GlossaryKind of term: Manufacturing termSetup time
What is setup time?
Setup time is the time to get machine, workholding and tooling ready up to the first approved part, once per setup and per batch.
The clock runs per setup and stops only once the first part is approved, so that part is still included. It usually covers mounting and aligning the workholding, loading and measuring tools, probing the work origin, loading the program and proving it out carefully, and measuring and correcting the first part. Whether teardown and clean-up after the batch count is a matter of shop convention. Setup time falls per setup and per batch, not per part.
What does setup time depend on?
How long setup takes does not follow from the geometry alone. The part and drawing help decide the number of setups, tools and critical dimensions, together with the chosen machine and route; the rest depends on the shop: which workholding and whether it is ready, a zero-point clamping system, tools preset off the machine or already in the magazine, on-machine probing and the operator's routine. On a repeat order with a kept fixture and a proven program, setup is usually shorter, but rarely zero.
How does setup time work in practice?
On one-offs and small batches, setup is often the largest time item; how much it weighs depends on its ratio to machining time and on the quantity. In the estimate you spread it over the quantity; that is an estimating convention, as is whether the machining time of the first part counts separately. A fixed percentage for setup stops matching reality as soon as the number of setups or the batch size varies. Work that does not need the machine stopped, such as presetting tools and preparing workholding, can be done while the previous job is still running; that is the core of SMED. Those hours are still labour, so they stay in the cost.
What is setup time often confused with?
Setup time is not the setup: the setup is the state in which the part is clamped, setup time the time to get that state ready. Nor is it quite changeover time: changeover runs from the last good part of one order to the first good part of the next and includes teardown. And setup time is not cycle time: setup returns per batch, cycle time per part.
How do you see setup time in Blake?
In Blake you enter setups per route yourself, then accept or undo them. Setup is a separate line, per piece and per batch, labelled as an estimate. A time is corrected with a reason, and who did it, when and why stay visible. More on estimating.
Frequently asked questions
Does the first part belong to setup time?
Measuring and correcting until the first part is good usually does. Whether that part's machining time is also booked as setup is a convention in your estimate and time booking; settle it once and keep to it.
Can you derive setup time from the 3D model?
Only in part. The model gives the geometry; the number of setups and tools follows from the route you choose, and critical dimensions from the drawing. Workholding, presetting, zero-point systems and the operator's routine come from your own shop.
How do you shorten setup time?
By doing work off the machine while it is still running: presetting tools, preparing workholding, checking programs in advance. Zero-point clamping and fixed tool positions in the magazine also help. That is how SMED works.