What is a changeover matrix?

A from-to table of changeover times between every pair of products a line runs, with the product running now in the rows and the next product in the columns. It matters when changeovers depend on the order: allergen to allergen-free or dark to light usually takes far longer than the reverse. Add up the cells on a run order's path and you have that order's changeover time.

In what order should allergen products run?

Codex CXC 80-2020 (section 5.2.1.1) suggests products without allergens first, then products with the same allergen profile one after another, before products with a different profile, for example milk only before milk and egg. Any step that drops an allergen needs a full clean. In the EU, Regulation 852/2004 (Annex II, Chapter IX, point 9) requires shared equipment to be cleaned and checked at least for visible debris of the allergen before a food without it; in the US, 21 CFR 117.135(c)(2) covers allergen cross-contact controls. This template plans; it is not legal advice.

Why does light to dark need less cleaning than dark to light?

A speck of a light product left in the line barely shows in a darker one, while a dark speck spoils a light product, so dark to light needs a fuller clean or purge. The template gives level 2 to any change to a lighter shade and level 1 to the same or a darker shade.

Does the sheet find the best order?

Not always. It uses a heuristic: nearest neighbour from every start, then the best single move, and it keeps your order if nothing is shorter. Checked against every possible order on 600 random weeks of 3 to 7 orders, it found the best order in 91% of weeks and its minutes were 4% above the best overall. In the worked example it finds the best of all 40,320 orders.

How is this different from the SMED worksheet and the EPEI calculator?

The SMED changeover worksheet and the changeover checklist shorten and standardise one changeover. The EPEI and batch size calculator takes one cycle's changeover time as a single number. This template gives that number when changeovers depend on the order, and shows which cells to shrink with SMED first.

Free template

Updated October 9, 2026

Changeover matrix template

A changeover matrix is a from-to table of changeover times between every pair of products a line runs: the product running now down the side, the next product across the top. Where the changeover depends on the order, as it does with allergens, colours, flavours and pack sizes, running A then B can take a fraction of the time of B then A, and the matrix shows what each run order really costs. This template has four parts. A product list with up to 8 allergen columns, a shade from light to dark and the size or format. A clean level for every transition, from a rule built on the Codex allergen order (products without allergens first, then the same allergen profile together) and the light-to-dark colour order, with a grid where your site sets its own level. The matrix itself, with measured median minutes and estimates for pairs never run. And a weekly planner: enter the orders and it adds up the changeover minutes, hours and cost, suggests a shorter order with a heuristic it shows step by step, and names the biggest changeovers as SMED targets. The clean levels are a planning minimum, not a food safety decision: your allergen risk assessment and validated cleaning procedures decide.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the changeover matrix template — Product list with allergens, shade and formatClean level ruleSite level overridesFrom-to minutes matrixMeasured or estimated cellsWeekly sequence plannerSuggested shorter orderChangeover cost and hoursSMED targetsWorked example

When to use it

When to use a changeover matrix

On a line that runs several products where the changeover depends on the order: allergens, colours, flavours, strengths or pack sizes.
Every week when the schedule is built, to compare the order the due dates give with a shorter one before it is released.
Before a SMED project, to find the changeovers the schedule uses most and loses the most minutes to.
When you work out EPEI or design a product wheel, to get the changeover time of one cycle in the order you will really run it.
After an allergen risk assessment, a recipe change or a new product, to update which transitions need an allergen clean.

How to fill it in

1
List the products
Code, name, family, size or format and shade (1 lightest to 5 darkest, blank when colour does not matter). Name one column per allergen as your labels declare them and put Y where the product contains it.
2
Set the clean levels and their minutes
The rule gives level 3 when an allergen in the product before is not in the next one, level 2 when the next one is lighter, otherwise level 1. Write the standard minutes of each level; level 3 is the time your validated allergen clean really takes, verification and sign-off included. Where your allergen risk assessment asks for more, write your own level in the site grid.
3
Measure the matrix
Time real changeovers from the last good product of one run to the first good product of the next, and write the median of each pair, not the best one. Pairs never run use the estimate: the level's standard minutes plus the format change.
4
Enter the week's orders
In the order you would run them, with run hours, the product before the first order (blank if the line starts the week clean), the cost of a changeover hour and the hours available.
5
Read the suggested order
The sheet starts from each order in turn, always runs next the order with the shortest changeover (nearest neighbour) and keeps the lowest total, then tries the best single move of one order. It keeps your order if nothing is shorter. Check due dates, shelf life and materials before you take it.
6
Shrink the biggest cells
The three biggest changeovers in the suggested order are your SMED targets. Re-measure those cells after each SMED change and update the matrix.

Clean levels

The four clean levels and the rule behind them

The rule is a planning convention made for this template from the Codex allergen order (CXC 80-2020, section 5.2.1.1) and the light-to-dark colour order. It is a minimum for planning. Your allergen risk assessment and validated cleaning procedures decide the clean, and the Excel lets you set your own level for any transition. The minutes are the worked example's values; write your own.

Level	When the rule gives it	What the clean means	Example minutes
0. No clean	Same product, next batch.	No changeover. The order runs straight on.	0
1. Product change	Every allergen in the product before is also in the next one, and the next one is the same shade or darker.	Flush or dry clean as the procedure says, then line clearance of the old labels and packaging.	20
2. Colour or flavour clean	No allergen is dropped, but the next product is lighter (a lower shade number).	A fuller clean or purge so dark specks or a strong flavour do not show in the lighter product.	45
3. Allergen clean, verified	An allergen in the product before is not in the next one.	Full clean to the site's validated allergen procedure, checked at least visually clean, plus the swab or test the site's plan asks for, signed off before the next product starts.	150, your validated time

0. No clean
When the rule gives it
Same product, next batch.
What the clean means
No changeover. The order runs straight on.
Example minutes
0
1. Product change
When the rule gives it
Every allergen in the product before is also in the next one, and the next one is the same shade or darker.
What the clean means
Flush or dry clean as the procedure says, then line clearance of the old labels and packaging.
Example minutes
20
2. Colour or flavour clean
When the rule gives it
No allergen is dropped, but the next product is lighter (a lower shade number).
What the clean means
A fuller clean or purge so dark specks or a strong flavour do not show in the lighter product.
Example minutes
45
3. Allergen clean, verified
When the rule gives it
An allergen in the product before is not in the next one.
What the clean means
Full clean to the site's validated allergen procedure, checked at least visually clean, plus the swab or test the site's plan asks for, signed off before the next product starts.
Example minutes
150, your validated time

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: line 3 blends and packs dry mixes, six products and eight orders this week (illustrative numbers; the standard minutes of 20, 45 and 150, the 30-minute format change and the cost of 250 an hour are example values, set your own).

The example line: minutes for every changeover, coloured by the clean it needs

Planning minutes from the product in each row to the product in each column, coloured by clean level
From, to	RF	GFC	VS	CS	VM	CB
RF		18	22	24	55	57
GFC	42		47	19	78	52
VS	165	158		21	48	54
CS	172	160	44		81	49
VM	180	180	176	182		23
CB	180	180	180	190	62

1 Product change
2 Colour or flavour clean
3 Allergen clean, verified
Used by the suggested order

RF rice flour, GFC gluten-free cocoa cake mix, VS vanilla sponge mix, CS chocolate sponge mix, VM vanilla muffin mix, CB chocolate brownie mix. Italic cells are estimates (never run).

Changeover minutes this week

Entered: 704
Shorter: 152

552 minutes less, 9.2 hours: 2,300 a week at 250 an hour.

The suggested order only uses green and amber cells: products without allergens first, then wheat and egg, then wheat, egg and milk. The two biggest cells it uses, 48 and 44 minutes, are the SMED targets.

Products: rice flour and a gluten-free cocoa cake mix with none of the line's allergens; vanilla and chocolate sponge mixes with wheat and egg; vanilla muffin and chocolate brownie mixes with wheat, egg and milk. Shades run from 1 (rice flour, the vanilla mixes) to 5 (brownie); the muffin and brownie mixes go in 1 kg bags, the rest in 500 g.
Matrix: 25 of the 30 pairs have a measured median. The 5 never run use the estimate, for example brownie to rice flour = allergen clean 150 + format change 30 = 180 minutes.
Orders in due-date order: vanilla sponge, chocolate sponge, rice flour, brownie, muffin, cocoa cake mix, vanilla sponge, rice flour. Changeovers 21 + 172 + 57 + 62 + 180 + 47 + 165 = 704 minutes, with three allergen cleans and two colour cleans.
Suggested order: rice flour twice, cocoa cake mix, chocolate sponge, vanilla sponge twice, muffin, brownie. Changeovers 0 + 18 + 19 + 44 + 0 + 48 + 23 = 152 minutes, with no allergen clean and one colour clean (chocolate to vanilla sponge).
Checked against all 40,320 possible orders of the eight orders: 152 minutes is the best, so here the heuristic found the best order.

Re-sequencing saves 552 minutes, 9.2 hours, a week: 2,933 of changeover cost becomes 633 at 250 an hour, a saving of 2,300. With 64 run hours and 75 hours available, the due-date order runs 44 minutes over the week and the suggested order leaves 8.5 hours spare. The SMED targets are vanilla sponge to muffin (48 minutes, a format change) and chocolate to vanilla sponge (44 minutes, a colour clean).

Common mistakes

Planning with the best changeover
The fastest changeover anyone remembers is not what happens. Use the median of real, timed changeovers of each pair: a few long ones pull the average up and the best one is rare. Re-measure after every SMED change.
Treating the matrix as symmetric
Milk to milk-free needs an allergen clean; milk-free to milk does not. Dark to light needs more than light to dark. Fill every cell in both directions.
Letting the sheet decide the allergen clean
The rule is a planning minimum. Your allergen risk assessment and validated cleaning procedures decide, and a may-contain label is not a substitute for the clean.
Planning with an allergen clean shorter than the procedure
If a measured allergen clean is shorter than its standard minutes, either the clean was not done in full or the standard is out of date. The Excel flags it; check the cleaning and verification records before you plan with it.
Taking the suggestion without checking the week
The heuristic only sees changeover minutes. It does not see due dates, shelf life, material arrival or a customer's run window, and it does not guarantee the best order. Check those before you release the schedule.
Forgetting the changeover back to the start
If the same order repeats every week, the last product changes back to the first one. Count that changeover in the cycle for EPEI, or enter last week's last product as the product before the first order.

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Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite each changeover runs as a digital checklist that logs how long each step took, and Vision AI splits a filmed changeover into internal and external tasks.

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