Setup Reduction

Setup is the time we spend when we change the product that we run on a
resource.

For example, cleaning a machine when moving from one product to another or
cleaning the working table in a bakery when moving from one flour to another.

In many organizations the setup is a complete waste of resources and time since
there is no production during setup. The longer the setup, the more money we
lose since we could have used that time to make products that we can sell.

Before we start talking about how to reduce setup let’s start with how much
money we save. Setup reduction might consume more resources, so we need to
see how much money we save first.

How much money cost a setup?

During a setup we keep spending money. We keep paying salaries to all
employees (employees who are part of production and all employees in our
organization), we keep paying rent, and we keep paying everything else except
direct costs such as those of energy and raw materials. So we can sum up the
cost of a setup:

Setup cost = Hours spend X Average Contribution per

hour of production

Average contribution per hour of production is a value that most financial

departments hold. It means how much net money we make per hour of
production. It is usually calculated as the price that the customer pays us minus
the direct cost per product such as energy and raw materials (not employees’
salaries which we will pay regardless of whether we produce or whether the tool
is idle).

How do we calculate it:

 Average contribution per hour of production = sales per hour of
production – raw material cost per hour of production – energy cost per hour of
production

Now we know how to calculate the money we are losing for every hour the tool
is not producing. We need to prove that we will get at least $5 back for every
dollar we put in a setup reduction improvement. (Usually we will get $10-100
back). The reason is that we will not always be able to sell all the extra products
that we will produce in the saved hours. And no one will argue the cost if you
can prove that you get 5-times more.

What gives us the value in setup reduction?

The down time when the tool doesn’t produce is the time we want to reduce, as
that’s the time when we lose money.

How to reduce setup time

By using the SMED (single minute exchange of die) method (I will elaborate
later) we can reduce the downtime by one (preferably all) of the following:

1. Changing the sequence of the actions we take during the setup. The idea is to
do most of the work before we stop the tool or after we start the tool, so that
the downtime will be as short as possible. We are not looking to reduce the
overall setup time, but to reduce the time the tool doesn’t produce. That might
seem a little difficult, but I will explain more.
2. Reducing the time for each action – the idea is to find a way to reduce a
specific action and make it shorter. For example, if we need to calibrate a
packing tool for a specific product, we can do it manually which takes time or
use a predefined object that makes it easy for us to get to the right position and
saves time.
3. Adding more people to the setup by increasing the number of people who
work on the setup in parallel
What is SMED?
You can read about the history of SMED here.

The idea behind this method is to find all the steps needed for a setup and
decide whether every step is internal time or external time. When a tool is
producing, we make money; when a tool is not producing, we lose money.

So we define those terms:

Internal time – the time that costs us money. The time the machine is not
producing.

External time – the time before we stop the tool and after we start the tool.
This time is part of the setup, but we continue production, therefore we don’t
lose production time and money during external time.

The idea is to move actions in a setup from internal time to external time.

For example: Cleaning the floor after setup. Usually this is one of the last
actions we do in a setup. If we keep the tool idle then this is an internal time. If
we start the production on the tool and then we clean the floor then this is an
external time that we don’t lose money on.

One of the best example of well crafted SMED is changing tires during a car race.
The technical crew is doing a lot of preparation before the car enters the pit. The
actual time that the car is idle is seconds and when it leaves the pit the technical
crew is doing all the cleaning. So, the internal time that the race car is in the pit
 is only seconds although the setup process with all the preparation might be 10-
20 minutes. All the preparation and cleaning is done in external time when the
car is racing.

Actions such us bringing tools or materials and cleaning the tool area are usually
very easy to move from internal to external time. I will add more examples in a
future post.

shortening the steps of setup

We now understand the importance of moving internal time actions to external
time. The next thing to do is shorten the time that each step takes as much as
possible and especially for internal time steps. We can do so by using one or
more of these options:

1. Use (sometimes customized) dedicated tools that can help do the task
much faster, more easily, and more precisely. For example, use a lifting tool
instead of lifting manually, or use an air hammer to open screws. It is much
faster and doesn’t cost much. Use transport carts for transport instead of going
back and forth, and so on. There are many videos on YouTube that offer setup
ideas. (I will add them in a future post.) Here is an example of fast opening and
closing clamps:

2. Use better cleaning tools and materials. Chances are that your
organization has the same tools as others in the world. A look on the internet will
reveal that someone has invented a better way to clean your tool. Since you
might need to buy materials or tools, you can easily calculate the time and
money you will save (use the above equation). If the saving is 5-times the cost
of the new material, no one will say no to you. Just order samples first.

3. Use prepared kits:

Instead of looking for tools and materials you need during the expensive internal
time prepare a kit of tools during external time.

How? Make a list of all the tools and small materials you will need during setup.
Put all the tools and materials you will need in a predefined order on a transport
cart that can get near the machine. That way nothing will be missed and if you
are working on a large machine, you will be able to carry the tools with you.
4. Fast tuning – when setting up for a new product, we need to do a lot of tuning.
Some of the tuning is mechanical and some are parameters in the machine and
the controllers.

Tuning parameters in the machine and controllers – instead of manually updating

the parameters we can usually broadcast the parameters to the tool or the
controller. That way we can always start with the best parameters and don’t
need to waste time on manually entering data. This method allows us to take the
best machine operator and start producing with his parameters for all shifts. If
we will find a better parameter, we can update it only once and every shift will
get it, not depending on a single man.

Mechanical tuning – many times we will need to tune a machine part manually
since we do it manually, not through a computer.

For example, in a packing machine we need to adjust the machine to fit

different thicknesses of wrapping paper. In most tools we can use predefined
places that we will use while we tune the machine. We can use a simple ruler
with holes (as in the picture) or one of the many ideas on the internet. The idea
is not to look for the correct measure for each product setup, but to use
predefined holes that will be accurate and let us reach the optimum in less time.

Increase the number of participants in every setup

The following video shows how the same task is done with a different number of
people on the team. We can see how the internal time depends on the number
of crew members.

You don’t have to use more crew members to have a better setup, but it is a
very powerful setup reduction tool.

We can use other operators in the shift to help us do the setup (if they don’t
have to be near their tools). The other choice is to have a setup crew. If by
reducing the setup time you save 10-times their salary, then it is an easy sell to
management (that is why I started with money calculations). When using a
setup crew you need to balance their work. The work needs to be in parallel as
much as possible. I used the following Ghant chart for a more balanced workload
and minimal internal time.

Summary
Setup reduction is a great tool to allow your organization to produce more with
the same resources. If your organization has never gone through a setup
reduction process, you can expect 25-75% of tool downtime due to setup. If you
are implementing a setup crew, expect to have downtime shorter by at least
50%.