Imagine a busy manufacturing floor where production is halted for hours at a time just to switch out tooling, adjust fixtures, and recalibrate machines. Every minute of downtime results in lost productivity, increased labor costs, and delayed orders, all of which directly impact a company’s bottom line. For manufacturers striving to maximize efficiency and maintain competitiveness, reducing changeover time is essential.
Quick-change fixtures offer a game-changing solution, enabling manufacturers to streamline transitions between production runs without sacrificing precision or quality. By minimizing setup time and ensuring repeatable accuracy, these fixtures help operations run more efficiently, improve throughput, and reduce waste.
In this article, we’ll break down what manufacturing changeover entails, why long changeover times hurt productivity, and how quick-change fixtures can significantly reduce downtime. Whether you’re dealing with high-mix, low-volume production or looking to improve batch changeovers in a high-volume setting, implementing quick-change workholding can transform your manufacturing efficiency and profitability.
Manufacturing changeover refers to the process of switching out parts, tools, or machinery on a production line to transition from manufacturing one product to another or from one part of an item to a different component. Changeover is a critical function in high-mix, low-volume production environments and in batch production settings where different product variations must be processed efficiently. However, long and complex changeovers can significantly impact productivity, lead times, and profitability. Some examples of manufacturing changeover include:
Switching Tools for a New Part Design: In machining, switching from one part to another often requires swapping out cutting tools, drills, or end mills to accommodate different materials or geometries.
Changing Fixtures for Different-Sized Components: Manufacturers producing a family of products may need to reconfigure workholding fixtures to accommodate different dimensions or tolerances while maintaining consistency and accuracy.
Adjusting Machine Settings for Material Changes: Switching from aluminum to stainless steel in a CNC machining process may require feed rate adjustments, coolant changes, and tool recalibration.
Reconfiguring an Assembly Line for a New Product Variant: In automotive or aerospace manufacturing, different body panels, brackets, or fasteners may require unique fixture setups to ensure proper alignment during welding or assembly.
Despite its necessity, changeover can be time-consuming and complex, introducing a range of operational challenges. Long changeover times can have a major impact on production efficiency and profitability, leading to delays, increased labor costs, and reduced output. The more time spent switching tools, adjusting fixtures, and recalibrating machines, the less time is available for actual production. Over time, excessive downtime caused by inefficient changeovers can create serious bottlenecks that disrupt schedules, increase costs, and put manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.
Every minute spent on changeover is a minute machines aren’t running and products aren’t being made. In industries with tight deadlines, including automotive, aerospace, and medical device manufacturing, delays in production can throw off delivery schedules, impact customer satisfaction, and lead to lost business opportunities. Extended changeover times can also create bottlenecks in manufacturing workflows, slowing down multiple stages of production and reducing overall throughput.
Longer changeover times also mean higher labor costs. If workers spend hours setting up new tooling or adjusting fixtures, this time must be factored into production expenses, ultimately driving up the cost per part. Additionally, inefficient setups can lead to errors or inconsistencies, increasing the likelihood of scrap, rework, and wasted materials—all of which negatively impact the bottom line. Lower efficiency means fewer finished parts, lower revenue, and reduced profitability.
Manufacturers that are struggling with slow changeovers often find it difficult to keep up with competitors who have implemented faster, more efficient changeover systems. Companies that embrace quick-change fixtures and lean manufacturing principles can reduce downtime, improve flexibility, and produce more in less time. This efficiency allows them to take on more orders, maintain better profit margins, and meet customer demands with greater reliability.
Quick-change fixtures are specifically designed to minimize changeover time, allowing manufacturers to transition between production runs with greater speed, efficiency, and precision. These fixtures eliminate the need for lengthy manual adjustments, enabling operators to reconfigure workholding setups in minutes instead of hours. By integrating modular components and intuitive locking mechanisms, quick-change fixtures streamline the setup process while ensuring repeatable accuracy with every changeover.
Quick-change fixtures are built to make workholding reconfiguration as simple and efficient as possible. Unlike traditional fixtures that require manual realignment, bolting, and fine-tuning, quick-change solutions feature modular components, standardized mounting systems, and intuitive locking mechanisms. By reducing the number of steps required for changeover, these features enable operators to transition between jobs quickly, keeping production lines running efficiently.
Quick-change fixtures also allow manufacturers to switch out parts or tooling in seconds rather than spending valuable time making manual adjustments. This is especially beneficial for high-mix, low-volume production, batch production, and complex machining processes. The reduced changeover time helps manufacturers maximize uptime, reduce labor costs, and improve overall production efficiency.
Beyond speed, quick-change fixtures maintain precision, ensuring that every changeover is as accurate as the last. These fixtures eliminate the risk of misalignment and setup errors, which can lead to scrapped parts and production delays. Features that support repeatable accuracy include precision locating pins, zero-point systems, and self-centering mechanisms.
The benefits of quick-change fixtures extend well beyond simply reducing changeover times. These innovative setups enhance overall manufacturing operations by improving efficiency, reducing costs, increasing flexibility, and boosting productivity. By streamlining transitions between production runs and ensuring consistent precision, quick-change fixtures help manufacturers maintain a competitive edge while delivering high-quality products.
Quick-change fixtures significantly improve manufacturing efficiency by enabling faster transitions between production runs. With the ability to rapidly swap out tooling and fixtures, operators experience minimal downtime, which in turn maximizes machine uptime. The streamlined setup process means that production lines can shift quickly from one task to another, ensuring that valuable production time is used effectively and that bottlenecks are minimized.
Reducing changeover times not only boosts efficiency but also leads to substantial cost savings. Quick-change fixtures lower labor costs by simplifying and accelerating the setup process, which reduces the need for extensive manual adjustments. Plus, by minimizing downtime and errors during changeovers, these fixtures contribute to lower overall production costs and increased profitability. Fewer mistakes and less rework also result in reduced material waste, making quick-change solutions a smart financial investment.
One of the standout features of quick-change fixtures is their ability to be easily configured for a wide range of parts and products. This flexibility allows manufacturers to adapt quickly to varying production needs without causing significant delays. Whether dealing with different part sizes, shapes, or tolerances, configurable fixtures can be adjusted on the fly to accommodate new requirements. This adaptability not only enhances operational agility but also supports the production of diverse product lines without compromising on quality or efficiency.
Ultimately, the combination of improved efficiency, cost savings, and greater flexibility translates into enhanced overall productivity. Quick-change fixtures enable manufacturers to meet tight deadlines and maximize output during peak production periods. With faster setups and more reliable, repeatable processes, production lines can operate at higher capacities with fewer interruptions. This increased productivity ensures that manufacturers can respond swiftly to market demands while consistently delivering high-quality products, helping sustain long-term competitive advantages.
Reducing manufacturing changeover times is essential for maximizing efficiency, increasing throughput, and maintaining profitability. Slow, complex changeovers create bottlenecks, raise labor costs, and reduce machine uptime, all of which can hinder a manufacturer’s ability to stay competitive. Quick-change fixtures provide a powerful solution, allowing manufacturers to transition between production runs faster while ensuring repeatable precision and flexibility.
Carr Lane Mfg. offers a wide selection of high-quality quick-change fixtures, designed to help manufacturers reduce downtime and meet growing demands with ease. Explore our quick-change tooling solutions to find the best fit for your production needs. Have questions? Contact our experts today to learn how Carr Lane Mfg. can help you optimize your workholding process and improve manufacturing performance.
Have you ever spent sleepless nights wondering, “How are we going to get more product out the door?” or “Why can’t we find enough good people to keep our spindles running?”
While investing in automation may seem like the obvious solution for increasing throughput with fewer people, consider starting with quick-change tooling systems. These systems keep your spindles running and producing more parts without having to hire staff.
Quick-change systems have dramatically improved manufacturing across the board, from traditional lathes and machining centers to multi-task machines and automated setups.
At Triumph, we aspire to bring meaningful advancements in technology to our customers. That means not only highlighting the benefits but also helping with a Return on Investment (ROI) analysis and ultimately calculating savings upon implementation. Our goal is to ensure that you are increasing your uptime and maximizing chip- and profit-making!
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In this blog post, we dive into a few key strategies that can really move the dial on reducing downtime.
In terms of toolholding systems that utilize quick-change technology, Coromant Capto® (Capto) from Sandvik Coromant is your best choice and industry leader!
Capto provides the repeatability and rigidity you can trust to save time on tool changes. Plus, its robust design can potentially extend the life of your tools with your existing consumables.
It’s also a game changer for companies struggling with skilled labour shortages. Capto is very easy to set up, even with limited technical know-how.
More benefits of the Coromant Capto include:
Solidfix quick-change from Benz Tooling allows for quick and accurate changes between different types of holders.
Live tools are not cheap, but they are extremely valuable! Incorporating quick-change on your driven tool or angle head also gives you versatility to use other types of tooling without having to buy a second live tool.
Further benefits to the Solidfix include:
Sticking to traditional systems instead of switching to quick-change options like Sandvik’s Coromant Capto and Benz Tooling’s Solidfix can add up to significant lost profits annually.
For demonstrative purposes, let’s consider that each machine in a shop has 10 hours of downtime per month due to manual changes. That same shop could reduce that to, say, two hours with Capto.
With a machine rate of $100/hour, the annual savings could equate to roughly $10K per year per machine in uptime!
When it comes to working with quick-change systems, our valued supplier partners – including Schunk, 5th Axis, Jergens, and Raptor – all provide solutions to help your shop become as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
Quick-change systems aren’t just for taking your fixtures in and out of the machine but also streamlining the process of changing parts on your fixture or vise. Focusing on quick-changing your fixtures or vises from your machine, we wanted to share a few points to consider.
Quick change fixtures, at the minimum, need three points for positioning to ensure accuracy:
Note: depending on the size of the quick-change fixture, additional pins may be needed for clamping only, which increases rigidity in the setup.
Schunk offers an innovative quick-change workholding component known as the Vero-S quick-change pallet system. Specifically, the Vero-S NSE3 and the NSE have capabilities that allow them to be utilized in high machining parameters due to their high pull-down forces, and they also reduce setup costs significantly. This feature contributes to the main goal of increasing your uptime without suffering lower accuracy along the way!
Benefits of Schunk’s Vero-S and their NSE3 version specifically include:
Countless variants of the workpiece clamping.
5th Axis provides workholding solutions through their RockLock quick-change system. This is a versatile base that is designed to securely hold a variety of different vises, fixtures, and tooling. With efficient changeover capabilities that maintain repeatability (repeated tolerance of less than 0. inches) when switching operations between machines, this system will ensure that you stay efficient and keep the spindles running without sacrificing accuracy after setup.
The number one goal is to keep your spindles running and the chip-making process going without sacrificing accuracy or efficiency. When you invest in quick-change systems, it opens the door to other options, such as presetting, to further streamline the time it takes to set up a tool. Presetting eliminates the risk of downtime, inefficiency, and errors caused by reliance on less experienced staff or manual data transfer to the machine.
There are many ways we can help you minimize unnecessary downtime. One of our Technical Sales Reps can visit you to discuss options based on your requirements and budget.
As we move further along Industry 4.0, automated systems and operations that require the fewest operator touchpoints possible will become increasingly vital. Triumph Tool along with our Supplier Partners are here to assist you in this journey!
References:
Coromant Capto®
BENZ Solidfix®
SCHUNK Workpiece Clamping
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Quick Change Fixturing Solutions. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.