On a three-shift CNC floor, a machine changes hands three times a day. Each handover is a chance to pass on what the last shift learned — or to lose it.
What to cover
- Production against plan for each machine, and where the shift fell short.
- Machine problems — down, running slow, alarms that keep coming back.
- Quality — rejects, parts on hold, offsets that were changed and why.
- Tooling — tools near the end of their life, inserts changed mid-batch.
- Safety events and anything the next shift must not touch.
- Open actions — each with an owner, kept on the list until closed.
A simple handover format
One row per machine, filled during the shift (illustrative example):
VMC-01
- Made / plan
- 352 / 400
- Problem
- Waited 90 min for bar stock
- Open action
- Stores to issue material before 6 am
HMC-02
- Made / plan
- 318 / 380
- Problem
- Bore oversize after insert change
- Open action
- QC to approve first piece on next setup
CNC-03
- Made / plan
- 760 / 800
- Problem
- None
- Open action
- —
| Machine | Made / plan | Problem | Open action |
|---|---|---|---|
| VMC-01 | 352 / 400 | Waited 90 min for bar stock | Stores to issue material before 6 am |
| HMC-02 | 318 / 380 | Bore oversize after insert change | QC to approve first piece on next setup |
| CNC-03 | 760 / 800 | None | — |
The first two columns are the same numbers as a daily production report; the handover adds the context behind them and who owns the fix.
The time it takes
A handover is time the machines often aren’t running, so it is worth recording rather than hiding inside “idle”. ThingConnect includes shift handover as a default stop reason, treated as a planned stop, so the minutes lost at each changeover show up as their own line in the downtime report — and the incoming shift can see the outgoing shift’s production and stop reasons per machine instead of relying on memory.