What is a machine setup sheet?

A page that lists the settings a machine needs for one product, with a target and limits for each, what the setter set, what it read after a short run, and the first piece check. It makes a setup repeatable across setters and shifts.

What is the difference between a setup sheet and a changeover checklist?

A setup sheet says what the machine must be set to and proves it was. A changeover checklist says which steps to do, in what order and by whom. Use the checklist to run the changeover and the setup sheet to set and check the machine.

What should a machine setup sheet include?

The machine, the products, the setter and date, each setting with unit, target and low and high limits, what was set and what it read at the re-check, tooling fitted, a first piece check with limits and the setup time against a standard.

Where do the target and limits come from?

From the drawing or product spec for anything that shapes the product, the maker's manual for safe operating ranges, and a trial or validation run for the setting that gave good product. Write the source next to a limit that is not obvious.

How do you measure setup time?

From the last good part of the old product to the first good part of the new one. Use the same two points every time. The standard is the time you aim for. This log shows how many setups ran over it and how often the first piece was right first time.

Free template

Updated November 11, 2026

Machine setup sheet template

A machine setup sheet is the one page that says what a machine must be set to for one product, and records that it was. It lists each setting with a target and a low and high limit, what the setter set, what it still read after a short run, and the first piece check before the run starts. This template has the sheet, a page on where the limits come from, and an Excel log that works out setup minutes against a standard and how often the first piece was right the first time.

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 machine setup sheet — Settings with target and limitsAs set and re-checkTooling and fixturesFirst piece checkSetup minutes and standardSetup logSummary

Filled-in Machine setup sheet template: a labeller changeover with two settings out of range — The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 3 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use a machine setup sheet template

When setups depend on one experienced setter and the other shifts get a different result.
When the first piece often fails and the setter adjusts until it passes, with nothing written down.
To write down proven settings for each product so the next setup starts from them.
To measure how long setups take against a standard and find the ones to study.
The steps of the changeover itself belong on a changeover checklist. This sheet holds the settings and the proof, not the order of the work.

How to fill it in

1
Name the machine and the changeover
Machine, the product you are coming from and the one you are going to, the setter, the date and the order or lot. Keep one sheet for each machine and product.
2
List the settings that decide the product
Speeds, pressures, temperatures, positions and gaps. Include only what changes the result. A sheet with forty settings does not get filled in.
3
Write a target and a low and high limit
Take them from the drawing, the maker's manual or a proven run. A setting with no range cannot be checked.
4
Set the machine and write what you set
The Excel sheet marks each setting OK or OUT against its limits. On paper, tick OK or write OUT and adjust.
5
Re-check after a short run
Read each setting again once the machine has run. Settings that drift show up here, not at the first set.
6
Measure the first piece and approve it
Measure each characteristic against its limits. Approve the first piece only when every line is OK, and write who approved it and when.
7
Write the two times and the standard
The last good part of the old product and the first good part of the new one. The difference is the setup time. Compare it with the standard and write the log row.

Three sheets, three jobs

How a setup sheet differs from the other changeover documents

They answer different questions. Use all three on the same changeover if you want it both repeatable and short.

Sheet	What it holds	Use it
Machine setup sheet	What the machine must be set to for one product, and the proof it was.	At every setup, for every product.
Changeover checklist	The steps of the changeover in order, who does them and when.	At every changeover, to make sure no step is missed.
SMED worksheet	Where the time goes in a changeover, and what can move outside the stop.	Once, when you are shortening a changeover.

Machine setup sheet
What it holds
What the machine must be set to for one product, and the proof it was.
Use it
At every setup, for every product.
Changeover checklist
What it holds
The steps of the changeover in order, who does them and when.
Use it
At every changeover, to make sure no step is missed.
SMED worksheet
What it holds
Where the time goes in a changeover, and what can move outside the stop.
Use it
Once, when you are shortening a changeover.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example (illustrative): a labeller changing from a 500 ml bottle to a 1 L bottle on 10 November 2026, with a log of ten setups on two machines. The machine, settings and numbers are made up.

The sheet has 8 settings. At the first set one was out of range: the applicator air pressure was set to 2.3 bar against a high limit of 2.2. It was corrected to 2.1 bar by the re-check.
The date coder offset was 12 mm, inside the 11 to 13 range, when it was set. At the re-check it read 13.4 mm, past the 13 limit, and was moved back.
The first piece passed all four checks (label height, skew, date code position and wrinkles), so it was approved.
The last good part of the old product came off at 06:12 and the first good part of the new one at 06:49: 37 minutes against a standard of 30, so 7 over.
In the log of 10 setups the average was 38.4 minutes against an average standard of 36.0. 5 setups were over standard, 7 of 10 had the first piece right the first time (70%), and 8 settings were found out of range in total.
All three setups where the first piece failed the first time ran over standard, and they hold 6 of the 8 out-of-range settings.

The 5 November setup, 17 minutes over standard with three settings out of range, is the one to study first with a SMED worksheet.

Common mistakes

Settings with no range
A single number cannot be checked: the machine will not read exactly 22.0 and the setter will argue over 22.3. Write a target with a low and a high limit.
Writing down what the machine happens to run at
The sheet should say what the machine should run at. Change a limit only with a reason, a trial or a drawing change, and date it.
Skipping the re-check
A setting can be right at the set and drift once the machine is running. The re-check column is where that shows up.
Too many settings
If the sheet holds every parameter on the screen, nobody fills it in. Keep the ones that decide the product and the ones that have caused a bad first piece.
Counting setup minutes from different points
Count from the last good part of the old product to the first good part of the new one every time. Otherwise the minutes cannot be compared.

Download the template

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

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite operators run each changeover as a digital checklist, prep tasks can be assigned automatically 30 minutes before the line stops, a missing tool is tagged from the same screen, and every checklist logs how long each step took.

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