Setup/Changeover: We Help a Major Food Company Uncover Hidden Savings

In today's struggle to increase revenues while controlling costs, many manufacturers have overlooked the key production process of setup/ changeover, which just might yield immediate savings through manpower reductions, increased equipment utilization and the ability to run smaller lot sizes.

Recently, for example, we helped one major American food manufacturer identify setup/changeover opportunities that paid an unexpected annual savings of $3.4 million.

The setup/changeover process can include the setup of fixturing in a machining process, the changeover of dies in a molding process, or the setup/changeover of equipment for the food processing or pharmaceutical industries. The latest buzz term in this area is "one touch changeover" - the removal, direct repositioning and securing of a new setup fixture, die or equipment with just one motion. It's a motion that can take seconds, versus the familiar and tedious steps of removal, resetting, adjusting and resecuring that can take hours.

How do you convert to swifter changeover? By following the three-step approach we used for this food manufacturer, and that classically results in savings from 50 to 75%. One-quarter of the savings are immediate, with no capital or equipment investment.

Step One:
Record the Setup/Changeover Process
Capture the setup/changeover process in its entirety via video (with a minute/second clock embedded on each video frame), and then flow chart each step to fix your current baseline.

Step Two:
Analyze your Recording
Search for non-value added activities in terms of motion, travel distance, correct tools at the right time, equipment positioning and physical layout.

Step Three:
Restructure/Optimize the Process
Assign industrial engineers time standards for each work element. Flow chart the new process and compare it to the baseline. Write a step-by-step procedure detailing the new setup/changeover process.

In one of this food manufacturer's facilities, for example, it took 34 minutes to changeover a very large extrusion die. After taping and evaluating the process, it was learned an immediate savings was inherent in pre-positioning, and in having the correct tools in the right location. This alone resulted in an immediate savings of 9.25 changeover minutes (25% of the original time) with no investment required. Further evaluation and redesign of the extrusion die mounting method reduced total changeover time to 9.4 minutes. The mounting redesign played a big role in success: This 9-minute changeover process was reduced to 13.5 seconds - essentially one touch changeover.

For this manufacturer - and all companies that embark on these process changes - there was a double bonus. Not only did direct savings occur, but revenues increased because of additional production hours available.

Like so many firms, these hidden process problems had been there since inception - burning the company's precious time and money.

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