So there are some other questions similar to this, but none of them talk about how to designate the placement of components for the manufacturer.
I use a pretty uncommon piece of software for designing my PCBs (sprint layout), so I can't just send the project file because they won't be able to open it.
I have done PCB manufacture before without assembly. All I have to do is send the company the gerber and drill files.
Now to do a pick and place, I also have to provide a BOM; this I understand.
What I don't understand is how they program the machine to place the components at the right location. Do I need another file for this? Is it good enough to just have the component numbers on the silkscreen layer and have them figure it out themselves, or is there some type of other file I have to include to tell them the exact location to place the components?
You need a "pick and place" file, containing the component type names, designators, placement side, origins and rotations. Review Sprint handbook how it can be generated.
See an Altium pick-and-place output in .csv format:
center point of part: This is where the vacuum pipe touches the part. This should be the rotation center of the part.
Rotation angle: 0° standard rotation can be found in IPC-7351B.