A custom machine project does not fit a standard project plan. The scope firms up while the machine is being designed, half the content is bought in from other companies and the date that matters, the day the customer walks up to the finished machine, is promised before most of the work has started.
The answer is not a more detailed Gantt chart. It is a short, honest list of milestones that everyone on the project can read in ten seconds, with a planned date, a current forecast and an actual date for each. This guide shows how to build one.
The Milestones That Matter on a Machine Build
Ten milestones cover most one-off machines. Rename them for your own process, but keep the number small enough to review at a glance:
- Order received - the project starts.
- Design release - drawings and the parts list are frozen enough to order.
- Parts ordered - the main purchase orders are placed.
- Parts received - the last important part is on site.
- Assembly complete - mechanical and electrical build finished.
- Commissioning - the machine runs and is debugged.
- FAT - factory acceptance test with the customer.
- Shipment
- Installation - on the customer's site.
- SAT - site acceptance test and handover.
Mark FAT and SAT as key milestones. They are the dates the customer was promised and, in most contracts, the dates payments depend on.
Plan Backward From the Customer Date
Start from the date the customer expects the machine and count backward. If SAT is on February 3, installation needs to start two weeks earlier, shipment a week before that, and FAT the week before shipment. Then ask the uncomfortable question: does the time between Order received and FAT leave enough room for design, ordering and the longest delivery?
The longest lead time part sets the shortest possible schedule, so check it first. Our guide to long lead time parts explains how to find those items before the design is final.
Three Dates Per Milestone
Every milestone needs three dates, and keeping them separate is what makes the schedule useful:
- Planned - the date you committed to at the start. It never changes after the kick-off.
- Forecast - your honest current expectation. It moves as you learn things.
- Actual - the day it really happened.
The gap between planned and forecast is your slip. When the planned date is never overwritten, you can see after the project how much slipped and where, which is how estimates improve on the next machine.
Carry Delay Forward, Don't Re-Plan Every Time
When one milestone is late, every milestone after it is late by at least the same amount unless you do something about it. A simple rule keeps forecasts honest: if Design release finishes five days late, the expected date of every later milestone moves five days unless you have a concrete reason it will not.
This is how the AssembleFlow Journey view works. It uses the actual date if a milestone is done, your forecast if you entered one, or the planned date plus the delay carried from earlier milestones and from open issues. Dates never move earlier than today. The result is an expected FAT and SAT date for every project, and a status: on track, at risk or late.
Log Problems as Issues Attached to a Milestone
A schedule that only records dates hides why they moved. Add a short list of issues, each with:
- a type such as design revision or supplier delay,
- the milestone it holds up,
- the expected delay in days,
- an owner,
- and a status that you set to resolved when it is fixed.
With that, "FAT now expected seven days late" comes with a reason: "light curtain delivery moved by one week." The customer conversation becomes much easier when you can explain the cause and the owner on one page.
Add Actions With Owners and Dates
For every open issue write the next action, who owns it and when it is due, for example "confirm the new motor delivery date in writing, Jane, October 9." Link actions to the issue or milestone they protect. A schedule without actions is a record of problems, not a plan to fix them.
See Every Project on One Screen
If you run more than one build, the most useful view is every project's route one below the other, sorted by risk. You see at once which machine is late, which is at risk and which is simply waiting for the next milestone. In AssembleFlow this is the Journey view on the Projects screen. Open any project from there to edit its milestones, issues and actions. You can see how it looks in the product tour, which needs no sign-up.
A Spreadsheet Version to Start With
You can run this in a spreadsheet: one row per milestone with columns for planned, forecast, actual and owner, and a separate issues list. It works for one or two projects. It gets harder when several people update it and when delays have to flow into later dates by hand, which is where a shared tool earns its place. Our late parts tracker guide includes a free spreadsheet for the purchasing side.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between FAT and SAT?
FAT is the factory acceptance test, done at the machine builder's works before shipment. SAT is the site acceptance test, done after installation at the customer's site. Many contracts tie payments to both.
How many milestones should a machine project have?
About ten is enough for most one-off machines. More than that and the schedule stops being readable at a glance; add detail inside a milestone instead of adding milestones.
What is the difference between planned and forecast dates?
The planned date is the commitment made at kick-off and does not change. The forecast is your current expectation and moves as the project progresses. Comparing the two shows how much a project has slipped.
How do I know if a project is at risk?
Treat a project as at risk when any milestone is forecast later than planned, an issue is open or a milestone date has passed without being completed. Treat it as late when the expected finish moves more than about a week beyond the plan.
Free tools: the Excel templates (BOM, PO tracker, cost and quote worksheet), the margin calculator and a product tour need no sign-up.