SMED

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SMED (Single minute exchange of die) is a methodology developed by Shigeo Shingo. Single minute refers to single digit changeover times of less than 10 minutes. There are many documented examples from companies that have seen reductions from hours to minutes.

Customers today are more demanding than ever before and have a variety of supplier options both domestically and globally. This is forcing manufacturers to become more and more flexible to their increasing demands. One of the ways in which companies are tackling this challenge is through a focused effort in reducing the amount of downtime in the factory. The challenge today is that changeovers are justified by long runs or batches. The lean mind understands that the only way to effectively increase throughput and reduce lead-time is to continuously drive out waste. And changeovers although necessary are full of wasteful activity.

Once changeover times are reduced the organization is then able to deliver smaller batches more frequently satisfying more customers and reducing the amount of expensive real estate required to house the extra inventory.

Through our approach we will teach you and your organization how to reduce your changeover and develop standard work to ensure the benefits are realized throughout the organization.

Key Course Deliverables

• Understand the principles of reducing set-up times.
• Identify and implement improvements in all set-up activity.
• Develop standard procedures for internal and external activities.
• Translate the benefits gained from reduced set-up time.

Course Duration:
 
The SMED activity runs 4 days per event following the Kaizen format. Team sizes can vary but usually are between 6 and 8. A Train the Trainer option is available with this course.

Contact us today if Speed to Solution is important to you!