Process improvement: performance analysis of

the setup time reduction-SMED in the

automobile industry
What is Single Minute Exchange of Dies(SMED)?
The SMED system is a theory and set of techniques that make possible to perform
equipment setup and changeover operations under 10 minutes. SMED improves setup
process and provides a setup time reduction up to 90% with moderate investment
Also known as quick changeover or rapid changeover, SMED forms an integral part of
LEAN manufacturing under analysis & improvement techniques. Rapid changeover is a
fundamental technique for attaining just-in-time (JIT) production and for addressing the
issues of quality, flexibility and responsiveness

SMED was developed by Shigeo Shingo in 1985, a Japanese industrial engineer who was
extraordinarily successful in helping companies dramatically reduce their changeover
times. His pioneering work led to documented reductions in changeover times averaging
94%.

There are 4 purposes of improvement- easier, better, faster and cheaper. These 4 goals appear in order of priority - Shigeo Shingo
 Why Single Minute Exchange of Dies(SMED) is required?
Need for shorter setup times has increased across all types of industries. Changing
market demands brings high demands on flexibility and costs- Flexibility and
responsiveness to customer demands are very important for success
Challenge in meeting demands for customised variants with decreasing
order/delivery sizes (as seen in just-in-time)
Short delivery times and a high delivery reliability. The most efficient way to
accomplish this is to have short lead times in production. Otherwise, the only
solution left is to provide inventories of the end products, which are large and
costly.

Requirements for implementing SMED-

Strategy and high-level plans are important; however, the most important and
difficult aspect is implementation.
Respect of all employees is one of the fundamental principles behind the
implementation else no employee would be willing to improve the company
 Understanding SMED process -

Internal and External Set-up time

Internal setup- The setup operation that can be done only when the machine is shut
down (attaching or removing the dies)

External setup- The setup operation that can be done when the machine is still running.
These operations can be performed either before or after the machine is shut down
Steps for implementing SMED-

Step 1: Separating internal and external setup

Step 2: Converting internal setup to external setup
Step 3: Streamlining all aspects of the setup operation
 SMED approach frame work
 SMED methodology

Stage 1: Planning Strategy

The Manufacturing execution system (MES) should be directly coupled to the
planning system to accept work orders properly informed about plant
activities such as labour data, inventory changes, and work order progress.

Work Station and Material Movement: manage delivery of inventory,

tooling, and data in response to the Bill of Material requirements and will
issue and execute commands to move the required items to the planned
WorkStation.

Stage 2: Recognize External and Internal process steps

Brain storming among the shop floor workers will give improvement ideas.
During this stage, all activities must be analysed based on whether they can
be accomplished while the machine is running or not. These activities can be
categorized using video recordings and process flow diagrams
 SMED methodology

Stage 3: Separate External work and Internal Work

The main step after recognizing external and internal activities is to move the
external work either at the beginning or the end of the changeover.
The next task mainly concentrates on standardizing internal activities to distribute
the task uniformly among the operators involved.
The activities which have no value or importance can be directly eliminated.

Stage 4: Shift Internal Work to External Work.

This stage mainly deals with the improvement in the classification of activities i.e.
Maximum works are converted into external work by research of all activities and
design modifications which involves tool modification, tool standardization,
magnetic fixtures, clamps, butterfly nuts etc. These are few techniques that reduce
setup time to some extent.

Stage 5: Streamline all other activities

At this stage, both external and internal activities are optimized. Internal tasks are
mainly optimized by technical efforts and solutions. Some of the ways to optimize
the internal tasks are implementing parallel operations, use of magnetic clamps,
increasing efficiency and accessibility of different machine components,
modification of machine and tools to help on internal tasks.
 SMED methodology

Notes:

Reduction of internal time is more preferred than the external time because the
reduction in external time does not affect the total changeover time reduction
whereas the optimization of internal time brings about the total setup time
reduction

Proper training of workers play an important role in changeover process which

results in good amount of changeover time reduction and also these workers
should get the training of new methodology.

One of the technique for guaranteeing that the each task has properly
performed is to set checklist which checks each task performed either before
changeover or after changeover.
 Set-up analysis chart can be used to document and analyze the SMED process
Each step is numbered and changeover element is recorded with durations
Changeover elements are categorized into- Internal, External or Waste
Against each element we provide an improvement plan which enlist goal- whether to
eliminate that element or change it from internal to external activity or reduce duration
Based on this process Pareto analysis can also be done to find out activity where most
of the time is being spent, which further gives us insight to reduce time.
 Performance measuring of SMED with process capability analysis (PCA)

Statistical techniques can be helpful throughout the product cycle, including

development activities prior to manufacturing, in quantifying & analysing process
variability & its elimination
A process capability study usually measures functional parameters on the
product by collection of data through observations & comparing it relative to the
established specification limits presented by the designer
Process capability analysis can be represented by using the process capability
index. Different capability indices have been developed in order to receive a
numerical measure of the capability. These indices represent dimensionless
functions of process parameters and product specifications and are designed to
provide easily understood numerical values of the performance of the process.

Process capability index- Cp, Cpk- To check stability of the process

Process capability indices are used to measure the ability of an in-control process to
manufacture products within the specified tolerance presented by the product
designers or customers.
Various process capability indices like Cp, Cpm, Cpk, Cpmk are used to describe the
performance of a process, relative to the established specification limits presented by
the designer by comparing observations against design data.
 CASE-1 CASE-2 CASE-3

Case-1: Cp>1 and observations centered around mean- Process is stable

Case-2: Cp<1 and observations centered around mean but extend permissible limits- Unstable

Case-3: Cp>1 but observations not centered around mean- We see Cpk to comment- Cpk<1-
Process is Unstable (defects not under tolerance limits)

Cpm & Cpmk- Provides indications for both the process variability and deviation of the process
mean from the target value
 Examples of SMED implementation

TOYOTA case study

Toyota found that the most difficult tools to change were the dies on the large transfer-
stamping machines that produce car vehicle body parts. The dies which must be
changed for each model weigh many tons, and must be assembled in the stamping
machines with tolerances of less than a millimetre, otherwise the stamped metal will
wrinkle, if not melt, under the intense heat and pressure.
When Toyota engineers examined the change-over, they discovered that the established
procedure was to stop the line, let down the dies by an overhead crane, position the dies
in the machine by human eyesight, and then adjust their position with crowbars while
making individual test stampings. The existing process took from twelve hours to almost
three days to complete.
Toyota's first improvement was to place precision measurement devices on the transfer
stamping machines, and record the necessary measurements for each model's die.
Installing the die against these measurements, rather than by human eyesight,
immediately cut the change-over to a mere hour and a half
 Formula 1 case study

Preparation before the stop is key

The whole crew discuss and clarify their targets the night before the race. A few laps before the
car pits the crew receive warning and get into the right mindset.
Use precise locations for everything
The car drives in and stops in a precisely marked position. This ensures it is jacked straight up with
no time lost adjusting positions.
Follow a standardised procedure
These exist for all common scenarios; wheel change, nose cone replacement, punctures,
cleaning rubbish from the air intakes and adjusting the wings to alter downforce.
On race day there is no tinkering with the procedure. Trying different methods and tooling only
takes place in controlled sessions back at the factory.
Adapt the equipment
The most frequently damaged parts are designed with quick changeovers is mind. On the nose
cone a quick release catch is used instead of multiple sets of time consuming bolts.
The front and rear jacks have quick release levers as no powered device can be used. The front
jack also has a swivel feature that enables the jack man to move out of the way quicker,
speeding up car release.
In 1950s it took 67 seconds to change 4 wheels and add fuel
In the 1990s, when refuelling was still allowed, pit stops had shrunk to 7 seconds
Ever since the refuelling ban the wheel change element has reduced from 4s to 2s Presently