Optimizing set-up times

Setting up machines in the minimum amount of time; achieving previous quality levels after a restart – just two of the activities increasingly considered to be a core competence in any manufacturing company. To a factory planner, set-up time is synonymous with downtime in production. With the right optimizations, it is possible to cut set-up cycles by up to 50 percent. Rapid set-ups also mean you can carry out more product changeovers, thus reducing stock and the amount of cash tied up in capital, warehousing, and logistics. On top of this, it’s amazing how much more flexible your business becomes, particularly important when you’re producing a large number of variants.