How to Reduce Changeover Time Through Digitalization
In many industrial companies, more and more frequently necessary retrofitting causes unproductive times for employees and production losses. Depending on the complexity of the changeover, this can take a correspondingly long time and be error-prone. Digital assistance platforms can provide support here. Learn how.
What it's about
In this text you will learn how to reduce changeover time and how to involve non-specialized employees in the retrofitting of machines and systems, thus saving time, human capital and, ultimately, cash.
Lot size 1 requires stronger flexibility of the manufacturing facilities
Particularly in times of lot size 1 production and the manufacture of customer-specific products, changeover time is becoming an increasingly important topic for industrial companies. The conversion of machines and plants for the production of changing goods often is a time-consuming thing. The associated stop of regular operation is associated with high costs for the company. In the worst case, the employees are unproductive for hours and do not create any added value for the company during this time. At the same time, they even cause wage costs. All in all, customer-specific production poses a high risk to the competitiveness of any company.
The optimization of changeover time is the basis for success
An important factor in the sustainable success of the company is therefore the optimization of setup times. If you manage to reduce these to a minimum, you will create an important basis for your company’s success, the motivation of your employees and the productivity. But how can this be achieved? First of all: Not with paper folders, complicated and incomplete instructions! The secret lies in the digitization of all the conversion instructions. After all, during stressful production phases, which employee has the time and peace to concentrate on long and complex instructions?
Work facilitation through digital
step-by-step instructions
Make it as easy as possible for your employees and give them a simple and intuitive digital tool. The digital assistance platform Operations1, for example, offers considerable added value for retrofitting your systems. In the software’s editor, you can easily create step-by-step instructions that you can illustrate with short explanatory videos and photos. You can simply record both with mobile devices during the running process and import them into your instructions. Reduce complex texts to a minimum and give clear instructions through which the operator can easily navigate at the stationary terminal or on the mobile terminal during the changeover.
High quality as a positive side effect
Another positive side effect is the checklist principle of the software. If desired, you can have each step confirmed by your employee at the click of a mouse. At the same time, this creates a small assembly protocol for the changeover and both the employee and you are on the safe side and know exactly which step has already been carried out during the changeover. This increases the quality of the work and prevents later system failures, for example because important steps have been forgotten.
Conclusion
By introducing an intelligent assistance platform, changeover time can be massively reduced and the work in your production can be made more efficient. Another advantage: With the help of step-by-step instructions, even unskilled workers can complete most tasks. This eliminates some of the costs of skilled workers with specialist knowledge and allows them to use their human capital even more effectively.
Work Instruction 4.0
With digital work instructions and checklists, you increase efficiency and make better decisions. Read in our whitepaper how our software solution can help you!
Julia Grobe
Julia Grobe (M. A. Language and Communication) has worked in various medium-sized and large industrial companies, focusing on the fields of application of future-oriented technologies in agricultural engineering, mechanical engineering and the automation industry in particular.
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