By Dovydas Kersys · Chapter 46 of 58 in Machine Commissioning.

Before you begin: Follow the machine documentation, risk assessment, site procedures and lockout/tagout requirements. Commissioning can expose personnel to electrical energy, stored pressure and unexpected motion. Never defeat a safety function merely to make a test easier. Examples and diagrams are generic and must be checked against the actual machine.

Performance testing proves cycle time, throughput, accuracy, energy use or other contractual metrics after basic functionality is stable.

Why this matters during commissioning

Chasing cycle time before reliability is established often creates nuisance faults and hides marginal hardware.

Advertisement

Commissioning procedure

  1. Define the performance metric and measurement method.
  2. Establish a stable baseline at conservative settings.
  3. Measure cycle components to find true bottlenecks.
  4. Change one limiting factor at a time.
  5. Repeat long enough to include realistic variation.
  6. Record final performance and conditions such as product type and operator mode.

Common failure patterns

  • Using PLC timer presets as proof of actual cycle time.
  • Short test ignores warming effects.
  • Speed increase creates sensor timing margin too small for production variability.
  • Throughput target met only with alarms/bypasses disabled.

Evidence to record

  • Measured value and test point
  • Expected value / expected state
  • Observed value / observed state
  • Pass/fail result and any deviation
  • Name/date or responsible person where required

FIELD RULE: Reliability comes before speed. A fast machine that stops every ten minutes is not commissioned.

Continue the series

Adapted from Machine Commissioning for Maintenance and Automation Technicians, by Dovydas Kersys. © 2026 Dovydas Kersys. Featured cover image is an AI-generated editorial illustration.

Advertisement