Introduction
You don’t invest in capital equipment to “eventually” hit your numbers.
You invest to hit target rate, target OEE, and sustained production as fast as possible — without burning your team out, compromising safety, or eroding ROI in the first 90 days.
Yet in most CPG packaging projects, there’s a familiar pattern:
1. Installation looks promising
2. Vendors leave
3. And then performance dips (sometimes for months)
This “post-startup dip” isn’t inevitable. According to the PMMI OpX Leadership Network’s research on packaging line readiness, vertical startups — moving from install to sustained production with minimal OEE loss — are achievable when FAT, SAT, training, and startup are treated as one continuous system.
In this article, you’ll get a 25-question readiness checklist spanning FAT (Factory Acceptance Test), SAT (Site Acceptance Test), training, OEM relationships, and startup ownership — so you can identify gaps before they turn into downtime.
What Is a “Vertical Startup”? (And Why Most Lines Miss It)
A vertical startup means reaching sustained, target-rate production quickly after installation — ideally as a step function, not a slow ramp.
In practice, most CPG lines experience:
By contrast, published case work in ProFood World has documented startups reaching 87% OEE in Month One and 90%+ within months — but only after disciplined FAT/SAT execution and cross-functional engagement.
Vertical startup is not an event. It is the outcome of everything that happened before installation.
Which brings us to the checklist…
The 25-Question Startup Readiness Checklist
Use this as a diagnostic tool. If you can’t confidently answer “yes,” you’ve likely found the root of your future dip.
Section 1: FAT Readiness
The quality of your FAT is the single strongest leading indicator of startup success.
If your FAT feels like a formality, your startup will feel like a recovery effort.
Section 2: Virtual FAT (vFAT) Discipline
Virtual FATs are now common and permanent. But they require more rigor, not less.
vFATs can expand expertise, but they cannot fully replace hands-on evaluation of ergonomics and maintenance access.
Section 3: SAT Readiness
FAT verifies functionality. SAT verifies reality.
The real SAT metric: How much does performance drop when the vendor leaves?
Section 4: Training & Transition Ownership
Most performance dips are training dips.
No one owning the transition is one of the most common causes of the dip.
Section 5: OEM Relationship & Support
Vertical startups are relational, not transactional.
Bonus diagnostic questions to consider:
What Best-in-Class Looks Like (With Important Caveats)
“World-class” OEE is often cited as 85%+, but definitions vary widely depending on how planned time, micro-stops, and changeovers are calculated.
Key nuances include the following facts:
For example, a standalone case erector will not follow the same startup profile as a fully integrated end-of-line system with palletizing and automated warehouse interfaces.
Remember, the goal isn’t to copy someone else’s OEE number. The goal is to eliminate avoidable losses.
Why Most Organizations Accept the Dip
Many companies quietly build weeks or months of reduced output into their project plan.
The reason why often involves these avoidable situations:
The dip persists because it is planned for. Best-in-class organizations build systems to prevent it.
The Full Lifecycle View: RFP to Steady State
Vertical startup only works when you treat this as a continuous arc:
RFP → FAT protocol definition → Pre-FAT → FAT → Install → SAT → Commissioning → Training → Startup → OEE Ramp → Continuous Improvement
Tools commonly reference by PMMI OpX Leadership Network include:
All emphasize the same principle that acceptance testing, training, and performance measurement must be integrated from day one.
Past, Present, Future: Eliminating the Dip
If you’ve experienced painful startups before, you know what the dip feels like — long shifts, finger-pointing, vendor calls, and missed production targets. With the checklist above, you should now have a structured way to evaluate your readiness.
Identify the 3–5 gaps that will most likely delay your startup and fix them before shipment.
The next step isn’t to aim for perfection. It’s to identify the 3–5 gaps that will most likely delay your startup and to fix them before shipment. This is because vertical startup isn’t about speed for its own sake. It’s about protecting safety, protecting ROI, and protecting your team from preventable chaos.
If you’d like Douglas to help benchmark your current FAT/SAT process against these 25 questions — or would like to redesign your startup approach to prevent the next performance dip — please schedule a call with our team. If we’re the right collaborator for you, we’ll work to build readiness systems that hold up under real production pressure.
