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Case Studies
Key Achievements
- Based on the initial action plan the next time the component was run it showed a saving of 35%.
- The time generated by reducing set up time can be directly translated into increased sales for the business, and increases the labour and overhead recovery against the installed capacity.
- The company managers have decided to roll-out the methodology internally using their newly trained team, a team who now have an excellent example of the SMED tools and techniques in practice.
Jon Cave, Managing Director :
“The project provided the following benefits
Raised awareness of the cost of set ups in the business with a shop floor team.
A good buy in from the shop floor was achieved from the evidence gathered.
Ongoing savings are now possible following shop floor data collection activities this highlights problem jobs.
Analytical methods learned have also been adopted in solving other production issues.
A sustainable team has been formed and will be a great advantage to the company’s success going forward.
We believe that lean activities will be essential in the difficult trading conditions predicted for 2009, to ensure the survival of the company.”
Helander Precision Engineering Ltd
Helander Precision Engineering Ltd produce high quality, precision engineered parts from specialist alloys for a variety of customers in relatively small batches.
Background
Due to the small size of the batches, Helander spend a large amount of time setting up their CNC machining centres even for repeat orders. The company had identified that one way to increase sales potential was to reduce the time taken on set-ups as a proportion of the overall cycle time for the parts, and asked SWMAS to re-launch a SMED (Single Minute Change of Die) programme to reduce the set-up times.
Scope
The aim of the proposed SWMAS project was to work with a team of 3 supervisors and managers to review SMED plans, re-launch set-up time reduction activities through training sessions then support the middle-management team by assisting in the implementation of SMED on a pilot project.
Method
The team used a decision matrix to identify which area to pilot SMED on to generate the best financial benefit. A typical component was selected, and changeover times for 5 operations were graphed across 4 different set-ups against the internal standard.
A video was taken of the set up, and the team created a “spaghetti map” to show the distance travelled. The team observed the tasks involved in setting up the machine for the job using a standard pro-forma. The total distance traveled by the setter/operator was close to ½ a mile.
A pie chart was used to highlight internal and external times – actual cutting time represented 12% of the total time. A flow chart describing the method was developed.
Based on the video the issues around the set up time were analysed using a fishbone diagram and 8 top issues were prioritised – most of the issues related to retrieval of tools and information.(Workplace organisation & preparation)
Action plans were developed using the PDCA (Plan Do Check Act) format and regularly followed up.
Single point lessons were developed to communicate key points.
A line side key performance indicators board showing daily set up times was installed with a flipchart for daily reviews of the variation against standard.
A rollout plan to spread the lessons learned to other operations across the company was developed.
No. Employees: 60 employees
Location: Tewkesbury - Gloucestershire
Date: January 2009
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