I participated in a F.A.T. (factory acceptance test) a few weeks ago to assess equipment condition before taking delivery of a process skid. I took the laser aligner, infrared camera, and vibration analyzer to do a total condition check and it paid off in a big way. Three pumps on the skid were found to have major misalignment issues. One pump was .280 out of alignment in the horizontal axial plane. Other measurements were excessive and unacceptable as well. We would have seen repair work in less than 6 months if the alignment had not been corrected before delivery.
To have the ability to do more than "kick the tires" and utilize the tools such as these for acceptance tests saved hundreds if not thousands of dollars down the road. The supplier of the skid was impressed enough to have several people work with me during the process. This was the first time after 50+ years of building food processing equipment any buyer brought tools like we use every day for validation and acceptance. I would be remiss if I did not include the fact that the pumps in question were supplied as complete Mounted drive assemblies and were provided by a company with an even longer history. The fabricator of the skid is now acutely aware of what quality it receives thus can better control the quality it delivers.
Good In = Good Out

That is a brilliant illustration of a proactive defect elimination exercise. It means you invested a lot more than 'kicking the tires' effort. instead of moaning after the event at poor QA by vendor!

Do you/your team had a planned list of tests with steps and acceptance criteria to be run at the FAT? Which other tests you ran?

The fabricator should document the results of his own works for inspection by the client or third party. Client only comes at hold or witness points as a minimum.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Josh,

Eugene
We intended to use all the tools we brought including vibration analysis, infrared thermography, and alignment checks but the skid was not hot. As this was our first opportunity to test using these tools we did not create a specified list or checkoff sheet for each technology but rather relied on experience and the values in front of us to make conclusions and affect repairs. Because of what we learned during the event, additional "standards" can now be developed or adopted and be included in subsequent RFQ's and RFI's.

I completely agree with Josh and I'm certain some manufactures have very comprehensive QA programs. As buyers of "one off" type equipment we should expect the best for what we pay for. As part of Plant operations, Maintenance departments are the ultimate owners of everything in the facility not under maintenance agreements or service contracts so anything we can do that might supplement any or all manufactures QA programs can be considered value added.