Kenyan Buyers Conduct On-Site Machine Inspection & Factory Audit
Last month, a delegation from a Kenyan agribusiness group visited our factory for a full day of equipment inspection and supplier audit. Their objective was clear: verify real-world performance before shipment and assess whether our quality system, production processes, and after-sales support could meet their long-term scaling plans.
Scope of the visit
We co-designed a practical agenda around their priorities: pre-shipment trials (Factory Acceptance Test), documentation review, and a walk-through audit of our machining, assembly, and final QA lines. The FAT focused on throughput stability, milling recovery rate, broken rate, whiteness/clarity, and energy consumption per ton. Because their portfolio includes both long-grain indica and parboiled rice, we prepared separate trials with calibrated rolls, screens, and feed control, and demonstrated temperature and moisture management to protect kernel integrity.
Factory Acceptance Test (FAT)
On the test line, the team observed start-up procedures, parameter tuning, and safety interlocks. We ran consecutive batches to demonstrate repeatability, then captured live data from our inline sensors and QA checkpoints. The group inspected sieving efficiency, husk/bran separation, polisher uniformity, and the sorter’s rejection accuracy on defect samples. We also simulated a quick-changeover to show how operators can shift between grain profiles with minimal downtime—an important factor for their multi-site operations.
Quality & compliance audit
The audit portion covered our ISO-aligned procedures, incoming material control, critical torque records, and final inspection templates. The team reviewed serial number traceability, batch documentation, and calibration logs for key instruments. We presented our CE-conformity basis for the destination configuration and walked through electrical panels, guarding, and e-stop circuitry. Spare-parts planning was another focus: we proposed a 12-month critical spares kit, identified local alternatives for non-proprietary items, and mapped lead times for complex components.
Service readiness & training
Because uptime is everything in milling, we detailed the support structure they can expect after installation: operator training (onsite and remote), preventive maintenance checklists, and a parts forecasting calendar tied to real usage. We demonstrated remote diagnostics via our service portal and clarified escalation paths—from online troubleshooting to scheduled engineer visits. The delegation also met our regional partner team to discuss commissioning windows and local logistics.
Results & next steps
By the end of the day, the client signed off on the FAT results with minor optimization notes (software recipe presets and a customized screen set for their most common lot). We agreed on a commissioning plan, training syllabus, and a quarterly performance review cadence to track KPIs such as recovery rate, broken percentage, and kWh/ton. The visit concluded with a provisional expansion roadmap—starting with one line and scaling to a multi-line configuration as volumes grow.
Why this matters
For us, “customer stories” aren’t just milestones; they’re proof that engineering, process discipline, and service come together in the same room. The Kenyan team’s firsthand verification ensures the machine that leaves our dock performs exactly as promised on their floor—day one and beyond.