Equipment Purchase / Run trials
Equipment Purchase / Run trials
(OP)
We have purchased some machinery from an overseas manufacturer, and in the next few weeks they will assemble it for run trials prior to placing it into shipping containers. We will be sending an engineer and a member of QA to observe the trials.
Given that we have already selected the given machinery/configuration, what exactly is the trial for?
Is this common practice?
What recommendations or advice can any of you give for these trials?
To me, it seems as if we've bought the car, now we'll take it for a test drive.........
Given that we have already selected the given machinery/configuration, what exactly is the trial for?
Is this common practice?
What recommendations or advice can any of you give for these trials?
To me, it seems as if we've bought the car, now we'll take it for a test drive.........





RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!
RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
What would you do if it got here and a hydraulic solonoid was defective? The time to diagnose the problem, call Japan, bicker about the part and whose fault it was, wait for delivery, etc. is the main reason you check it out before shipping. And if you are shipping within the next 6 months, make sure that ALL the water is drained out of the machine and tubing is blown out with air.
RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
Will it need to be broken down to ship? Who will put it back together once you get it, you or the manufacturer? In either case, don't bother sending the QA guy over. Have him brief the engineer on what QA aspects to look for. Send the foreman of the maintenance department, or whatever department will be responsible for installing the equipment and keeping it healthy in the future. Much more knowledge will come home that way.
Who, specifically, are you sending? An engineer who is familiar with the project and the equiupment, or just some guy? It is imparative that your test witness knows his stuff; the fundamentals of the equipment, and how it will actually be used once you get it.
As JJ stated, get a copy of the test plan and acceptance critera now. Make sure you - and the guy going over - understands it. The chances are high that the test plan will be inadequate. Make sure the the full performance range is tested. Make sure that safety equipment is tested. Make sure that abnormal situations are tested, and that the equipment's response to them is as desired.
Make sure that you have a copy of the test schedule. Understand that testing rarely goes according to schedule. Make sure that the guy going over understands this. Make sure that the guy going over gets paid for all of his working hours over there, many of which will be standing around complaining about why the manufacturer can't follow his own test schedule.
Take copies of whatever English language manuals the manufacturer has already provided. They are crap. Copiously mark them up with what really needs to be done.
If this is a machine that produces a physical end product, does the manufacturer have a supply of YOUR raw materials to use for testing? If no, get it sent.
Does the equipment need to interface with anything that is already existing in your facility? The guy going over needs to know the interface details intimately.
Like Mike said, takes lots of photos. Of everything. Really, everything, not just the outside. Annotate them shortly after taking them, so you will remember what they are later. The GGO will need a good digital camera with a big memory stick, and a suitable laptop.
RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
One shipped 2 dozen units with a completely defective heater control before someone doing something completely unrelated found that the heater was shorted out.
So every feature, every function should and must be exercised, particularly if the supplier is that far away from you.
TTFN
RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
If you have taken delivery of a new car at your local dealership recently, do you recall that they drove it to the front doors (outside of where you inked the deal)? This shows that at least your car can go 100 yards from the back parking lot to the front - I guess.
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RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
The same is true with a factory acceptance test, if what is delivered does not meet the terms of the contract, either from a quality or from a performance stand point, you don't pay until it does.
When we do such tests, we have detailed performance requirements, along with a long, long QA check list. I disagree with MintJulep, send the QA guy, and make sure he is picky about details, everything from the color of paint, to the wiring to the packageing should be QA checked. I have worked with a few QA guys over the years that amazed me in their attention to detail. I was ready to accept based on performance, they were rejecting based on failure to meet the contract specification on shade of blue of the paint on the casing.
-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!
RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
Engineering and science blend with aesthetics in the furniture biz. Kinda neat, but not much to work with in terms of benchmarking.
The recurring theme seems to bring a camera and photograph everything.
RE: Equipment Purchase / Run trials
What kind of sanding are you doing? I'm looking for a small manufacturing cell capable of sanding stainless steel forms to a specific surface appearance.