Abstract
Flexibility is one key characteristic of a lean production process. In order to be flexible, one needs to be able to switch very quickly from producing a product A to a product B. Set-up reduction is therefore one of the key enablers for Lean Production. The basic method for reducing set-up times - the SMED method - has been published almost 20 years ago by the Japanese IE Shigeo Shingo. Nowadays, a lot of companies are still not familiar with the SMED principles and struggle with long set-up times while considering set-ups as a given. Others think of set-up reduction as a problem that can only be solved with technical modifications. After briefly reviewing the SMED method, we will focus in this presentation on organizational and method aspects of set-up reduction. These play an essential role in the set-up reduction effort. We will show that technical modifications don't guarantee an optimal set-up method. Next we will point out how organizational and method issues can be resolved with common sense and low cost improvements. We will show several real life examples from different set-up reduction projects to illustrate the presented concepts and ideas.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | IIE Annual Conference and Exhibition 2004 |
Pages | 5521-5555 |
Publication status | Published - 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | IIE Annual Conference and Exhibition 2004 - , United States Duration: 15 May 2004 → 19 May 2004 |
Conference
Conference | IIE Annual Conference and Exhibition 2004 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
Period | 15/05/04 → 19/05/04 |