Packaging Machine FAT Checklist

Reference the order scope

List the equipment, options, format parts and documents expected under the order. Identify the product and bag combinations to test. Separate presence checks from operating trials. Name the people authorized to accept results and agree how a deviation will be documented and resolved.

Define conditions before the run

Specify material, packaging, quantities and the output conditions being evaluated. Agree measurement methods and the records required. Include optional valve or gas equipment when it is part of the supplied configuration. A generic checklist should be adapted to the actual order instead of copied as if every line were identical.

Keep an exception record

Record actual results, interruptions and anything not tested. Each open item needs a responsible party and an agreed next action. Retain the configuration, settings and sample evidence with the signed record. Factory acceptance and site startup answer different questions; agree the site checks as well rather than assuming one session covers both.

Write the acceptance protocol before the visit

A factory acceptance test should be based on the purchase scope and a defined material set. List the equipment, tooling, software or recipe versions and the products to be demonstrated. Name the buyer and supplier representatives responsible for each decision. Agree which observations are informational and which measurements determine acceptance, so the demonstration is not judged against new criteria invented at the end.

Confirm that the necessary product, packaging and measuring equipment will be available. If a material is substituted, record the substitution before the run and state which conclusions remain provisional. A trial with an easier product or unprinted film may answer some questions, but it cannot silently replace the agreed production condition. Keep any deferred checks in an open-item list.

Measure accepted packs under recorded conditions

Log the start and finish times, settings and interruptions. Count accepted and rejected packs separately, and explain how each category was determined. Observe weight, seal appearance, coding and product condition using the agreed methods. The peak displayed cycle rate is not the same as the rate of accepted packs over a recorded period.

Include ordinary operating events: replenishment, a planned stop, restart and an agreed format change where relevant. Have the intended users review access and routine tasks. Safety-related checks must follow the approved equipment procedures and be conducted by appropriate personnel. Do not defeat guards or interlocks merely to keep a demonstration running or to obtain a clearer camera angle.

Close the test with a traceable disposition

For every exception, record the issue, evidence, responsible party and agreed next step. Distinguish a minor documentation correction from a performance question needing another run. Link photographs, samples and raw measurements to the relevant test item. A signature on a summary sheet is much more useful when the supporting record makes clear what was actually inspected.

Identify which checks will be repeated after installation and which depend on factory utilities or upstream equipment that were not present. Factory acceptance does not by itself verify the complete process at the customer's site. Keep the accepted scope, remaining actions and release conditions together, so shipment and installation decisions use the same evidence rather than separate informal conversations.

Create a requirement-to-evidence map

Assign an identifier to every acceptance item and connect it to the order or approved specification. The evidence may be a component inspection, a document review or an operating result. Keep these categories visible. The presence of a printer proves that the component is installed, while a print-location and readability check evaluates a different requirement. Combining both into a single tick box makes it difficult to understand what a signature actually accepts.

Name the record expected for each item before the visit. A weighing assessment needs its raw measurements; a tooling inspection needs identifiable components; a changeover demonstration needs a defined starting and ending condition. Photographs should carry the same item identifiers. This simple map gives the buyer a practical agenda and prevents the session from being dominated by whichever demonstration happens to be easiest on the day.

Define how interrupted or substituted runs will be treated

An acceptance run may stop because material is unavailable, a setting needs correction or a fault appears. Agree how the interruption will be recorded and whether the run restarts or continues. Preserve the original sequence rather than resetting the record until it looks uninterrupted. A corrected result can be acceptable, but the correction and its verification belong in the evidence file.

If the agreed production film is unavailable, identify which checks can still be completed and which remain conditional. The same principle applies to substitute product and absent downstream equipment. Do not describe a partially completed trial as a complete pass merely because the machine operated. Give every deferred item an owner and a defined means of closure so that shipment decisions can be made against the actual remaining work.

Observe the work between successful packs

Have the relevant operators review material replenishment, recipe selection and routine recovery using the applicable instructions. Ask maintenance staff to review accessible identification points and the supplied maintenance documentation. These observations help expose missing information that a continuous short run might conceal. They should be conducted within the agreed procedure; acceptance does not justify improvising unsafe access to moving components.

For a multiple-format order, identify the parts removed and installed during the demonstrated transition. Record how the new setup is checked before production resumes. If only one format is demonstrated, make that limit explicit in the acceptance record. A bagger capable of operating with one tooling set has not thereby demonstrated every size mentioned in a commercial discussion or every product that the buyer may introduce later.

Separate acceptance disposition from commercial release

Conclude each requirement with a clear status and the supporting evidence reference. An unresolved documentation item, an untested option and a failed operating criterion require different next actions. Avoid burying them in one general remarks field. Discuss whether a correction requires photographs, a revised drawing, an additional measured run or a later site check, and record who can approve that evidence.

Retain the signed result with the exact configuration revision and the open-item list. Commercial release or shipment decisions follow the project agreement and authorised representatives; a generic online checklist cannot set those terms. After installation, use the factory record as a baseline for the agreed site checks. Differences in utilities, materials or connected equipment should be explained so that both parties can distinguish a changed condition from an unresolved factory issue.

Keep the acceptance file useful after the session

Store the final protocol, evidence index, configuration list and open-item record together. Give photographs and measurement files stable names that include the test identifier. Note where retained physical samples will be held and how long the project team intends to keep them. These details matter when a later discussion occurs with different personnel. An acceptance file should let a new production or maintenance colleague understand the tested condition without reconstructing it from scattered messages, unnamed videos or a summary signature page.