What does lights-out machining require?

At minimum: pallet automation or bar feeding, tool monitoring, in-process probing for critical features, and a schedule built around unattended hours. The schedule is usually the missing piece — the hardware exists in many shops that still cannot run productive lights-out shifts.

How much capacity does lights-out actually add?

On equipped machines, typical shops add 30–60% to weekly runtime, sometimes more on weekends. The ceiling is set by pallet pool depth, fixture availability, and how well the schedule sequences jobs for unattended operation. Most shops achieve less than half their theoretical lights-out hours.

Is lights-out worth it for low-volume work?

Yes, even in high-mix low-volume shops. Lights-out is not only about long-running jobs. Short jobs queued correctly across a pallet pool can run unattended for full weekends, provided the scheduler builds the sequence with that intent.

Lights-Out Machining — Manufacturing Scheduling Glossary

Definition

Lights-out machining is the practice of running CNC machines unattended — typically overnight, on weekends, or during unstaffed shifts — relying on tool monitoring, probing, automation, and queued pallets to keep production going without an operator present. It is the single highest-leverage capacity expansion available to most discrete manufacturers, because it adds throughput hours without adding floor space, machines, or operators.

Why it matters

Most CNC shops run two staffed shifts and shut down for eight to twelve hours. Lights-out converts those hours into productive runtime — often adding 30–60% to weekly capacity on the equipped machines. The unlock is rarely the machine; it is the scheduling and staging discipline required to leave the floor with the right pallets loaded and the right jobs queued.

Common failure mode

The third-shift operator leaves a job set up and running at 11 p.m. The job finishes at 2 a.m. The machine sits idle until 6 a.m. because no next job was queued, no pallet was staged, and the schedule was not built with unattended hours in mind. Four hours of capacity lost on a machine the shop paid $400,000 for.

How Skody approaches it

Skody plans unattended hours as an explicit phase of the schedule. It identifies which jobs can run safely lights-out (tool life, in-process probing, scrap risk), sequences pallet swaps to maximize unattended runtime, and tells operators which pallets to load and which fixtures to build before they leave.

Pallet Scheduling

Scheduling work on automated cells by reasoning about pallets, not just machines.

Finite Capacity Scheduling

Scheduling that respects the real, limited capacity of each machine, operator, and tool.

Setup Sequencing

Ordering jobs on a machine to minimize total changeover time across a batch.

Dispatching

Telling each operator and machine which job to run next, in what order, right now.

Work Center

A grouping of one or more machines or stations that share routing and capacity.