I make big batches I don't care about set-up time!

When I would talk to people who were in charge of producing large batches, in 'lean' times, they would tell me that they were obliged to produce even smaller batches to avoid long machine downtimes.
Or, much more simply, they would retool the machine maybe once or twice a month to change the part to be produced.
In some situations, even two days were needed for a complete set-up change.
It is almost obvious, for those who make large volumes of the same parts, not to think of having a machine with a quick set-up change, but in this article I would like to propose a different point of view to those who do this type of machining.

Let's start by saying that having large volumes of production of the same part, minus the various small maintenance operations, allows you to have a system that works continuously for a long period of time and this is certainly a very good thing.
It often happens that those who do this type of production tend to make stock: this situation is good but not optimal, in fact if I am making stock I have a series of parts already paid for waiting to be sold.
Obviously, those who do this type of work tend to 'snub' medium or small productions as it would be too expensive to make a set up change.

The question I ask myself and ask you in this article is the following:
"What if you had the possibility of having a high-performance machine for large batches but at the same time allowing you to have a quick set-up change for smaller productions? Wouldn't that be an interesting strategy to evaluate?"

Needless to say, if you ask me, who produce them, the answer is obviously yes, but the question is addressed to you who, like everyone else, live in a different situation, where in a few months the whole planet has been revolutionised and without any warning.
Today, if for some reason you can still afford to snub the - I won't say small - but medium-sized productions, you are most likely among those companies that have remained solid after the storm.
But if something has changed for you today and you don't want to snub those demands, you should give some thought to whether or not it is strategic to have such a machine.
In my opinion, this also applies to those who have remained solid and in the middle of production.
A quick set-up change, and when I say quick I mean in just 12 minutes, can be a very powerful weapon that you can use to collect orders and be a very reliable supplier, guaranteeing short production times while maintaining high product quality.
Let me know what you think!