Lights out (manufacturing)

Lights-out manufacturing or dark factory is the manufacturing methodology of fully automating the production of goods at factories and other industrial facilities, without requiring any human labour presence on-site. Many of these factories are considered to be able to run "with the lights off," but few run exclusively lights-out production. For example, in computer numerical control machining, the presence of human workers is typically required for removing completed parts and setting up tombstones that hold unfinished parts. As the technology necessary for total automation becomes increasingly available, many factories are beginning to use lights-out production between shifts (or as a separate shift) to meet increasing production demand or to save money on labor.

An automatic factory is a place where raw materials enter, and finished products leave with little or no human intervention. One of the earliest descriptions of the automatic factory in fiction was the 1955 short story "Autofac," by Philip K. Dick.

Real-world examples

"Lights out" computer numerical control (CNC) machining

CNC machines do not require continuous operator attention, and some models can run unattended. A few machine shops run CNC unattended on nights and weekends. Although the machines are run without being under constant supervision, it is a common practice to always have a person in the vicinity of the machine.

Existing "lights-out factories"

FANUC, a Japanese robotics company, has been a lights-out factory since 2001.