In this guide 6 sections
Run one record from enquiry to dispatch. It keeps the requirement sheet, frozen design, released BOM, purchase orders, build stages, FAT results and dispatch papers together, so the shop floor and customer see the same stage. Same open items, same delivery date.
Open the machine record at the enquiry
A special purpose machine starts as a talk about one part, a cycle time, a patch of floor and a promised monthly output. Open the record then. Attach the requirement sheet, part drawing, output target and the utilities available at the customer’s plant, so the promise is written down before the quote leaves.
Most builders track from the purchase order. By then the promises are made. Nobody can say who agreed the cycle time, the air pressure or the reach of the pick-and-place arm, and the shop floor never heard the call.
Write FAT criteria in now. A customer who signs a number before the build is far easier to satisfy than one who invents the number during the test itself.
- Requirement sheet and part drawings
- Quoted cycle time and hourly output
- Utilities and floor space on site
- Agreed FAT criteria and witness names
- Payment milestones tied to build stages
Freeze the design on a dated revision
Hold a design review with the customer once the concept model and layout are ready, and record the date, the attendees and the revision of the 3D model approved. That date is the design freeze.
Changes after the freeze are normal. Each needs a change note naming the part, reason, extra cost and days added to delivery, signed by the customer before the drawing office touches the model. Keep the old 3D revision and drawing set too, so a dispute can be settled by what was approved on which date.
A change buried in an email thread surfaces weeks later as a missing bracket, a wrong bore or a cable gland that no longer fits the panel.
Split the build into stages with one person each
A machine is not one job. It is frame fabrication, machining, bought-out items, mechanical assembly, an electrical panel, a PLC and HMI program and a dry run, each with one owner and a finish date.
Bought-out items usually set the delivery date. Servo drives, linear guides, pneumatic cylinders, vision cameras and safety light curtains can take weeks, so link each purchase order to its stage and late items show up.
Short stages matter too. Painting, wiring ferrules and nameplate engraving are small, which is why they get forgotten, and a stage with no owner slips into the last week before FAT.
- Frame fabrication and machining
- Bought-out items and their purchase orders
- Mechanical assembly and alignment
- Panel wiring and PLC program
- Dry run without product
- Customer trial with sample parts
Run the FAT from a prepared sheet
Print the sheet early. It lists each function to demonstrate, the sample parts to run, the cycle time target, the reject count allowed and a column for what was actually seen. Mark each line pass, fail or waived.
Failures go onto a punch list. Put a person and a due date beside each item, give the customer a copy before they leave, and open work orders at the shop from the same list.
Photograph the machine and nameplate. Save the program backup and parameter file against the record, and log any tweak the customer’s engineer asks for, with the new value and who approved it.
Close the record with dispatch and handover
Dispatch is more than loading a truck. Check the packing list against the BOM, crate drawings, manuals, electrical drawings, spares list and the tools shipped with the machine before the crate is sealed.
Keep the record open after dispatch. Service starts here. Commissioning at site, operator training and the warranty start date all belong to it, and they become the first entries in the machine’s service history.
Pick the machine now in assembly. Write down its stages, then mark each stage with no owner, no date or a bought-out item still waiting on a supplier.
Machine build tracker sheet
Each build stage gets its own row, with columns for owner, planned finish, actual finish, blocking purchase order and open change notes. A header block carries the customer, the requirement sheet reference, the design freeze date and the FAT criteria, and the foot lists dispatch papers and the warranty start date.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
When should the design freeze happen?
Record the date and model revision once the customer approves the layout and 3D model, before long-lead items are ordered, so later changes need a signed note.
Can one record cover a machine with several sub-assemblies?
Yes. Keep one machine record and list each sub-assembly as a stage under it, so the feeder, indexing table and electrical panel each carry an owner and date.
Who should witness the factory acceptance test?
Invite the customer’s engineer and quality person. Add your project lead and the programmer, and agree the names beforehand so the sign-off carries weight when the machine reaches site.
What if the customer adds a requirement during the FAT?
Log it as a change note. Cost it, agree a date and keep it off the acceptance list unless the customer signs that it replaces an original criterion.