What is a Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)?

SMED is one of the tools of lean manufacturing to reduce process changeover time of different processes and easy to understand SMED tool & implement in any organization. Lean manufacturing is a huge concept to understand and implement in any organization. Each lean tool is co-related with the other. SMED is a concept related to minimizing changeover for process optimization & productivity improvement purpose.

Now a day’s when we conduct drives for improvement initially start with analyzing the process with the help of work-study & its different tools like OPC, FPC, Two-handed process chart & multiple activity charts. These are the work-study tools that give an overview of different processes & Exact ideas to implement which tools for detailed process analysis. 6 ‘S’ methodology, kaizen, Poka-yoke, and SMED tools are implemented after conducting a work-study.

What do you learn from this article?

• Basic History.
• What is SMED?
• Importance of time study in SMED Implementation.
• Types of SMED Activity.
• Practical SMED Implementation Guide.
• Why SMED study is important?
• Important parameters for SMED Implementation.
• Benefits of SMED Study.

History of SMED

SMED Concept was developed by: – Shigeo Shingo – he is an industrial engineer.

Year of SMED concept developed – 1950 to 1960

First applied in – Toyota Manufacturing.

What is a Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)?

A single minute of exchange dies means identifying possibilities to minimize each changeover time in single digits means less than 10 minutes. Nowadays SMED is applied in many industries. In many small-scale industries several possibilities to minimize changeovers but due to improper awareness & improper implementation guidelines many industries are not able to implement SMED Concept.

Understanding time study is important to implement SMED Concept.

Yes, the role of time study is very important during SMED implementation. Time study is a technique of work measurement & measure each process on a timely basis. In the SMED implementation stage, our first step is to study the processes with the help of work measurement.

What is the type of SMED activity?

The activity of processes can be categorized into two parts in the SMED concept as per listed below.

1. Internal Activity – Changeover performed when process or machine is idle.
2. External Activity – Changeover performed parallel to process or machine running.

In a practical implementation of the SMED concept conduct a time study or video time study as per requirements. The next step is separate time study activity into internal & external activities. Our final target for SMED implementation is to convert internal activities into external activities. Review the attached image as per listed below.

Practical SMED Implementation Guide

1. Identify areas or processes required to minimize changeover.
2. Conduct the time study or video time study of processes as per requirement.
3. Analyze the time study individual activities & separate them into internal activity & external activity.
4. Identify possibilities to convert internal activity into external activity.
5. Review the processes & ensure minimize the internal activity from processes.
6. Standardize Updated Process.
7. Train the process performer to use the updated processes.

Why SMED implementation is necessary

Many organizations focused to improve production on day to day basis but very few are successful to achieve targeted results. Important things to make resources as it is & improve production output. Most of the organization’s line products change multiple times as per its requirements & facing a number of changeover issues during production.

Most of the changeover required to perform due to machine design issues. Many industries do not have a structural system to monitor & capture change over time. If we put changeover time Vs production time on paper, then we realize where we need to focus & implement the SMED concept.

Review the attached diagram to clearly understand what is the effect of each changeover meanwhile the production line is running.

As shown in the image majority of observers conducted a study of SMED on a random basis they count the number of setups or changeovers & their multiplication with the time required per changeover. Practically when a changeover happened run-down period & run-up period also play a key important role during each changeover.

After the changeover, each line or machine takes a certain time to maintain its original operating speed. Now hope you understand why minimizing changeover is necessary & implement the SMED method to minimize process or machine changeover.

Important key parameters for SMED Implementation.

• Determine the changeover function & think about how it is necessary.
• Review each changeover step & understand why it’s needed.
• Review the skill level required to perform the changeover.
• Ask questions as to why it is necessary to perform this way.
• Identified no of conditions for repetitive adjustments.
• Identified possibilities to use the latest technology or latest tools in SMED study.

Key benefits of SMED Study.

• Improve productivity to reduce the ratio of changeover time vs actual production time.
• Reduce machine downtime.
• Minimize waste from processes.
• Improve overall equipment effectiveness.
• Possibilities to provide on-time delivery.

Review the attached excel template of the SMED study. A template is the same as a time study – the only difference is activity bifurcation in internal as well as external & key task of a single minute of exchange dies (SMED) study is transferred from internal activities to external activities.

Now, in the concluding steps of the SMED study review the attached summary detail & conduct a current and proposed study of processes and fill in the summary detail. After the current and proposed study calculates internal activity difference, that is a time saving of SMED study.