SMED ? why should you include it in the production?

The purpose of SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die) is to reduce time necessary for the conversion of the machine to less than 10 minutes. However, the actual and optimum target should be to increase the number of changeovers per day. What does such an approach offer?

It allows to produce small batches, which provides greater flexibility and reduces the amount of stocks filling the shelves. Another advantage is the limited number of failures related to the storage and transportation of goods to the warehouse. Thanks to shorter changeover times, we may respond to current orders more quickly. SMED reduces the number of errors connected with changeover and the number of trial runs necessary to produce a new elements.

Upon completion of the implementation process of SMED, the whole changeover procedure gets simplified and well-organized, which has positive impact on the safety of operators. It also significantly reduces the risk of accidents at work.

Thanks to applying the SMED technique, it is possible to find a weak link in the production process. It may be a group of machines or a single device, whose changeover is dramatically too long or which have problems with maintaining the required quality parameters.

SMED was designed to streamline the production process. Its permanent, not single application guarantees flexibility and competitiveness in the market.