What is faster changeover worth?
Every minute of setup is production time you do not get back, multiplied by how often you change over. Enter today's changeover and a target, and see the hours, units and euros you recover. Numbers update as you type.
Your line
One machine or line. Time a few real changeovers if you can - most plants remember the good ones, not the average.
Operating schedule
Where you stand
Your numbers appear here.
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See every changeover, timed automatically.
You cannot shrink what you do not measure honestly. The free OEE Tracker logs each shift and separates changeover from the rest of your downtime, so the current number on this calculator is a real one, not the changeover everyone remembers.
Open the free OEE TrackerThe minutes hide in the steps you never see.
Most changeover time is small waits, searches and adjustments that a stopwatch on the floor misses. Fabrico reads every stop straight from the machine and uses computer vision to show what actually happened during the setup, so SMED targets the real steps and the closed loop keeps them from creeping back.
Book a Fabrico demoWhy changeover time is worth so much
Changeover is planned downtime, and on a line that changes over several times a day it is often the biggest single OEE loss. Because the machine, labour and overhead are already paid for, every minute you give back becomes production you can sell at close to full contribution margin. That is why quick-changeover (SMED) programs so often pay back faster than any capital project: no new line, no new shift, just less time stopped.
The math
Annual value recovered = (current changeover - target changeover) in minutes, times changeovers per day, times operating days per year, divided by 60 for hours, times your ideal rate for units, times your margin per piece. The result scales with how often you change over, which is why high-mix lines have the most to gain.
What is SMED?
SMED, or Single-Minute Exchange of Die, cuts changeover to under ten minutes by moving setup steps that can be done while the line runs (external) out of the stopped time (internal), then streamlining what is left. See the full SMED and changeover-reduction guide.
Isn't every minute recoverable?
No. There is a floor set by the physical setup, and a realistic target is what matters, not zero. Pick a target you can defend (SMED aims under 10 minutes) and read the value of closing that gap.
How do we find where the time actually goes?
Break the changeover into steps and time them, then attack the biggest internal steps first. Automatic stop capture plus a video record of the setup makes this far faster, which is what Fabrico provides. See also the OEE improvement ROI calculator for the whole gap.
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