Set Up Time Reduction (SMED)

This is one of those topics that in my experience can have many names i.e.

• Set Up Reduction
• Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)
• Change Over Reduction
• Process Time Reduction

What are we talking about? Set Up Time is defined as the time from when the last good piece is produced through to when the first good piece is produced at optimum speed.

In a previous article I listed Change Over (or Set Up) times as 1 of the 6 Equipment Losses to be addressed during a Lean Thinking Implementation.

What are the benefits of Set Up Time Reduction?

• Flexibility to respond quickly to changing market demand
• Reduced leadtimes
• Reduced stock levels and possibly batch sizes
• Reduced start up wastes
• Lower skills required by simplifying the process
• Higher production output
• Increased ownership by operators

For me the epitome of quick changeovers

is a motor racing pit crew.

How can such a small team fill up with fuel,

change brake pads and tyres in less than

10 seconds safely?

Often the performance of this small team

is the difference between winning or losing

the race.  How do they do it?

The principles are no different to the process you can follow, namely:

• Observe and document the current practices before, during and after a change over
• Identify what currently happens when production/processing is stopped (Internal activities)
• Look at what happens now when production/processing is stopped and make it a task that can be done before the process stops or after the process is underway again (if possible).  In other words, look at what tasks are currently Internal to the change over and make them External if possible.

Often these simple steps can make a huge difference (50% or more reduction) to the time lost to changeovers and with little investment except for some time.

This reduction in Set Up times can enable batch size reductions of at least the same amount.

The impact of these 2 changes will dramatically reduce customer leadtimes.

If the improvements are not enough to reach the desired level of performance the next steps would be to:

• Streamline the remaining items that happen when the process is stopped
• Eliminate the need for adjustments

Often these 2 steps may require more investment.

As always Set Up Time Reduction works in conjunction with other Lean Thinking Best Practices like 5S, Visual Performance Measures. Theory of Constraints etc.

In relation to the Theory of Constraints don’t forget that the focus of any Set Up Reduction program must always start with your bottleneck or constraint processes to get maximum impact.

Lastly, keep in mind that these principles are just as valid in admin/office areas as they are in production.  How much time is lost during a day for office staff related to switching from working on one process to another?