Changeover Time
The time required to switch a machine or production line from making one product to another, including setup, adjustment, and first-article inspection. Reducing changeover time through techniques like SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies) enables more flexible production and smaller batch sizes.
RELATED TERMS
Downtime
Periods when equipment or production lines are not operating, whether due to breakdowns, changeovers, maintenance, or lack of materials. Downtime directly impacts productivity and OEE, making its reduction a primary focus of maintenance and operations improvement efforts.
Lean Manufacturing
A systematic approach to manufacturing derived from the Toyota Production System that focuses on eliminating waste while delivering value to customers. Lean identifies seven types of waste (overproduction, waiting, transport, overprocessing, inventory, motion, and defects) and uses tools like value stream mapping, 5S, and kanban to continuously improve processes.
Job Shop
A manufacturing environment that produces custom or small-batch products with varied routings through different workstations based on specific job requirements. Job shops offer high flexibility to handle diverse customer orders but typically have longer lead times and higher per-unit costs than high-volume production.
Cycle Time
The total elapsed time required to complete one unit or one cycle of a production process from start to finish. Cycle time includes processing time, wait time, and move time, and is a critical metric for capacity planning, scheduling, and identifying improvement opportunities.