How To Reduce Changeover Time in Manufacturing

Customer satisfaction hinges on delivering quality products, consistently and on time. And where possible, most manufacturers must initiate production runs as quickly as possible to meet and exceed the clients’ expectations.

However, employees and machines cannot function on a non-stop basis. Instead, machines need to be maintained, workstations require regular cleaning, and employees need rest. This is where changeover time comes in.

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Changeover time refers to the period from when the last product rolls off the line in a given production run to when the start of the next run begins. It’s important to note that changeover includes the time between the last and first items that meet the relevant quality specifications as required by the client.

In many instances, manufacturing businesses use the changeover to swap parts, clean machines, and prepare them to handle the next production run.

With this in mind, it makes business sense for manufacturers to reduce the changeover period as much as possible to maximize production efficiency across their operations.

In many scenarios, changeover time and set-up time are used interchangeably. However, they do differ. Set-up time is but a component of the relatively more comprehensive changeover process. In other words, set-up time belongs to the changeover set that primarily involves clean-up and start-up.

To effectively measure changeover time, a supervisor must observe production processes and track the time between the final action of a given production run and the beginning production process of the subsequent run.

In some instances, manufacturers will record their production runs enabling relevant supervisors and managers to track changeover time if they aren’t present for it in real-time.

Reducing changeover time in a manufacturing facility enables businesses to maximize their productivity, increasing the number of units produced in a given day.

Changeover time can be classified as ‘Waiting’, one of the 8 types of waste in lean manufacturing that should be reduced in order to increase production value.

Every minute spent on a changeover is a minute you’re not producing. And yet, most delays come from small, fixable problems that pile up. Here’s where the time usually disappears:

1. Lack of Standardization
When each operator or shift does things a little differently, changeovers become unpredictable. Without a clear, shared method, teams waste time figuring out what a proper setup actually looks like. And when every setup feels like a one-off job, you lose any real baseline for improvement.

Digital work instructions and shared SOPs make a big difference. Standardization isn’t about being rigid, it’s about giving everyone a reliable way to repeat what works.

2. Manual Adjustments and Fine-Tuning
Many setups still depend on handwritten notes or memory to dial in machine settings. That usually turns into trial-and-error work that eats up time and invites mistakes. Even when someone finds the right settings, they rarely get recorded or shared.

The next person starts over from scratch, tweaking and adjusting all over again.

3. Untrained or Infrequent Operators
If someone hasn’t done a changeover in months, or never got proper training, they’ll spend more time hunting for steps, tools, or guidance. In some plants, whoever’s available gets handed the task, regardless of experience.

When knowledge lives only in people’s heads, consistency disappears the moment they’re not around.

4. Equipment Not Ready or Prepped
Changeovers really start long before the machine stops. If tools aren’t calibrated, cleaning isn’t finished, or leftover material from the last run is still in place, production will stall before it even begins.

This is where the line between internal and external setup gets blurry, and where preparation should happen while the machine is still running.

5. Missing or Misplaced Tools and Materials
Few things slow a changeover faster than searching for a missing wrench or the right lot of material. It’s a small issue that compounds quickly. If tools and parts aren’t staged in advance, minutes slip away unnoticed, turning into hours by week’s end.

Simple habits like using tool shadow boards, digital kanban, or automated kitting alerts can prevent it, but many plants still rely on memory and sticky notes.

Most teams know their changeovers take longer than they should. Many still use a stopwatch, a pen, and a paper checklist. Moving to digital tools isn’t about chasing technology. It’s about running setups the same way every time and being able to see what’s slowing things down.

With paper systems, most changeovers rely on what people remember or how they prefer to work. If someone skips a step or forgets to write something down, that information is gone. It’s hard to tell where the time goes or what part of the setup needs work.

Digital tools fix that by recording every step as it happens. Operators follow the same process, and the data builds itself in the background. Teams can see patterns, make small adjustments, and check the results without waiting for the next review meeting.

It’s a simple shift: less guessing, more learning from what actually happens on the floor.

As earlier discussed, a shorter changeover time enables manufacturers to maximize uptime and worker productivity in a given day. Furthermore, it reduces waste caused by downtime, significantly lowering production costs.

To reap these benefits, manufacturers in the modern era should consider taking the following steps:

1. Evaluate your current changeover process

Before implementing actions to reduce the changeover process, you should analyze your existing protocol. This can help you identify areas within the current process that require optimization to minimize the time between successful production runs.

Analyzing the current process usually entails identifying the machines that require preparation for the subsequent run cycle. Additionally, this step also documents the various sub-processes carried out by personnel to ensure that machines and production lines are ready for the next run.

With a base representation of the current process, manufacturers can then proceed to implement the SMED method.

2. Implement the Single-Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) method

As the name implies, single-minute exchange of dies refers to cutting the changeover time down to single-digit periods of time. In other words, the ideal duration between the two successful production runs should ideally come down to less than ten minutes.

SMED requires a manufacturer to have intimate knowledge about the various granular tasks that make up the given production process. Additionally, manufacturers benefit from having the ability to monitor all relevant machines in real-time. After all, detailed knowledge allows you to identify the particular areas in need of optimization.

Here’s what SMED entails:

• Divide the changeover process into various discrete steps to better understand and visualize the protocols.

• The protocol comprises internal and external portions. The externals are tasks that can be executed while the machine remains operational, whereas the internal elements are tasks that can only be performed when the machine is turned off.

• You should then identify internal process elements that can be optimized and turned into externals. In other words, analyze internal sub-tasks and evaluate if they can be executed while the machines run. This analysis is often more streamlined using digital tools with real-time input from machines on the shop floor.

• The remaining internal processes can then be streamlined with connected digital solutions to ensure that execution takes the least time possible.

3. Establish standard changeover protocols

In many instances, employees may not receive standardized instructions to guide changeover protocol implementation. As such, changeover times can differ greatly because employees can clean up, set up, and start up a new production run in different ways.

Therefore, it’s prudent for managers and supervisors to craft standard operating procedures (SOPs) to guide the changeover process.

The SOPs should contain standardized instructions on how to execute the process. They should also outline and highlight the standard settings to which relevant equipment should be tuned or calibrated. The same applies to the ideal real-time metrics originating from the machinery.

With these in hand, employees know what to expect when it’s time for a changeover.

Changeovers slow production more than most teams realize, but they’re also one of the easiest areas to make real gains. When you build on SMED principles and use digital tools like Tulip, you can lock in standard methods, guide operators through each step, and collect data as the work happens.

The payoff is simple: setups that run the same way every time, fewer mistakes, and a clearer picture of where time is being lost. Over time, that steady feedback loop helps the process improve itself.