Benefits of Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) in Reducing Time & Cost.

Were you aware that the cost of rectifying minor switchboard issues onsite can be up to 3-4 times as expensive as in manufacturing?

There are several reasons for this:

• Commissioning/Field staff cost more than staff in a factory.

• Even minimal wiring changes can cause delays to commissioning and can increase further if a cable/equipment needs to be ordered. Commissioning staff also don’t have the same level of resources and tools at their disposal onsite.

• Commissioning staff might not have the ability to completely isolate a switchboard onsite when working on it.

These are compelling arguments for insisting on a thorough FAT of switchboards before they are onsite.

Suppliers that claim significant rewiring, debugging, and reprogramming are part of normal onsite commissioning are potentially adding thousands of dollars to your switchboard costs. Due to project cost centres this additional cost rarely appears against the switchboard cost.

JM Switchboards ensures complete functional testing of all switchboards and are amazed that other manufacturers supply switchboards without energising them and ensuring all functions are working.

It’s only logical that the company which builds a switchboard does a complete and thorough FAT, and records the results, before it’s sent to site.

If a switchboard is energised for the first time onsite, there will be a prolonged period of testing and debugging onsite, which is a much more costly location for these activities. You should not have to pay for onsite testing time as it should be completed at the factory by the board builder as part of their scope.

By insisting on a comprehensive FAT prior to despatch you will save yourself a lot of money, time and stress.