"It runs fine" is not acceptance. On a box forming machine order, acceptance should mean one thing: the machine meets criteria you agreed in advance, under test conditions you agreed in advance, with the result recorded and signed. This article covers the document package to request and the acceptance terms worth settling with your supplier before the order is signed.
What "acceptance" should mean in a machine order
Acceptance is the moment responsibility shifts: the machine is no longer "the supplier project" but part of your production. If that moment is defined by a verbal nod at the end of a commissioning day, every later dispute — about output, box quality or downtime — has no reference point to be judged against.
Agree on three things before the order is signed:
The criteria should trace back to your approved baseline: the approved box drawing and sample. Keep the drawing version number in the order file — every later check refers back to it.
| Part | What to agree |
|---|---|
| Criteria | What the machine must demonstrate, stated in measurable terms: boxes formed to the approved sample, dimensions within the tolerances on the approved drawing, sustained output under the agreed test conditions. |
| Conditions | Which board, adhesive, operators and utilities the test will use, and for how long it will run. |
| Evidence | Who records the results, and what document both parties sign. |
FAT vs SAT: what each test proves
Buyers often treat factory and site testing as the same event with a different postcode. They prove different things, and a clear order uses both.
For both tests, record the same things: date, materials used, settings, output and quality results, deviations, and the signatures of both parties. Ask in advance what your supplier checks before shipment, and ask how the FAT report will be written and shared.
| Point | FAT — Factory Acceptance Test | SAT — Site Acceptance Test |
|---|---|---|
| Where and when | At the supplier factory, usually before shipment. | At your site, after installation. |
| What it proves | The machine is complete and correctly assembled: it forms boxes to your approved sample on your board, and supplier engineers can adjust and demonstrate it. | Performance under your real conditions — the utilities, board and operators the machine will live with. |
| What it cannot prove | How the machine behaves on your power, your air and your materials, installed by your team. | Whether the machine is sound if the site is not ready: a SAT run on a marginal air supply tests your compressor, not the machine. |
| Records to agree | The box sample, board and test points, and how the FAT report will be written and shared. | The same set of records, plus the signed SAT report. |
The document package to request
Machines arrive with documents in very different states of completeness, and "we will send everything" is not a document list. List the package in the contract, and check each item at handover:
Information on certifications sits on our certification page; ask there or through the contact page if you need documentation for a specific market. Agree in advance which documents are handed over on paper, which electronically, and in which languages — and record who at your site receives and files them.
| Document | What to check |
|---|---|
| Operation and maintenance manuals | Covering settings, adjustments and routine tasks. |
| Electrical and layout drawings | The versions actually used to build the machine. |
| Parameter and settings records | From commissioning and the tests. |
| FAT report | And, later, the signed SAT report. |
| Spare parts list | With the wear parts identified. |
| Training record | Who was trained, on what, and when. |
| Approved box drawing and sample reference | The baseline the machine was set to. |
Acceptance clauses worth agreeing on
This is not legal advice, and your contract team should review the wording. But from a technical standpoint, three clauses separate a smooth acceptance from an open-ended one:
Write these clauses against the test criteria, not as standalone boilerplate. A clause that says "accepted when criteria in Annex X are met" is stronger than one that says "accepted on successful operation", because it points at a document both parties already agreed.
| Clause | What to agree |
|---|---|
| Deviation handling | How failures found during testing are classified, the deadline for closing them, and whether the machine is accepted with open items or only after a retest. |
| Retest terms | Who pays for a retest, and what happens if a retest is needed because site conditions, not the machine, caused the failure. |
| Acceptance and payment link | Which payment stage, and which warranty start date, is triggered by the signed SAT report rather than by the shipping date. |
FAQ: should final payment depend on acceptance?
Should final payment depend on acceptance?
Many buyers link the final payment stage — and the warranty start — to a signed acceptance report rather than to shipment. Suppliers who expect this arrangement can plan for it; suppliers who learn about it after the invoice is issued cannot.
When should I raise it?
While the order is being negotiated, and alongside the FAT/SAT plan and the document package above — so the paperwork and the payment schedule are agreed in the same conversation as the machine.
Take the lists from this article, mark which documents and clauses matter for your line, and send them before the order is signed.
Send your document and acceptance requirements to Jason Chen