When a business has production lines that produces a variety of items, changeover from one item to the next takes time.  How much time is a function of the complexity of the changeover.

Grouping and sequencing products can minimize changeover time, leaving more time for production.

One concept for product sequencing is called The Color Wheel.

Each color is only slightly different from those adjacent to it – representing a minor change; colors on the opposing side of the wheel are major changes. If products are grouped with similar production setup characteristics, it is like arranging similar colors on the color wheel – only slight changes are required from one to the next.

One way to implement the color wheel concept in manufacturing is to use a changeover matrix in production planning.

The time required for changing from each product to other products is in a matrix that can be used to compute the lowest changeover time / longest run-time potential for any combination of products.

Developing practical tools to increase run-time is an Innovation for Business that makes productive assets more productive.