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Inspection planning

FAT, SAT and ramp-up: plan the evidence early

Acceptance activities should demonstrate whether agreed requirements are met. A successful demonstration run alone is not enough.

2 min readUpdated: Editorial team: NPB NDT Consulting

Agree scope and criteria in advance

FAT commonly refers to testing at the supplier's premises, while SAT refers to testing at the intended operating site. Their scope and significance are defined for the particular project. A shared record of requirements, test steps, responsibilities and required evidence helps prepare both activities.

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From inspection task to series production

Consider inspection technology, production and quality together.

  1. 01

    Clarify requirements

    Component, quality objective and inspection extent

  2. 02

    Develop the inspection concept

    Methods, feasibility and evidence

  3. 03

    Support integration

    Handling, system functions and data interfaces

  4. 04

    Coordinate system ramp-up

    Procedures, system checks and documentation

  5. 05

    Train the team

    Operation, roles and escalation routes

  6. 06

    Support series production

    Monitoring, changes and improvements

Technical requirements · Clear interfaces · Traceable implementation

Conceptual sequence. Scope and responsibilities are agreed for each project.

Connect technology, workflow and documentation

Do not focus only on detecting a reference indication. Component identity, variant changes, data association and invalid inspections also belong in a practical test plan. Record open items with an owner, a due date and their agreed implications for subsequent use.

Prepare the transition into production

Site conditions and interfaces can differ from the supplier's demonstration setup. Review the operating environment and production workflow deliberately. Ramp-up also needs operator instruction, familiarisation, maintenance arrangements and named technical contacts. Acceptance does not replace subsequent system checks where these are required.

Practical checklist

  • Link requirements to planned evidence
  • Include representative variants and abnormal situations
  • Check data and document handover
  • Track open items with clear ownership

Planning example

Illustrative planning example, not a customer reference.

Planning example: At the supplier, a station works with a manually entered component ID. At the operating site, another system will supply that ID. This interface needs its own evidence within the agreed test plan.

Key takeaway

This is planning guidance. Binding acceptance scope, criteria and responsibilities remain matters for the project agreement.

Technical sources

The articles and method descriptions provide general technical orientation. The organisations listed are technical sources, not customers or partners of NPB NDT Consulting. Sources may be in German or English.

These articles provide technical orientation. The specific inspection task and applicable requirements must be assessed for each project.

Would you like to apply this question to your component or process? Start by describing the task in general terms.

Discuss your inspection task

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