's 250 Basis Points: How Tariffs Show Up in Your PLC Quote](https://open-factory.com/articles/rockwell-250bps/): 100 bps tariff pass-through, distributor discount structure, Siemens and Schneider list behaviour, what to ask the distributor before renewing the frame agreement. 2025-12-19, Procurement - [What Hyperscaler Nuclear PPAs Tell a Factory Negotiating a 15-Year Contract](https://open-factory.com/articles/nuclear-ppas-price-signal/): Crane at $1,916 per kW and ~$112 per MWh, Talen and Amazon $18B over 17 years, Meta's Clinton at ~$70, Vistra's 1,200 MW to an unnamed buyer, 5.8 GW contracted against 90 GW of demand, the industrial rate by state, the eight utilities offering long-term terms. 2025-12-18, Power - [Datacenter Construction Is Eating Your Electricians](https://open-factory.com/articles/electricians-wages-by-metro/): Electrician and pipefitter wages in 10 metros, Loudoun contractor payrolls +138%, the 90th percentile at $121,570, 6,350 MW under construction, travel-card and per diem terms, the clauses that protect a plant project. 2025-12-01, Procurement - [Why Your Switchgear Costs 50% More Than in 2021](https://open-factory.com/articles/switchgear-50-percent/): Switchgear PPI +78% and +15% YoY at peak, copper $6.14/lb and a 50% tariff, labor 27% of the factory, Eaton margin 20% to 30%, Powell backlog $2.4B, lead times 21 to 104 weeks by class, the decomposition behind the wall. 2025-11-30, Electrical - [The 30% Fuel-Cell ITC Is the Last Federal Subsidy for On-Site Power](https://open-factory.com/articles/fuel-cell-itc-last-subsidy/): OBBBA leaves fuel cells, storage, geothermal and nuclear through 2034, wind and solar need construction by July 2026, gas CHP gets nothing, payback for a 10 MW plant. 2025-11-29, Power - [Vertiv Stopped Reporting Its Backlog. Here Is Our Estimate](https://open-factory.com/articles/vertiv-backlog-estimate/): $15B and 2.9x book-to-bill in Q4 2025, deferred revenue doubling to $3.6B, guidance and peer read-across, what deposits tell you about 2027 slots. 2025-11-11, Electrical - [Transformer Lead Times Hit 143 Weeks: Who Gets Delivered First](https://open-factory.com/articles/transformer-160-weeks/): Wood Mackenzie 128 and 143 weeks, 82% of large units imported, Hitachi and Siemens Energy capacity by 2028, GOES and Butler Works, $25 million slot fees, the six buyers ranked. 2025-10-25, Electrical - [Quote Check: What Your Switchgear Quote Should Have Said](https://open-factory.com/articles/quote-check-launch/): A $2.25M 15 kV lineup at +52% against n=12, a 2,500 kVA pad-mount 6% under the median, a 500 kW genset above p75, the n >= 5 rule, what the tool cannot see, the negotiation script by band position. 2025-10-18, Procurement - [One Steel Mill Gates Every US Transformer](https://open-factory.com/articles/butler-works-goes/): Cleveland-Cliffs Butler Works, 920 mm coil width, 39% higher core losses than Japanese GOES, the $400M DoW contract, DPA Title III, what the DOE efficiency rule did and undid. 2025-10-12, Electrical - [MES Is a Consulting Product](https://open-factory.com/articles/mes-is-consulting/): BEP's $110M services line vs $4.6M licence, Riverside's 1% software share, $138 to $300 integrator hours, KPI acceptance by phase, the SOW template and three pricing traps. 2025-10-10, Machinery - [Tariff Bill of Materials: What Sections 232 and 301 Add to a UPS, a Lineup, a Genset and a Megapack](https://open-factory.com/articles/tariff-bom-electrical/): Copper at 50% on content, steel and aluminum tiers, Chinese cells at 58.4%, SKU by SKU landed cost, the calculator behind it. 2025-10-10, Procurement - [The Copper and Wire Price Sheet, Weekly](https://open-factory.com/articles/copper-wire-sheet-launch/): IMF copper at $6.14 via FRED as the reference, the COMEX gap stated not carried, NEC Table 8 to $/ft for 13 conductor sizes, the escalation-clause calculator, copper wire PPI +17.9%, 14 Border States bulletins logged, what version 1 adds. 2025-10-02, Procurement - [Introducing the Large-Load Cost Table: 15 Markets Side by Side](https://open-factory.com/articles/large-load-cost-table-launch/): Study fees, security per MW, minimum bills, terms, exit fees and realistic energization year for Dominion, AEP Ohio, Georgia Power, Oncor, CenterPoint, Duke, APS, SRP, PacifiCorp and six more, 53 cells from primary documents and 45 not published. 2025-10-01, Power - [The $2,850 Report That Says Nothing](https://open-factory.com/articles/2850-report-says-nothing/): A $37,300 benchmark for a $12k to $3.8M category, no transaction prices, PPI resold to 2033, four tariff changes in 2025, IBISWorld vs SpendEdge vs Beroe, ten-category free recipe. 2025-09-29, Procurement - [Building the Missing Index: Realized Auction Prices for Used CNC Machines](https://open-factory.com/articles/used-cnc-auction-index/): 144 hammers from three houses that publish them, a 3.9-year half-life, Haas at 44 to 55% of list under eight years old, the $100 control cohort, $8,900 to $22,400 to land a $36,600 machine, the five checks before you wire money, the lookup table. 2025-09-25, Machinery - [Introducing the Public Bid-Tab Price Book](https://open-factory.com/articles/bid-tab-price-book-launch/): 2,712 public award lines, 51 bands at n of five or more, pad-mount $30 to $153 per kVA since 2024, twelve bids on one 2,500 kVA unit, gensets $/kW, chillers $/ton, the five portals, Austin Energy at 61% of rows, what version 1 adds. 2025-09-20, Procurement - [Cummins and Caterpillar Are Sold Out Through 2028](https://open-factory.com/articles/gensets-sold-out-2028/): 62 to 110 week lead times, Caterpillar $72.1B backlog, Generac $1.6B backlog, used Tier 2 iron at 18 to 46 cents, INNIO and Wartsila recips, Tier 2 vs Tier 4 routes, Genset TCO. 2025-09-15, Electrical - [The 171-Day Capex Lead Time: ISM's Most Ignored Table](https://open-factory.com/articles/171-day-capex-lead-time/): Capex 171 days, production materials 84, MRO 48, electrical components in short supply 14 months, aluminum up 33 months, how to read it before the PPI moves. 2025-09-13, Procurement - [Book-to-Bill League Table, Q2 2026: Every Electrical OEM](https://open-factory.com/articles/book-to-bill-league/): Eaton 1.2 to 1.3, Siemens Energy Grid 1.48 and EUR 51B, GE Vernova $44.6B, ABB +59%, Powell $2.4B, Hitachi $63.6B, the read-across for buyers. 2025-09-10, Electrical - [Introducing the Open Factory Lead-Time Monitor](https://open-factory.com/articles/lead-time-monitor-launch/): Eleven equipment classes, every cell a published lead time with its OEM and date, Schneider LV switchgear at 50 weeks, Census M3 at 5.7 months, ISM supplier deliveries 59.3, backlog from seven filings, monthly on the first business day, what version 1 adds. 2025-09-10, Electrical ## Optional - 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