After all the components of the automated flexible manufacturing system are installed the final phase of testing that must be done is called acceptance testing. This is when all the components are put under the full load of the actual production environment. This period of testing is not concluded until all the parts of the system have been given some production tasks to accomplish. This period usually lasts for at least 10 to 20 continuous shifts of production or more. The period is agreed upon by both the purchasing company and the system integrator. The time period has to be set to a practical length to test all units of the automated flexible manufacturing system under a production load. As the time period goes by, statistical information is gathered about the efficiency levels of the equipment.
This is also a time period for the completion of training of the purchasing company staff. With the availability of the integrator staff, the personnel who will actually be running the system can learn and ask questions about any situations that might occur in production. All the necessary questions about the equipment should be covered, so that the staff will be able to take over full operation of the system when the integrator staff leaves. There should be no slowdown or shutdown of production when the reins are turned over to the purchasing staff. The best quality time of training occurs when the purchasing staff is left to operate the production line on a daily basis. The integrator staff should just be there to answer questions and only act as a backup that should never be needed. At the end of the acceptance testing period the purchasing company will sign off to accept the system as working up to the specifications that are claimed by the integrator. If there are any production stoppages due to equipment malfunction during the test then integrator personnel will be there to rectify the problems and get production running at its optimum. Each piece of equipment should have been tested individually and as a system, so the chance of failure at this point should be very remote.
