Lights Out Production at CODI Manufacturing
- 20 hours ago
- 4 min read
by Dan Welch
Several years ago, I worked at a major semiconductor manufacturer and, at the time, one of the buzzwords was “lights-out manufacturing.” This term denoted the fabrication of logic chips, made, layer by layer, on silicon wafers without being touched by a human.
This concept of unattended manufacturing has expanded from microelectronics to other industries. At CODI, we apply it to specific bottlenecks in our production where overnight automation of high-value parts improves our capacity. This has become a necessity as the demand for our products has increased. In the words of our Production Manager, Brian Sewell, “As we expanded into contract manufacturing and power distribution, the quantity of the parts went through the roof. It was a sink or swim situation.”
WHAT IS LIGHTS-OUT?
For CODI, lights-out manufacturing means running specific equipment overnight without an operator while our team works normal daytime shifts.
One of our biggest chokepoints in our operation is producing the laser-cut sheet metal parts that feed everything in the shop – the press brakes, powder coating, welding and assembly. We configured our Amada fiber laser with its automated loader and tower as the primary workhorse for this purpose. As Brian says, “Many of our parts require a lot of runtime because on some parts we are laser cutting, 200 little tiny bolt holes. They just take a lot of time, but they are also really consistent so you do not have to run them during the day.”
We also run some of our fourth-axis mills unattended when demand requires it. The common theme is that these are parts with long cycle times on machines built to run without human intervention. But running equipment overnight only makes sense if the math demands it. For us, it does.
CODI’S BUSINESS CASE
Although CODI has been building automation equipment for over 34 years, our legacy business continues to grow at a steady pace, on top of this, our Power Controls and OEM manufacturing divisions are expanding rapidly. These three divisions are fed by the same equipment in our shop, and the growth that we see across the board was the rationale behind our push for overnight production.
While running the equipment at night effectively doubles our sheet metal capacity without purchasing another machine or adding staff, it also allows us to take advantage of the lower off-peak electricity rates at nighttime. Combined, this lowers our cost-per-part, translating into quicker turnaround for our customers and a competitive price for our products.
CHALLENGES
The benefits of lights-out production made sense for us; however, moving to this model takes capital, risk tolerance, and some difficult lessons too.
The first barrier is the capital outlay for the equipment. Our Amada fiber laser with a fully automated loader and tower was a significant investment. But it is a well-built machine that functions well for our purposes and the service support we receive helps ensure its uptime. Brian shares, “Amada definitely bends over backwards to keep CODI up and running. Amada treats us well."
The second challenge is the risk of something going wrong when no one is in the building. A miscutting laser, a dirty lens protector, or a part tip-up can stop the entire run. We mitigate this with built-in remote monitoring. There is a camera inside the laser that our production team can access remotely, and the system sends email alerts for any fault on the laser or loader. It gives us visibility into the operation and allows us to respond quickly if anything is amiss.
The mills carry a different kind of risk. As Brian puts it, "If you have a crash and break one tool, then the next tool is likely to break too. Then the tool behind that breaks, and down the line." The failure cascades. To mitigate this, we use a broken-tool detection system to monitor our mills between operation.
Finally, there is the experience factor. Not every part is suitable for the night schedule. We run parts during the day first to determine suitability for the overnight schedule, and over time we have learned which gauges and materials are the least likely to fail. For each program, we test and retest it to ensure that it will function correctly, even when unsupervised. Our institutional knowledge is perhaps the biggest factor in why this works for CODI.
CONCLUSION
CODI's targeted adoption of lights-out manufacturing was instrumental in increasing our capacity, lowering our cost-per-part, while utilizing the equipment we already own. For our customers, that translates into faster turnarounds and competitive pricing. But this can’t work without the experience, judgment, and discipline of the people who run the equipment. Lights-out frees our team to focus on the complex, high-value work that requires human hands, while proven programs keep running after everyone goes home.
About CODI Power Controls
CODI Power Controls is a vertically integrated manufacturer of Generator Docking Stations, Switchboards, and other low-voltage industrial equipment. We draw on over 30 years of manufacturing excellence building automation machinery to produce quality UL 891 Switchboards. Made in Colorado. Built for Generations. Veteran-owned. codipc.com
About Dan Welch
Dan Welch is a Growth & Marketing Strategist at CODI. He worked over two decades as a sales and marketing executive at a Fortune 500 company before pivoting to the craft beverage equipment industry in 2018, where he held senior sales and general management roles. He joined the CODI team in 2025 and is based in Colorado.
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