Why sacrifice throughput for change-over time?

Getting the most out of your equipment in small batch manufacturing.

The struggle to survive in the world of manufacturing is prompting many volume-driven manufacturing sites in the west to specialize in small batch manufacturing. The aim is to bring value to their customers with fast-turnaround prototyping and reduced introduction times. Pressures are constantly increasing to reduce response times, though, even during peak production periods. It is therefore crucial to manufacture as efficiently as possible by eliminating the time consuming elements in a high-mix environment. Mostly, that means trading in machine throughput for more – and time consuming – change-overs. As change-over is a major contribution to machine idle time, the machine design determines how that affects the throughput and machine performance in a high mix environment.

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Author:  Eric Klaver, Senior Product Manager, Assembléon