Your best setup person knows why the line makes scrap after a changeover. Keep it.
Millions of new people will need to learn your lines.
1.9M
U.S. manufacturing jobs could go unfilled from 2024 to 2033, out of up to 3.8 million new workers needed.
Source: Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, 202447%
of U.S. workers have had to train themselves because a retiring coworker's knowledge wasn't passed on.
Source: The Harris Poll for Express Employment Professionals, 2021, 2,002 U.S. workers92%
of organizations don't consistently capture knowledge from employees about to retire.
Source: APQC, 2025, survey of 1,000 professionalsThe stuff that never makes it into the work instruction.
Changeovers & die changes
The order that actually works, the shim the die needs, and what to check before the first hit.
Why a line makes scrap
The cause behind the scrap that only shows up on second shift, and the fix that stuck.
First-article gotchas
The dimension that always drifts on the first parts, and the check the customer really cares about.
Equipment personalities
The press that short-strokes after a die change, the feeder that needs a nudge, the sensor that acts up when it's cold.
Material & lot quirks
The coil that comes in harder, the resin that needs more dry time, the supplier lot to watch.
Customer specifics
Who wants packaging a certain way, which parts get extra inspection, what the print never says.
Ask it like you'd ask your lead.
- Record at the line from a phone's browser. Nothing to install.
- Each note is transcribed and filed under the equipment and the area it's about.
- Scan the QR sticker on a press, a machine or a cell to see its notes or record a new one.
- Notes are tagged with the problem, cause, fix, parts, tools and warnings.
- No phones on the floor? A shared shop tablet stays signed in, and each person records with their own PIN.
- Anyone on the team searches in plain words or asks a question, and gets the answer from your notes along with the notes it used.
Press 4 · Line 2
“Press 4, after a die change on the bracket job. If it short-strokes on the first hits, it's the shut height, not the die. Bring it up a hair, run three, measure the bend, then lock it. Second shift keeps shimming the die instead and we scrap the first fifty.”
Example for illustration, not a real customer's note.
Keep what your best people on the floor know.
Book a 15-minute demo. We'll show you KeptLabs with manufacturing examples and give you a straight quote for your team.