Commissioning & start-up for critical production plants.
Technical commissioning of complex pharmaceutical and food plants — from preparation through to production-ready handover.
Commissioning is not “switching the plant on”.
Commissioning brings together technical preparation, mechanical and process commissioning, functional testing, coordination and handover.
The aim is a plant that is not merely built, but carried reliably into qualification and routine operation.
From construction to operation — where we come in.
Ideally we join during the construction phase and stay with the plant through commissioning and start-up into stable operation.
Qualification · DQ/IQ/OQ/PQ runs in parallel from commissioning onwards.
Construction
Construction phase — we prepare the commissioning: system definition, test plans, schedule and progress reporting.
Commissioning
FAT/SAT, mechanical and process commissioning, functional testing — including GMP-compliant documentation of the results, which carries straight over into qualification.
Start-up
Turnover and handover, ramp-up, clearing the punch list, handover to operations.
Operation
Stable production — handed over reliably and fully documented. Support through the change process.
What we take on.
Preparation decides the outcome.
Commissioning that holds up is built in the preparation. We break the plant down into testable systems, plan resources and sequence, and fix the required evidence before anything is tested on site.
01System definition
The plant broken down into clearly bounded, testable systems.
02Resource & manpower planning (manloading)
Capacity planned across the commissioning phases.
03Test plans
Test scope and acceptance criteria defined up front.
04Schedule
A realistic commissioning schedule, interlocked with construction and qualification.
Every plant hands over a defined document set.
We work with structured deliverables: one defined, traceable document set per system — from test records and functional evidence through to the turnover package. That is what makes the handover into qualification and operation audit-ready and complete.
Clear roles, clear responsibility.
We bring a practised role model with us — so responsibility stays unambiguous across every handover.
01Commissioning Manager
Overall control of the commissioning and the interface to engineering, construction and the operator.
02Coordinators
Responsible for individual disciplines and systems, and for their evidence.
Commissioning — in brief.
What is commissioning, exactly?
The structured process of taking a finished plant from “mechanically complete” to a tested, operational state — including functional testing, evidence and handover.
Mechanical versus process commissioning?
Mechanical commissioning checks correct installation and the interlocks that keep your people safe. Process commissioning takes the plant into real process operation — in food often directly with raw materials, in pharmaceutical production without them, up against qualification.
What exactly do you take on?
From planning the commissioning and setting up a structured pre-commissioning, through FAT/SAT, mechanical and process commissioning, functional testing and coordination, to turnover, handover and the preparation for DQ/IQ/OQ/PQ.
When should we bring you in?
Ideally towards the end of basic design or at the start of detail design — so commissioning and handover are built in early instead of surfacing at the end.
How does this differ from qualification?
Commissioning makes the plant technically ready to run; qualification (DQ/IQ/OQ/PQ) demonstrates regulatory fitness. We prepare the plant so that qualification has a solid base to build on. If you want it, we run the qualification as well.
Your contact for commissioning.
More than 30 years in automation engineering and the commissioning of production plants. First port of call for feasibility, approach and risk.
olaf.gasch@ecc-process.comPlanning a commissioning campaign?
The earlier commissioning, documentation and operation are planned together, the less friction the project runs into later.
Enquire about a project or directly: kontakt@group-ecc.com