| Machine Configuration | Confirm whether the equipment is extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, or injection stretch blow molding. | Select the process according to container geometry, neck accuracy, production volume, material, and required barrier or strength performance. | Technical proposal, process-flow description, sample-container drawings, and application references for comparable products. | A machine may be technically unsuitable even when its nominal clamping force or output appears adequate. |
| Material Compatibility | Check compatibility with the intended resin, additives, colorants, and recycled-content percentage. | Common container materials include HDPE, LDPE, PP, PET, and selected engineering or barrier resins; verify melt-temperature and drying requirements for each resin. | Material-processing window, resin test report, drying recommendations, and compatibility statement for product-contact applications. | Incorrect temperature control or inadequate drying can cause haze, weak weld lines, deformation, or inconsistent wall thickness. |
| Production Capacity | Compare verified cycle time, number of cavities, container volume, and actual output rather than brochure output alone. | Required output should be calculated as: units per hour = 3,600 × cavities ÷ cycle time in seconds, then adjusted for planned uptime and scrap. | Factory acceptance-test protocol, cycle-time record, sample production video, and guaranteed output under defined conditions. | Output claims may exclude mold changes, startup losses, maintenance stops, rejects, and auxiliary-equipment limits. |
| Product Quality | Evaluate dimensional consistency, weight variation, wall-thickness distribution, leak performance, and visual defects. | Acceptance limits should be agreed before ordering and linked to approved samples, drawings, and inspection methods. | Inspection plan, capability data where available, approved samples, dimensional report, leak-test method, and defect classification. | Vague quality terms make it difficult to reject nonconforming equipment or products during commissioning. |
| Energy and Utilities | Assess installed electrical load, compressed-air consumption, cooling-water demand, and energy use per container. | Electrical supply must match the destination country’s voltage, frequency, phase configuration, and protection requirements; compressed air commonly requires clean, dry air at the pressure specified by the supplier. | Utility list, electrical schematic, air-consumption data, cooling-load calculation, and energy measurement method. | Under-sized plant utilities can reduce output, increase defects, and invalidate the supplier’s performance guarantee. |
| Mold and Tooling | Review mold material, cooling-channel design, cavity balance, neck-finish accuracy, and future changeover requirements. | Mold design must be matched to the selected machine, resin, container geometry, cycle time, and expected production life. | 2D/3D mold drawings, cavity layout, steel or alloy specification, cooling schematic, spare-parts list, and mold-maintenance schedule. | Poor mold balance or cooling can create uneven walls, short shots, flash, distortion, and long cycle times. |
| Automation and Integration | Determine whether preforms, parisons, containers, trimming, inspection, packing, conveyors, and auxiliaries must be integrated. | Define communication protocols, sensor interfaces, safety circuits, recipe management, and handoff points between machines. | Layout drawing, interface list, control-system description, automation scope, and responsibility matrix. | Unclear integration responsibility often causes installation delays and additional engineering charges. |
| Safety and Compliance | Verify machine guarding, emergency stops, interlocks, electrical safety, pressure-system protection, and destination-market requirements. | The importer remains responsible for confirming applicable local laws, conformity procedures, labeling, and workplace-safety obligations. | Risk assessment, conformity declaration where applicable, electrical test records, user manual, safety-circuit drawings, and nameplate details. | A certificate supplied by the seller may not satisfy the importer’s local regulatory or insurance requirements. |
| Service and Spare Parts | Assess remote support, local technicians, training, troubleshooting response, and long-term availability of wear parts. | Obtain a recommended two-year spare-parts list covering seals, heaters, sensors, valves, cutting components, filters, and lubrication items as applicable. | Service-level agreement, technician response times, training plan, spare-parts prices, warranty terms, and maintenance manual. | Long-distance support and customs delays can extend downtime when critical parts are not stocked locally. |
| Testing and Acceptance | Use a documented factory acceptance test and a site acceptance test with agreed production conditions. | Test resin, mold, container specification, cycle time, output, weight tolerance, utility conditions, and defect limits should be written into the contract. | FAT/SAT checklist, test samples, measurement records, punch list, corrective-action plan, and sign-off procedure. | Payment or shipment without objective acceptance criteria reduces the buyer’s leverage if performance is not achieved. |
| Commercial Terms | Compare total landed cost, including machine, mold, auxiliaries, packaging, freight, insurance, duties, installation, training, and spare parts. | Use a clearly defined Incoterms® rule and named place; separately identify taxes, customs charges, bank fees, and local installation costs. | Pro forma invoice, commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or airway bill, certificate of origin where required, and insurance documents. | An apparently low machine price may exclude tooling, commissioning, export packing, inland transport, or destination charges. |
| Packaging and Logistics | Check overall dimensions, gross weight, lifting points, container loading plan, moisture protection, and unloading requirements. | Packaging should protect against vibration, corrosion, humidity, and handling damage during multimodal transportation. | Packing specification, crate dimensions, center-of-gravity information, lifting instructions, fumigation documentation where required, and loading photographs. | Incorrect weight or dimensions can cause booking changes, port delays, lifting problems, or unexpected charges. |
| Warranty and Contract Protection | Define warranty duration, excluded wear parts, response time, remedy obligations, spare-parts coverage, and governing law. | Performance guarantees should state measurable values and specify remedies such as repair, replacement, rework, or price adjustment. | Signed sales contract, warranty certificate, performance-guarantee schedule, dispute-resolution clause, and change-order procedure. | Unclear warranty language can make cross-border claims expensive and difficult to enforce. |