Setup Reduction
Setup time is the time elapsed at a work center from when the last good part of the current run is completed until the work center starts running the first good part of the next run.
Among lean techniques, setup reduction is often neglected due to the perception that producing large lots lowers unit cost. Admittedly, with large lots, fixed setup cost is amortized over a large number of units, seemingly reducing unit cost. But the consequences include high inventory and complex scheduling. Most of the related costs disappear into overhead. Other penalties, such as erratic deliveries, are far removed from their fundamental cause and difficult to trace to the source.
Our consultants work with your team to make setup faster, easier, and more predictable. By documenting and analyzing your current process, we can help you remove waste from your changeover process.
Easy setups encourage small lots, and small lots mean more setups, which increase production team confidence and skill. When our clients implement these techniques, they cut their equipment and operations changeover times to minutes. As a result, inventory and storage come down and scheduling becomes easier, with less time between production runs, reduced lag time between orders and delivered goods, heightened ability to produce to order, and less need to produce to stock.
Benefits
Setup reduction measures can give your operation:
- Greater flexibility in dealing with customers’ low-volume, high-variety demands
- Reduced setup times, rejects, rework, and scrap
- Faster throughput, reduced lead times, and lower labor costs
- Rapid deliveries to customers
- Reduced overhead and operating costs
- Improved cash flow
- Increased availability of working capital
- Increased production capacity, through both equipment and employee availability, to satisfy additional orders