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Using 5S and SMED To Reduce Changeover Time: A Kaizen Case StudyFebruary 1, 2008 Changeover reduction is one of the key concepts of the Toyota Production System. In this article, I will describe a case study based on an actual kaizen event that EMS facilitated. The event dealt with a company in the plastic injection molding business. The company assembled its own final products for the consumer market; thus, the injection molding operation was an internal supplier to the downstream final assembly process. The tools/principles utilized in this event were as follows: 1. SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die). Recall that the three major stages of SMED are:
2. The 5-S System: Sort, Set-in-Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain, which is used to "clear the clouds" and is considered a foundation for many other lean concepts. 3. Standardized Work. The current condition for this particular changeover process was as follows: Average part-to-part changeover: 60 minutes Average number of changeovers/week = 48 The process was video-taped prior to the event. The kaizen team identified the following items as key issues observed:
Using the principles of standardized work, 5S, and SMED, the team instituted the following changes:
Based on the above improvements, the team was able to reduce changeover time from 60 minutes to 15 minutes. This allowed for a significant reduction in inventory: the company was now able to convert storage space to production space for new products. Click here to subscribe to our free e-newsletter Learning to Lean and receive three articles like this one each month. About the Author Darren Dolcemascolo is an internationally recognized lecturer, author, and consultant. As Sr. Partner and co-founder of EMS Consulting Group, he specializes in productivity and quality improvement through lean manufacturing. Mr. Dolcemascolo has written the book Improving the Extended Value Stream: Lean for the Entire Supply Chain, published by Productivity Press in 2006. He has also been published in several manufacturing publications and has spoken at such venues as the Lean Management Solutions Conference, Outsourcing World Summit, Biophex, APICS, and ASQ. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University and an MBA with Graduate Honors from San Diego State University. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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