SMED / Quick Tool Changing
Is your company a lean, mean production machine? Would you pass the Premitec quick changeover efficiency challenge?
The undisputed masters of quick changeover are the Formula 1 pit stop teams. Racing the stop watch, they manage to change all four tyres, refuel and adjust the suspension in around 10 seconds!
Single Minute Exchange Of Die (SMED) advice from Premitec could see your manufacturing operation work as efficiently as the Formula 1 mechanics, thanks to quick tool changing to reduce the down time in your manufacturing process. SMED is vital to any company that produces a variety of products on a single machine or production line.
Sadly SMED does not mean that all quick changeovers will only take a minute, but should take less than ten minutes – a single digit number – hence the name.
Engineer Dr Shigeo Shingo is widely acknowledged as the genius behind the quick tool changing concept of SMED. When working as a consultant to the automotive industry in the 1950’s and 60’s, he identified that lengthy tool changeover times caused production bottlenecks. The process is known as the Single Minute Exchange Of Die because when analysing production at Toyota, dies were the most difficult and time consuming tools to change. However Fredrick Winslow Taylor was the first to recognize the importance of quick tool changing and the notion of SMED. Considering his observations were made as early as the Nineteenth Century, isn’t it about time your firm caught up with his forward thinking?
Dr Shingo’s systematic analysis of production systems have made a massive contribution to modern manufacturing efficiency. SMED reduced Toyota’s tool changing process time from up to 3 days to a mere hour and a half! Toyota eventually adopted a “just in time” production model which continues to lie at the heart of their operation today.
With expert SMED quick changeover advice from Premitec, your manufacturing operation could enjoy a similar streamlining revolution! In the current economic climate, SMED is more relevant than ever, with the potential to save you time and money and so increase your profit. SMED is key to your competitive advantage, ensuring you maximise production up time and enjoy greater manufacturing flexibility to meet customer demand, whilst also improving Health & Safety!
Contact Premitec NOW on 0845 0066 210
We can’t guarantee Formula 1 glamour but we will put you on the right road to a winning performance break through…!