Installing the Machine: The Day Before the Operator Shows Up
The machine shipped on a flatbed. The riggers put it on the customer’s floor. The leveling feet were adjusted at the factory — but the factory floor is concrete and dead flat. The customer’s floor was 3 mm out of level across 4 meters. The conveyor drifted to one side. The operator called us the next morning. This is the install procedure that prevents that phone call.
Before the machine arrives: the floor
Check the floor flatness with a laser level. Measure across the machine footprint. A factory floor should be within 3 mm over 4 meters. If it’s worse, the customer needs to grind the high spots or use shims under the leveling feet. Don’t assume the floor is flat — check it.
The floor should be clean, dry, and free of debris. Oil spills leave a film that the leveling feet slip on. The machine needs a firm, flat contact. A 10 mm gap under a leveling foot means the frame isn’t supported — it will flex under load.
Day of install: rough level
Lower the machine onto the leveling feet. Don’t bolt it down yet. Put a precision level (0.02 mm/m) on the machine’s reference surface — usually the top of the extrusion frame or a machined pad.
Adjust the feet in a diagonal pattern. Start at one corner, go to the opposite corner, then the other two. Don’t adjust one foot at a time in a circle — that twists the frame. The goal is to get within 1 mm/m in both axes.
For a 4-meter machine, that’s 4 mm total. The precision level should read level. If it doesn’t, keep adjusting.
Day of install: final level and lock
Once the rough level is close, fine-adjust to 0.2 mm/m. This is the tolerance the rails expect. A conveyor belt tracks straight when the frame is level. A robot cell positions correctly when the mounting plate is flat.
Lock the feet. Most leveling feet have a lock nut. Tighten it against the frame. If the foot isn’t locked, the vibration from the machine will back it off over weeks. We’ve seen machines drift 5 mm in a month because the feet weren’t locked.
Bolt the machine to the floor only if the customer requires it (seismic zone, or the machine has moving loads that shift). For a fixed machine with leveling feet, bolting is optional. But always lock the feet.
What level tolerance actually matters
| Machine type | Level tolerance | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| Conveyor (belt) | 0.5 mm/m | Level on the conveyor frame |
| Conveyor (chain) | 1.0 mm/m | Chain gravity takes up slack |
| Robot cell | 0.1 mm/m | Level on the robot mounting plate |
| Precision axis (linear rail) | 0.05 mm/m | Level on the rail itself |
| Press / riveter | 0.2 mm/m | Level on the press bed |
| General machine frame | 1.0 mm/m | Level on the top extrusion |
The phone call we avoided
The machine that wasn’t level: the conveyor belt drifted to one side because the frame was 3 mm low on the left end. The belt walked off the pulley. We came back, re-leveled, and the belt tracked. The customer’s floor was 4 mm out of level — not terrible, but enough for a belt to track wrong.
The fix was 30 minutes: adjust the two left feet, lock them, run the conveyor. The belt tracked straight. The operator never had to shim anything.
What’s in the install manual
Write this in the install section:
- Check floor flatness with laser level (3 mm / 4 m max).
- Position machine on leveling feet. Don’t bolt.
- Rough level: adjust diagonally to 1 mm/m.
- Fine level: adjust to 0.2 mm/m (or tighter for precision axes).
- Lock all leveling foot nuts.
- Run the conveyor empty for 10 minutes. Check belt tracking. Adjust if needed.
- Load test: run 10 cycles. Re-check level. Re-lock if needed.
The install rule: Spend 30 minutes leveling on day one. The machine that arrives on a sloped floor will spend its life fighting that slope. The feet are there to be adjusted, not just to hold the machine off the ground.
