A monoblock filling machine FAT should demonstrate the agreed bottle handling, rinsing, filling, capping, controls, fault responses, and changeover performance before shipment. Test the specified product and packaging combinations where practical, measure accepted output and quality, and document any substitute materials or missing site interfaces. Finish with a clear list of passed tests, unresolved items, and responsibilities for retesting.
The factory acceptance test is most useful when its rules are agreed before the machine is presented. It should answer whether the supplied configuration meets the purchase specification under defined conditions. An impressive short run does not settle questions about variation, interruption recovery, or maintenance access.
What Must Be Agreed Before the FAT?
Translate the purchase requirements into a test matrix with an observable result for each item. State the formats, materials, operating conditions, measuring methods, run duration, sample plan, and acceptance limits. Identify who provides bottles, caps, product, instruments, and trained personnel.
PMMI’s OpX FAT guidance emphasizes clear criteria and responsibilities between equipment makers and purchasers. For a monoblock project, apply that principle to every process section rather than treating the complete machine as a single speed test. Record exceptions before the trial so they cannot be mistaken for completed checks.
- Approved bottle, neck-finish, closure, and product specifications.
- Target accepted production rate for each tested format.
- Fill and closure quality criteria with suitable measuring methods.
- Rinsing, cleaning, and utility requirements within the supply scope.
- Defined fault challenges, restart conditions, and changeover tests.
- Documentation deliverables and the method for closing deviations.
Which Materials Should Be Used?
Use production-representative bottles and closures, including the agreed range of dimensional variation. Test the real product when practical and appropriate for the factory setup. Where water or another substitute is used, state which product behaviors it does and does not represent.
A water trial can reveal mechanical transfer problems and many control functions, but it may not represent a foaming, viscous, carbonated, or temperature-sensitive product. Identify the remaining product tests for later completion. Do not label a substitute-fluid result as proof of performance with every intended beverage.
Review the selected monoblock filling machine configuration against the actual application. Gravity, pressure, hot-fill, and other arrangements require test conditions appropriate to their design.
How Should Bottle Handling Be Tested?
Follow the bottle from infeed through each transfer and outfeed at the required speeds. Check spacing, centering, neck or body support, stability, and visible damage. Include the most demanding approved bottle formats rather than only the easiest round container.
Observe starts, stops, acceleration, and controlled bottle gaps. Record scuffing, tilting, jams, and rejected bottles by location. If the machine handles lightweight bottles, include representative bottle stiffness and condition in the trial materials.
What Should Be Checked at Transfers?
Examine handoffs between the rinser, filler, and capper as well as the external conveyor interfaces. A bottle can run correctly in one turret and become unstable at the next transfer. Identify whether adjustments are repeatable and documented.
Test guarding and access functions through the supplier’s safe demonstration method. Do not bypass protective devices to make a fault easier to create. Keep safety-function verification separate from improvised production experiments.
What Should the Rinsing Trial Prove?
Confirm bottle retention, inversion where applicable, nozzle alignment, media delivery, and the available drainage sequence. Observe whether rinse liquid is contained and removed without creating an unintended exposure for the filling zone. Verify the stated response to missing bottles or inadequate media supply.
Define residual-liquid and cleanliness requirements for the intended process and use the agreed assessment method. A visual rinse demonstration does not by itself establish microbiological suitability. Any hygiene validation outside the FAT scope should remain explicitly listed as outstanding work.
How Should Filling Accuracy Be Measured?
Measure the quantity actually delivered using a suitable calibrated method and the defined product conditions. Separate net-content measurement from the appearance of a uniform fill level. Bottle geometry can affect the visible level even when delivered quantity is consistent.
Sample across filling valves or positions and over the test period. Include startup, stable operation, and restart samples if those conditions form part of the requirement. Record individual results so an average does not hide a poorly performing valve.
| Test Area | Evidence to Collect | Common Gap to Avoid |
| Fill quantity | Individual measurements with sample identity | Reporting only an overall mean |
| Production rate | Accepted bottle count over elapsed time | Using an instantaneous displayed speed |
| Closure quality | Application and package checks for the closure type | Assuming every fitted cap is acceptable |
| Restart recovery | Ordered samples and time to stable output | Discarding initial defects without recording them |
| Format change | Parts, settings, time, and first acceptable output | Timing only the mechanical part swap |
What Should Be Tested at the Capper?
Check closure feeding, orientation, application, and the finished seal according to the cap supplier’s requirements. For screw closures, the agreed checks may include application condition, removal torque, tamper-band behavior, and leakage. Other closure systems need their own criteria.
Use a defined interval and conditioning method for torque or seal measurements. Do not assume that the capper’s setting is identical to a later measured opening torque. Keep the closure batch and bottle neck specification in the test record.
Challenge cap shortage, improperly presented closures, and other agreed conditions using the supplier’s approved method. Confirm that affected bottles are controlled and that the operator receives a useful indication. A cap-present signal alone may not establish correct closure application.
Which Control and Fault Functions Matter?
Test the functions that prevent predictable production losses and support controlled recovery. Include bottle shortage, cap shortage, relevant utility limits, upstream starvation, and downstream congestion as applicable. Verify both the machine response and the operator’s recovery sequence.
- Confirm the intended no-bottle filling and capping behavior.
- Check alarms, timestamps, messages, and reset conditions.
- Verify recipe selection and the permitted adjustment ranges.
- Check rejection or segregation of affected bottles.
- Demonstrate safe restart after the agreed interruption scenarios.
- Confirm that recorded counts remain understandable after a stop or reset.
Simulated signals are useful when a physical challenge cannot be created safely, but label the test as simulated. State which wiring, actuator, or process behavior remains untested. This prevents a control demonstration from being mistaken for complete end-to-end validation.
How Should Changeover and Cleaning Be Reviewed?
Ask the trained team to change between the agreed formats using the supplied parts and instructions. Record tools, adjustment references, removed components, and the time until acceptable output resumes. Check whether parts are identifiable and can be stored without damage or contamination.
For cleaning, review the included circuit, valve sequence, connections, access, and drainage. Demonstrate the cleaning functions that can be tested with the factory utilities. Where the plant’s CIP system is absent, record the interface tests and cleaning validation that must occur at the site.
Include a practical service demonstration in the acceptance visit. Have the supplier remove and refit representative wear parts with the specified tools while the equipment is safely isolated. Record obstructed fasteners, missing lifting provisions, or access conflicts for correction before shipment.
How Should Sustained Output Be Reported?
Count accepted bottles over the agreed elapsed test interval and record every interruption and reject category. Distinguish scheduled test actions from unplanned stops. Keep the calculation consistent with the purchase acceptance definition.
Do not remove inconvenient periods from the denominator without recording the reason and obtaining agreement. The result should show the conditions under which the machine achieved its output. If the test is too short to include meaningful material replenishment or operating variation, state that limitation.
What Happens After the Test?
Review each requirement as passed, failed, or not tested, with supporting records. Give every unresolved item an owner, completion date, and retest requirement. The shipment decision should follow the agreed process rather than an informal statement that the machine generally looks good.
Before arranging site work, confirm the remaining installation and acceptance requirements with Brenu. Preserve the FAT configuration, software revision, settings, and approved samples so the site team can reproduce the intended starting point. Factory testing and site acceptance should form a connected record of what has actually been demonstrated.