In-Process Downtime

Any time the process is "getting ready" to perform its function, there is downtime. This same type of in-process downtime occurs whenever equipment has to "get ready" - be heated up or cooled down, be evacuated or pressurized. Another form of in-process downtime isn't really downtime at all - the machine is actually performing and adding value. A screw machine is down during a scheduled run for the time it is being loaded with bar stock. While some machines capture this downtime, many times this is just considered part of the cycle and not captured or thought of as downtime. At a high-end bicycle manufacturer, the weld finishing department for aluminum frames was larger than the welding department. Throwing a part away is equivalent to having the process down with wasted operator labor and material costs for the whole time that part was being run.