Year after year, the market is growing and competition is increasing. If companies want to stay afloat, they need to become more competitive.
Becoming competitive means creating a flow in production, increasing machine availability, responding faster and with greater flexibility to customer demand.
What usually happens when you want to respond to customer demand with more flexibility, you will be wasting money with small lots that are not economic, right? Wrong. You have to change your mindset. If your customer wants smaller batches, how can you provide that? By decreasing the cost of changing productions, i.e. decreasing setup times – SMED is the tool for that.
SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die) is a tool consisting of 5 steps developed by Shigeo Shingo, a consultant for automotive companies.
Before going into the 5 steps we need to understand the difference between internal and external work.
Internal work is what you can perform only when the machine is stopped. For example, removing the tool from the machine.
External work is what you can do while the machine is running. For example, grabbing all the tools you will need to perform the setup.
SMED 5 steps
Step 1: Study the process
Study the process. Analyze the whole setup from the last good piece of the previous reference until the first good piece of the next reference. Create spaghetti diagrams, record the time of each task, understand which tools are being used, notice every waste of the process.
Classify every task into internal or external.
Step 2: Internal vs External work
Separate internal from external work. Every external task that was being performed with the machine not running will now be performed either before we stop the machine, or after.
Step 3: Convert Internal work
Convert internal work into external work. If you are assembling your tool while the machine is not running, pre-assemble while it is still running.
Step 4: Reduce Internal Work
Reduce internal work. Use quick tightening tools and eliminate adjustments.
Step 5: Reduce External Work
Reduce external work. Create setup kits, so every time you start a setup everything is ready for you and you don’t need to waste time preparing.
Reduce external work. Create setup kits, so every time you start a setup everything is ready for you and you don’t need to waste time preparing.
Try to implement this methodology and let us know by how much you have reduced your setup time! If you are curious about how we can help you to keep a digital record of your maintenance tasks and how to reduce downtimes, sign up now.
