SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies) or One-Touch Exchange of Die (OTED), Types of Setup Time, Internal and External Set-up, Implementation of SMED

SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies)

A system designed to reduce the amount of time to perform a changeover or setup

• Ideally, set-up time should be anything less than 10 minutes
• Focus on the Process, not the Technology

• SMED should be inexpensive, well planned

• Well practiced, well executed

• Should be Standard

• Decreased set-up time

• Reduces the need for inventory, 

• Provides more flexibility & capacity, 

• Enables us to better serve our customer

Shigeo Shingo (wrote the book on SMED…) believed that

                                - Any set-up time can be reduced by 59/60ths!

Toyota, using SMED, reduced setup time from DAYS to THREE minutes

There are two types of setup time

Internal Set-up

• Activities that must be performed while the machine is shut down, Such as removing dies & tooling

External Set-up

• Activities that are performed while the machine is operating, such as Preparing tooling for the next set-up

Steps to Implementing SMED

1. Observe & document the current set-up
2. Separate Internal & External elements
3. Convert (where possible) Internal activities into External ones
4. Improve each element
5. Observe and document the new set-up process
6. Standardize the new set-up procedure
7. Celebrate your success!!