Lights-Out Factory

A factory so highly automated it can run without people on-site, even with the lights off.

A lights-out factory is one so highly automated it doesn't need people present on the floor, and so can, in principle, keep running with the lights off — hence the term “lights-out manufacturing.” A commonly cited example is Japan's FANUC, reported to have used robots to manufacture robots since 2001, able to run unattended for long stretches. In reality most so-called lights-out factories still need people for maintenance, restocking materials, and handling exceptions; it's more common for only part of a process or workshop to be fully unmanned. The traditional approach relies on fixed-station industrial robots and dedicated equipment, suited to large-volume standardized products; one of the arguments made by embodied-AI companies is that general-purpose robots can cover the flexible steps that dedicated equipment can't handle.

ExampleFANUC's robot factory is often cited as a representative lights-out factory: robots assembling robots, unattended overnight.

Also called

Unmanned Factory, Lights-Out Manufacturing

Related

Machines Replacing Humans · Flexible Manufacturing · Industrial Robot · Non-Standard (Custom) Automation · Big Four of Industrial Robotics

Sources

Lights out (manufacturing) - Wikipedia