Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) for Machinery Bought in China

A factory acceptance test, or FAT, is a structured trial of the machine you bought, run at the manufacturer's plant before the machine is packed and shipped. The factory operates the equipment through its full working cycle — ideally on your own materials and to your own drawings — and the results are checked against acceptance criteria agreed in the purchase contract. If the machine passes, you sign off and it ships; if it fails, the factory fixes the issues while the machine is still on its own floor, where corrections are fastest and cheapest. For buyers importing production machinery from China, the FAT is the single most effective quality gate in the entire purchase, because it catches problems an ocean away from your site, before freight, customs and installation costs have been sunk.

What exactly is a factory acceptance test?

A FAT is not a casual demo. It is a documented test, run against a written test plan, with pass/fail criteria the buyer and manufacturer agreed when the order was placed. The concept comes from heavy engineering and process industries, and the discipline is the same whether the machine is a packaging line, an injection-moulding cell or a CNC machining center: define what "working correctly" means in measurable terms, then prove it before dispatch.

The FAT has a sibling: the site acceptance test, or SAT, performed after the machine has been installed at the buyer's facility. The two are complementary. The FAT proves the machine was built right; the SAT proves it survived shipping and was installed right. Well-drafted machinery contracts reference both, and stage payments against them — a structure we cover in detail in our guide to paying for China equipment orders.

For machinery destined for the European market, the FAT is also a natural checkpoint for conformity evidence. CE-marked machinery must satisfy the EU's Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which replaces the old Machinery Directive, and the FAT visit is the obvious moment to sight the technical file, the declaration of conformity and the safety devices in operation rather than on paper.

What should a machinery FAT checklist cover?

The test plan should be written when you place the order, not improvised on the day. A solid FAT checklist for production machinery covers six areas:

• Visual and dimensional check. Build matches the approved drawings and quotation — correct model, correct options, correct spindle/motor brands where specified, guarding and labelling in place.
• Dry run. The machine cycles unloaded for an agreed period without alarms, abnormal noise, vibration or overheating.
• Loaded test on your material. The machine processes the buyer's own test pieces — your profiles, your sheet, your product — and output is measured against agreed tolerances. This is the heart of the FAT: a machine that performs beautifully on the factory's demo stock can behave differently on yours.
• Safety functions. Emergency stops, interlocked guards, light curtains and overload protections are physically triggered and shown to work, not just pointed at.
• Electrical and controls. Cabinet wiring matches the schematics, voltage and frequency match the destination country, and the control software runs the agreed program set in the agreed language.
• Documentation handover. Operation and maintenance manuals, wiring diagrams, spare-parts list, and the conformity paperwork (CE declaration, test certificates) are reviewed and accepted.

Each item should have a measurable acceptance criterion and a place for both parties to sign. The signed FAT report then becomes part of the commercial record — and your strongest evidence if a dispute arises later.

Two practical additions earn their place on the checklist. Agree the duration of the loaded run in advance — a machine that holds tolerance for ten minutes can still drift over a full shift, so a longer continuous run under load is worth negotiating for equipment that will work hard. And ask to see the consumables and wear parts fitted to the machine identified by brand and model during the test, so you know exactly what to reorder later. Both points cost nothing to include at contract stage and are awkward to raise for the first time on the test day itself.

Who attends the FAT — and can it be done remotely?

There are three workable formats. The first is attending in person: for a six-figure machine purchase, two days in Guangdong is cheap insurance, and it doubles as a chance to see the manufacturer's workshop, quality system and stock of the machine's wear parts. If you go, combine the trip with the checks in our 27-point China factory audit checklist.

The second is sending a third-party engineer. Established inspection firms offer machinery FAT attendance as a service: their engineer witnesses the test plan, takes the measurements, and issues an independent report. This costs a fraction of international travel and removes the language barrier on the day.

The third is the remote FAT. The factory runs the agreed test plan on a live video call, with cameras on the machine, the control screen and the measuring instruments, and couriers the signed test records and sample pieces afterwards. Remote FATs work well for repeat orders of a proven design; for a first machine from a new supplier, in-person or third-party attendance is the safer choice.

Manufacturer cooperation matters here. Specialist builders are used to the routine — Manlide Equipment, a Foshan maker of CNC machining centers, cutting saws and end-milling machines for aluminum profiles, builds CE- and REACH-compliant machines to customers' 3D drawings, the kind of drawing-driven workflow that lends itself naturally to testing on the buyer's own profile samples before dispatch. A factory that resists running your material through its machine before shipment is telling you something.

How is a FAT different from a pre-shipment inspection?

Buyers familiar with consumer-goods sourcing sometimes assume a standard pre-shipment inspection covers the same ground. It does not. A pre-shipment inspection samples finished goods against a specification — quantity, workmanship, packing, marking — and is typically a one-day visit late in production. We explain that process in our first-timer's guide to pre-shipment inspection in China.

A FAT is deeper and narrower: one machine, run under power, against engineering acceptance criteria. It tests function, not just finish. For machinery you generally want both layers — the FAT to prove performance, and a final pre-shipment check to confirm the machine, its accessories, spare parts and documentation were all actually packed, crated to export standard and match the packing list. Skipping the packing check after a successful FAT is a classic mistake; a perfect machine crated badly can still arrive as scrap.

How should the FAT tie into payment and shipment?

The FAT only protects you if the contract gives it teeth. Three drafting points matter. First, make the FAT a defined payment milestone: a common structure for China machinery orders is a deposit with order, a major stage payment against successful FAT sign-off, and a final balance after delivery or SAT. Second, write the acceptance criteria and the test plan into the contract as an annex — not "machine to be tested before shipment", but the specific tolerances, cycle counts and safety checks to be passed. Third, state the consequence of failure: the manufacturer rectifies and re-tests at its own cost, and the shipment date moves accordingly, with no obligation on you to release the stage payment until the re-test passes.

Beware the opposite failure mode too: a buyer who cannot attend, never appoints a witness and pressures the factory to "just ship it" has silently waived their best protection. If the schedule is tight, a remote FAT witnessed on video with signed records is still vastly better than nothing.

What happens after the FAT?

A passed FAT is the trigger for the dispatch chain: final cleaning and rust protection, disassembly of oversize assemblies, export crating, and loading photographs. Ask for the crating and lashing photos before the container doors close. Once the machine lands, the process hands over to installation, commissioning and operator training — the after-sales phase we cover in our guide to after-sales support for Chinese machinery — and, where agreed, the SAT closes the loop at your site.

Keep the signed FAT report, the test pieces and the measurement records together with your commercial documents. They define the machine's proven baseline performance on day zero — invaluable for warranty claims, and equally useful as the reference standard when you train new operators or troubleshoot drift years later.

Is a FAT the same as a pre-shipment inspection?

No. A pre-shipment inspection checks finished goods against a specification by sampling, late in production. A FAT runs the actual machine you bought through its working cycle against contractual acceptance criteria. For machinery purchases, use both: the FAT proves performance, the pre-shipment check proves everything was packed and crated correctly.

Can a FAT be done remotely?

Yes — the factory runs the agreed test plan on a live video call and sends the signed records and sample pieces afterwards. Remote FATs suit repeat orders of proven designs. For a first machine from a new supplier, attend in person or appoint a third-party engineer to witness the test on your behalf.

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