Check the delivery route, operating envelope and maintenance envelope separately.
Record door, corridor, stair, lift, roof and turning restrictions between the unloading point and final position. Confirm whether equipment will arrive assembled or in modules and identify any lifting, temporary removal or specialist handling needed. The machine footprint is only the starting point: include guard opening, control-panel doors, hopper access, tooling removal and the space needed to move packs and people safely.
| Site area | Information to record | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery route | Minimum clear width and height, steps, corners, lift capacity, unloading surface and final lifting plan. | Prevents a completed machine being unable to reach the installation point. |
| Production footprint | Machine and ancillary layout, operator positions, pack staging, bulk product, rejects and finished goods. | Confirms that normal production can run without obstructed access or unsafe crossing paths. |
| Maintenance access | Guard travel, hopper and tooling removal, drive access, filter service and change-part handling. | Ensures routine work can be completed without dismantling unrelated equipment. |
| Building constraints | Floor capacity and level, ceiling and services, nearby drains, ventilation and environmental conditions. | Identifies structural or environmental work that must precede installation. |
Confirm utilities from the approved machine scope.
Do not rely on generic electrical, compressed-air or extraction figures. The final configuration may include a product feeder, vacuum receiver, conveyor, dust-control interface, printer, checkweigher, sealer or other ancillary equipment. Obtain the approved utility schedule and define isolation points, connectors, phase, frequency, protective devices and responsibility for final connection.
- Electrical supply, isolator location, earthing and any separate ancillary circuits.
- Compressed-air pressure, quality, flow, connection and isolation where required.
- Dust extraction or ventilation interface designed for the assessed product and process.
- Network, data, remote-support or printer connections included in the contracted scope.
- Environmental limits, washdown or dry-area requirements and any drainage or water supply.
Plan product feed and finished-pack movement as one route.
Define how the powder arrives: sacks, bins, drums, mixer discharge, screw conveyor or vacuum transfer. Include manual handling, refill height, empty-container removal, spill recovery and the effect of transfer on aeration or segregation. If the filler needs a level signal or feed request, agree the control interface and what happens when product is unavailable.
On the pack side, record infeed orientation, accumulation, coding, inspection, closing or sealing and finished-pack discharge. The line should respond predictably when a pack is missing, a downstream machine is blocked or an operator removes a reject. For flexible packs, include film or pouch storage and environmental conditions where relevant.
Define control ownership and site safety responsibilities.
For an integrated line, agree which machine starts and stops the route, which device owns emergency-stop interfaces, how faults are reset and how upstream and downstream ready signals are exchanged. Record any customer-supplied equipment and the information required to connect it.
Installation and commissioning must follow the final machinery documentation, the site's risk assessments and competent electrical, mechanical and process-safety procedures. Product-specific COSHH or DSEAR requirements, guarding interfaces and extraction responsibilities must be resolved before production use. Do not bypass safeguards to recover output during commissioning.
Prepare products, packs, people and acceptance records before the engineer arrives.
Have the agreed representative product quantity, production-intent packs, closures, film, labels and coding consumables available. Nominate operators and maintenance personnel for training and ensure upstream or downstream equipment is ready for the planned checks. Keep the factory test record, approved drawings, action list and site acceptance plan available.
| Before commissioning | Ready condition |
|---|---|
| Machine and site | Installed, levelled, connected, guarded, extraction interface complete and access clear. |
| Product and packs | Representative quantity, full format range, closures or film, and current safety or hygiene information. |
| People | Named operators, maintenance personnel and the person authorised to approve the process. |
| Test plan | Targets, measurement method, challenge states, line interfaces and finished-pack criteria agreed. |
| Handover | Training, documents, change parts, spares, actions and support contacts recorded. |