Key takeaways
Key Takeaways:
The Definition: Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) is the validation process performed at the vendor's site before the equipment is shipped to you.
Turn downtime into a number your team can actually act on.
Get a demoThe Risk: Accepting a machine with "Punch List" items usually means those items never get fixed. Once the machine ships, you lose your leverage.
The Difference: FAT happens at the vendor. SAT (Site Acceptance Testing) happens at your plant. You need both.
The Strategy: Use the FAT not just to verify function, but to gather the Baseline Maintenance Data (Manuals, Spare Parts Lists, Initial Vibration Readings) before the machine enters your facility.
Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) happens at the vendor's factory to verify the machine works as designed, while Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) happens on your own factory floor to confirm the machine survived shipping and integrates with your utilities such as air, power and data. The key rule is to fix every failure at the vendor during the FAT rather than relying on the SAT to catch them, because once the equipment is on your floor and paid for you lose your leverage.
A complete FAT checklist covers four pillars: safety and compliance (guarding, electrical codes, ergonomics), performance verification (stress testing, dry and wet runs, changeovers), failure modes (door stops, sensor blocks, E-stop and power recovery), and documentation (schematics, spare parts lists, manuals). Treating documentation as a first-class pillar matters because the schematics and spare parts list you collect at the FAT become the foundation for every future work order on that asset.
A punch list, also called a defect list, is the documented record of every problem found during the FAT that the vendor must resolve before acceptance. The guide recommends categorising items into three classes: Class A showstoppers, Class B minor fixes, and Class C documentation errors. Accepting equipment with an open punch list is risky because those unresolved defects typically never get fixed once payment leverage is gone.
A rigorous FAT matters because accepting substandard equipment means importing long-term maintenance problems that you inherit for the entire life of the asset. The point of maximum leverage is at the vendor's site before shipment, while you still hold payment; defects waved through at that stage rarely get corrected later. Capturing the equipment's baseline performance and documentation at FAT also gives your maintenance team the reference data they need to spot degradation once the machine is in production.
You carry FAT data forward by treating the verified baseline (cycle times, expected OEE, schematics and the spare parts list) as the starting reference for live production monitoring and maintenance once the asset is installed. In a unified OEE and CMMS platform like Fabrico, that baseline becomes the benchmark the system tracks against in real time: when a machine drifts from its accepted FAT performance, the fault can be turned into a prioritised, parts-ready digital work order on a technician's phone, closing the loop from detection to verified fix. You can see how this works in a Fabrico demo. As an EU-built platform, Fabrico also keeps that equipment and production data within EU data residency. [INSERT VERIFIED PROOF POINT - operator to confirm]
No, you should not skip the FAT, because the SAT is not designed to catch design failures. The guide is explicit that you must never rely on the SAT to fix failures found in the FAT and should fix them at the vendor instead. The FAT verifies the machine works as designed while you still hold payment leverage; the SAT only confirms it survived shipping and integrates with your utilities, so problems discovered there are far harder and costlier to resolve.
Buying industrial equipment is not like buying a car. You don't just drive it off the lot.
Whether it is a high-speed packaging line, a CNC machining center, or a custom robotic cell, the "Handover" is the most critical moment in the asset's lifecycle.
If you accept a machine that is 95% ready, you are importing a problem. That missing 5%—a loose guard, a glitchy HMI, a missing spare parts list—will haunt your maintenance team for the next 10 years.
The Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) is your firewall. It is the moment you verify that the machine meets the User Requirement Specifications (URS) before you pay the final invoice and before it leaves the supplier's floor.
Here is the strategic guide to conducting a rigorous FAT in 2026.
Don't confuse the two. They have different goals.
Factory Acceptance Test (FAT):
Location: The Vendor's factory.
Goal: Verify the machine works as designed. Does it hit the cycle time? Do the safety interlocks work? Is the wiring to code?
Leverage: High. You still have the money. The machine is still theirs.
Site Acceptance Test (SAT):
Location: Your factory floor.
Goal: Verify the machine survived shipping and integrates with your utilities (Air, Power, Data).
Leverage: Low. The machine is bolted to your floor.
The Golden Rule: Never rely on the SAT to fix failures found in the FAT. Fix them at the vendor.
A FAT is not a "Dog and Pony Show" where you watch the machine run for 10 minutes and go to lunch. It is a forensic audit.
Before turning it on, check the build.
Guarding: Can you reach a moving part?
Electrical: Are the panels built to your local code (UL/CE/CSA)?
Ergonomics: Is the HMI screen at the right height?
Run the machine at full speed.
The Stress Test: Don't run it for 5 minutes. Run it for 4 hours.
Dry Run vs. Wet Run: Run it empty to check mechanics, then run it with actual product to check quality.
Changeover: Force the vendor to demonstrate a product changeover. Is it really "Tool-less" like they promised?
Don't just watch it run. Make it fail.
Open a door. Does it stop?
Block a sensor. Does it alarm correctly?
Hit the E-Stop. Does it reset easily?
Simulate a power loss. Does it recover?
Do not sign off until you have the data.
Electrical Schematics: Are they accurate to the final build?
Spare Parts List (BOM): Do you have the vendor part numbers (e.g., SKF Bearing) or just the OEM part numbers?
Maintenance Manuals: Are they in the correct language?
You will find problems. You must document them.
Create a "Punch List" (Defect List).
Class A: Showstoppers. The machine cannot ship.
Class B: Minor issues. Must be fixed before shipping, but re-test not required.
Class C: Documentation errors. Can be emailed later (Risky—get them now if possible).
The Digital Advantage:
Don't use a paper notepad. Use a digital inspection app. Snap a photo of the loose wire, tag the location, and assign it to the vendor engineer right there on the floor.
The FAT is the perfect time to populate your maintenance software.
You are standing in front of the machine with the experts who built it.
Asset Creation: Create the asset in Fabrico.
QR Codes: Tag the machine with your asset ID now, at the vendor's site.
Baseline PMs: Ask the vendor engineer: "How often should I grease this bearing?" Enter that schedule into Fabrico immediately.
Documentation: Upload the PDF manual and schematics to the asset record.
By the time the machine arrives at your dock, your maintenance team already has the PM schedule, the parts list, and the manuals on their tablets.
A common mistake is testing the machine in a "perfect" environment.
The vendor uses perfect raw materials.
The vendor uses perfect power.
The Real-World Test:
Bring "Bad" material to the FAT. Bring your warped cardboard, your slightly out-of-spec caps, your dusty resin. See how the machine handles the reality of your factory. If it jams on slightly imperfect material, it will fail in production.
The FAT is your insurance policy.
If you treat it as a formality, you are buying a liability.
If you treat it as a rigorous gate, you are buying performance.
Use the FAT to verify not just the machine, but the entire support system (Manuals, Safety, Maintenance). When the machine passes a rigorous digital FAT, you know it is ready to make money on Day 1.
See how Fabrico unifies OEE and maintenance in one platform.
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