Trial production

What trial production checks

The geometry

Whether the cross-section, length and straightness of the produced section match the design.

The position of the operations

Whether the service hole, the dimple and the cut-out land where the model says they should. A few millimetres of offset shows up at erection, and there it is expensive.

The marking

Whether it is legible, contains the necessary information and is durable.

The fit

Whether the produced members really do come together into a panel, and whether the connections fit. This is the point where the model meets reality.

Production speed and organisation

How long a panel takes, how bundling is done, how the logistics run. This is where the real capacity figure comes from.

How it is done

1. A small test run of the typical member types.
2. Measurement at the manufacturer’s inspection points.
3. Trial assembly: one panel actually put together.
4. Feedback: modifying the program and the template.
5. The live run, with the corrected setup.

Why it pays

Because machine production makes mistakes in series. What is a small deviation on one member is a hundred deviations on a hundred — and the error typically shows up not in production but at erection, when everything is already made and standing on site.

The cost of trial production is negligible next to that.

When it can be skipped

When we have already produced on the same machine with the same template, and the project contains no new member type or new connection detail. Then routine takes over — but never the first time.

What to keep from it

The measurement results and the setup changes. These become part of the machine-specific template and are ready for the next project. Machine-specific template.

The point

Trial production is not a delay but insurance. A day at the machine is cheaper than a week on site, where nothing can be done any more.