A welding jig, a checking fixture or a small assembly machine is not bought from a catalogue. It is designed for your part and your line, and the builder only knows what your specification tells it. In Vietnam, this kind of equipment is designed and built by machine shops and automation builders, sometimes alongside the parts production it supports. The projects that go wrong rarely fail on machining. They fail on a specification that described the machine but not the part variation it had to handle, on a control panel built around components your maintenance team has never seen, or on an acceptance test that nobody defined until the machine was already crated.
This article covers what to settle when you have jigs, fixtures, gauges, special-purpose machines or automation cells built in Vietnam: the specification, the design review, the electrical and pneumatic components, the acceptance tests, and support after handover.
💬 Need a fixture or a special machine built in Vietnam, and want the specification checked before any builder quotes? Send us the part drawings and what the equipment must do.
Which kind of build is it?
Jigs, inspection gauges, special-purpose machines and automation cells need different specifications and different acceptance tests, so decide which you are buying before you write anything.
| Build | What it does | What the specification must centre on | How acceptance is proven |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jig or work-holding fixture | Locates and clamps a part for machining, welding or assembly | Datums matching the part drawing, clamping points, loading direction, wear parts | Parts made on it measure correctly; repeat loading gives the same position |
| Inspection gauge or checking fixture | Checks a part against its drawing, go/no-go or with indicators | The features checked, datums, gauge tolerance relative to part tolerance | Calibration report and a repeatability study with real parts |
| Special-purpose machine | Performs one process, such as pressing, screwing, dispensing or marking | Process parameters, part variation, required output, safety | A run-off with your parts at the builder, then at your site |
| Automation cell or line | Links several operations with handling, often with robots and vision | Interfaces, cycle per station, error handling, data output, safety | Factory acceptance test, site acceptance test and a production run |
The same builder may do all four, but the drawing package and the questions differ. A gauge is a measuring instrument and is judged by measurement capability; a machine is judged by output and safety.
Write the specification around the part, not the machine
A good specification tells the builder what the equipment must achieve with your real parts, in your plant, under your safety rules, and leaves the mechanism to the builder unless you have a reason to fix it.
The items that most often decide whether two quotations describe the same equipment:
- The part and its variation. Send the part drawing with tolerances and real sample parts, including parts at the edges of tolerance and, where you have them, known rejects. A fixture designed around one perfect sample can jam on the first part at maximum material.
- The required output. State the output you need per shift and what counts as a good part. Let the builder propose the cycle; ask it to show how the number was reached.
- What happens on a fault. Misfeeds, a missing part, a failed check. Say what the machine must do: stop, reject, alarm, log.
- Utilities at your plant. Supply voltage, frequency and earthing system, compressed air pressure and quality, and any network the equipment must connect to. If the machine will run outside Vietnam, give the values of the plant where it will run, not the builder’s.
- Safety requirements. Name the standards you expect the design to follow — for example ISO 12100 for risk assessment and IEC 60204-1 for the electrical equipment of machines — and the rules of the country where the machine will be used. Ask for the risk assessment as a deliverable.
- Operator interface and language. The language of the screen, labels and manuals; the operator’s working height; how parts are loaded.
- Data. Whether results must be stored, exported or sent to a line system, and in what format.
- Deliverables. Mechanical drawings and 3D data, electrical and pneumatic schematics, the control program in editable form, a parts list, spare parts list, manuals and the risk assessment.
The last item is the one buyers regret leaving out. A machine without its editable control program and schematics can only be changed by the builder that made it. Who owns the design and the program is a contract question; put the deliverables list into the purchase order, and if the builder is supplying a design it already owns, agree what you receive at handover.
Checked against the published scope statements of ISO 12100:2010 (confirmed by ISO in 2022) and IEC 60204-1:2016+AMD1:2021, on 19 October 2026.
Hold a design review before metal is cut
Review the concept, the 3D design and the electrical schematics with the builder before manufacture starts, and record every decision against a drawing revision, because changes after machining are where cost and time are lost.
A practical sequence for anything beyond a simple jig:
| Review | What you check | Sign-off record |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | Process sequence, layout, how parts enter and leave, safety approach | Concept drawing, revision noted |
| 3D design | Datums and clamping against the part drawing, access for loading and maintenance, guarding | Model revision approved, open points listed |
| Electrical and pneumatic | Schematics, component list, panel layout, safety circuit design | Schematic revision approved |
| Software outline | Operating modes, fault handling, screens, data output | Written description approved |
Hold the reviews by screen share if you cannot travel, but take the minutes in writing and attach them to the drawing revision. A comment made in a call and not written down is a common reason for a dispute at acceptance.
💬 Want an engineer on our side to sit in the design reviews and hold the minutes against each revision? That is part of how we run sourcing from Vietnam. Tell us about the equipment.
Choose electrical and pneumatic components for the plant where it will run
Specify the control platform, safety components and pneumatics your maintenance team already supports, and require them from authorised sources, because a machine is maintained for years by people who did not build it.
Builders quote with the components they know and can buy quickly. Those may be perfectly sound, but if your plant standardises on a different control platform, your technicians will need new software, new training and new spare parts. Before quotation, send a short preferred-components list: the controller family, the safety relay or safety controller family, drives, sensors, pneumatic valves and the operator panel. Where you have no preference, say so, and ask the builder to name its choices in the quotation so they can be compared.
Three further points come up on almost every build:
- Authorised sourcing. Whatever the brand, require purchase through the maker’s authorised distribution, and ask for the purchase records of safety-related components. A counterfeit safety relay works on the bench.
- Approval marks and ratings for your market. If the machine will run in another country, its components may need ratings or marks that country requires. Your own safety adviser decides that; the builder needs it in the specification.
- Spare parts. Ask for a recommended spare parts list with part numbers before shipment, and order the critical spares with the machine.
If the equipment will stay in Vietnam and includes a pressure vessel, a boiler or lifting equipment, check whether it falls on a Vietnamese list that requires inspection before use. How those lists work is set out in importing Japanese furnaces and boilers into Vietnam.
Prove it at the builder, then again at your site
Define the factory acceptance test (FAT) and the site acceptance test (SAT) in the purchase order — what is run, with which parts, for how long and against which criteria — and tie payment milestones to them.
The factory acceptance test happens at the builder’s workshop in Vietnam, before the machine is dismantled and crated. It is the cheapest point to find a problem. A useful FAT plan states:
- the parts to be used, supplied by you in enough quantity, including edge-of-tolerance parts;
- the run length, and what output and reject rate count as a pass, set by you;
- the fault scenarios to demonstrate, such as a missing part or an opened guard;
- the safety functions to test, including emergency stops and guard interlocks;
- the documents to be presented: drawings, schematics, program backup, risk assessment, calibration reports for gauges;
- how open points are recorded and closed before shipment.
If you cannot attend, ask for a live video session following the written plan, plus the recorded results. The site acceptance test repeats the essential checks after installation at your plant, with your utilities and your operators. Planning installation, commissioning and training as separate milestones is covered in installing machinery abroad: what to agree first; the article is written for Japanese machinery, but the structure applies to any builder.
Payment usually follows these milestones. How deposits and balances work with Vietnamese suppliers, and where each method puts the risk, is in payment terms with a Vietnamese supplier.
For a gauge, the acceptance test is a measurement question. Ask for a calibration report traceable to a recognised laboratory and a repeatability and reproducibility study using real parts, so you know the gauge can separate good parts from bad ones.
Shipping, installation and support after handover
Agree how the machine is dismantled, marked and crated, who installs it, and what support follows — warranty, remote access, spare parts and program changes — before the order is placed.
Large equipment is shipped in sections. Ask the builder to match-mark cables and pneumatic lines, photograph the assembled machine before dismantling, and pack a copy of the program backup and drawings with the machine. Crating for sea freight should protect against moisture and corrosion.
After handover, the questions are practical. Who responds when the machine stops, and how quickly they can connect remotely; whether remote access is allowed through your network; how program changes are requested, made and recorded; and how long the builder will hold or source spare parts. Write the answers into the order rather than relying on goodwill.
Fixtures and machines paid for by you and kept at a Vietnamese parts supplier’s plant are tooling in the legal sense. Marking, ownership and recovery are covered in mould and tooling ownership in Vietnam, and the same clauses work for a dedicated assembly machine or a checking fixture.
💬 Want someone in Vietnam to run the FAT with your parts and close the open points before the crate is nailed shut? Tell us about the equipment and the timetable.
Frequently asked questions
1. What should I send a Vietnamese builder to quote a fixture or machine?
Part drawings with tolerances, real sample parts including edge-of-tolerance ones, the required output, utilities at your plant, the safety standards and rules that apply, a preferred-components list, the language of the interface and manuals, and the list of deliverables you expect at handover.
2. Should I specify the control components or leave them to the builder?
Specify them if your plant has a standard, because your maintenance team will support the machine for years. If you have no standard, ask the builder to name its choices in the quotation, require authorised sourcing, and get a spare parts list.
3. Do I need to attend the factory acceptance test in person?
Not necessarily. A written FAT plan followed in a live video session, with recorded results and your parts on the machine, can replace attendance. What matters is that the plan, the parts and the pass criteria were agreed before the test.
4. Will I receive the control program?
Only if the order says so. List the editable control program, schematics, drawings and the risk assessment as deliverables. Where the builder supplies a design it already owns, agree what you receive and what you may change.
5. How is a gauge accepted differently from a machine?
A gauge is a measuring instrument. Accept it on a traceable calibration report and a repeatability and reproducibility study with real parts, which shows whether it can reliably separate good parts from bad ones.
Sources: ISO 12100:2010, Safety of machinery — General principles for design — Risk assessment and risk reduction (scope statement; confirmed in 2022); IEC 60204-1:2016+AMD1:2021, Safety of machinery — Electrical equipment of machines — Part 1 (IEC webstore listing). Checked on 19 October 2026.
More industrial sourcing guides: Steel Fabrication in Vietnam: Welding, Paint and Shipping Size · Wire Harness Manufacturing in Vietnam: Drawing to Crimp Test · Japanese Machinery on Overseas Power: Volts, Hz and Marks. All guides by category are on the industrial sourcing page.