How to Schedule Lights-Out Machining With One Operator in EDGEBIC

To schedule lights-out machining with one operator in EDGEBIC by User Solutions, set the routing step's Required Skill and set its Operator attention to 0.0. At 0.0 the step is setup-only: a person sets the machine up, and the run books nobody, so post-setup hours execute on days nobody is rostered, including overnight. One operator can start many machines a day, limited only by the setup hours they can cover. The setup still needs a person, so the step will not start on a day when nobody qualified is around.

This post is the lights-out configuration task. For the wider picture of unattended machining as a shop strategy, see lights-out scheduling for CNC shops.

Before You Start

Step 1: Set the Required Skill

On the routing step, set Required Skill to the certification the setup needs, for example CNC-Setup. Without a skill, the attention fraction has nothing to gate, and the step schedules on machine capacity alone. The skill is what ties the setup to a qualified person.

Step 2: Set Operator Attention to 0.0

Set Operator attention to 0.0. This is the run-phase attention per machine-hour, and 0.0 means the run books nobody. Setup is unaffected: it always books one full person per slice. So the operator is spent on setups, and the machines run themselves afterward.

Step 3: Confirm the Stored Value

Check that the step actually stores 0.0, not just that the picker shows it. The default is 0.0, but a step edited earlier may carry an old 1.0, which would book a full operator for the whole run and defeat the lights-out plan. This is the single most common reason a lights-out cell books more labor than expected.

Step 4: Reschedule

Run Drive Schedule or a reschedule. Now each lights-out job costs the operator only its setup. Several machines can start the same day, the one operator setting each up in turn, and the run hours flow into the unstaffed evening. A job whose setup no longer fits the operator's remaining hours slides to the next day, so the cell fills exactly as far as one person's setup capacity allows.

What Changes When You Set Attention to 0.0

The attention fraction is the mechanism that lets one operator start a lights-out cell without the schedule overselling them. The full model, including fractional tending and crews above 1.0, is defined in what attend fraction means in operator scheduling.

How to Check It Worked

After rescheduling, each lights-out job consumes only its setup hours from the operator, not the full run, and several machines start the same day. The run hours appear on days and times nobody is rostered, which is the unattended running. If a job books a full operator for its whole run, the stored attention value is not 0.0. If a job will not start at all, no qualified operator is rostered to perform the setup.

Common Mistakes

• Leaving attention at 1.0 on a lights-out step. The run books a full operator and the cell cannot fill. Set it to 0.0.
• Setting attention 0.0 but forgetting the setup still needs a person. The step will not start on a day nobody qualified is rostered.
• Setting 0.5 to make the schedule fit. That borrows hours from a person who does not have them. Use the honest value: 0.0 for lights-out, 1.0 for attended.
• Not confirming the stored value. A step carrying an old 1.0 quietly defeats the plan. Verify it stores 0.0.

Next Steps

To make sure a qualified operator is available to perform the setups, review how to build a weekly operator roster. To require the setup skill in the first place, see how to require a skill on a routing step.

Every task in this library is indexed on the EDGEBIC how-to hub. To see one machinist start seven mills that run through the night, book a walkthrough of EDGEBIC and bring your lights-out cell.