Single-Minute Exchange of Dies — a structured method for converting internal setup (machine stopped) to external setup (performed off-machine), and shrinking total changeover toward single-digit minutes.

How big is the scheduling lever vs the engineering lever?

Both matter. Engineering reduces the setup itself; scheduling clusters setups so the reduced changeover happens fewer times. Together they typically beat either alone.

Does setup reduction matter for lights-out?

Critically. Lights-out runtime requires that every job in the unattended window share enough tooling and fixturing that no operator intervention is needed.

Setup Reduction — Manufacturing Scheduling Glossary

Definition

Setup reduction is the disciplined practice of shrinking the time between the last good part of one job and the first good part of the next. It combines physical and procedural techniques (SMED, pre-staging, quick-change tooling, modular fixturing) with scheduling techniques (setup-family clustering, sequence-dependent ordering) to convert changeover hours into shippable hours.

Why it matters

Setup is the most expensive non-cutting time on a CNC. Clustering setup-compatible jobs and applying basic SMED reduces total changeover by 30–60% in most shops, reclaiming the equivalent of 8–12% of spindle hours per week — without any new machines, operators, or shifts.

Common failure mode

Each shift, operators perform setups in due-date order. The 5-axis goes aluminum → stainless → aluminum → titanium, with the longest possible changeover sequence. Three hours per shift, every shift, are spent on tool changes, fixture swaps, and coolant flushes that disciplined sequencing would have avoided.

How Skody approaches it

Skody models sequence-dependent setup time and clusters compatible jobs by tool, fixture, and material family. The sequencer evaluates the setup matrix as part of every placement decision, so clustering is automatic rather than dependent on operator judgment.

Setup Sequencing

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

Finite Capacity Scheduling

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

Lights-Out Machining

Running CNC machines unattended outside of staffed shift hours.

Bottleneck

The resource whose limited capacity governs the throughput of the whole factory.