1 Explain the significance , methodology and advantages of SMED Technique

Answer

SMED stands for Single minute exchange of die. It refers to minimizing the changeover time or the setup
time involved in equipment during process. These processes consist of 2 types- internal setup and
external setup.  Internal setup means work which can be done only when the machine is shut down and
the external means when a machine is running. Our focus should be to minimize the internal setup and
increase external setup to complement the reduction of internal set up activities. i.e. to design the
process where maximum change over activities can be done without shutting down the machine.

Let us take the example of a footwear manufacturing plant. The die will be mounted on the machine for
manufacturing footwears. These dies may have to be changed for different models and may have to be
adjusted if there are any quality issues. So suppose a machine has capacity to mount 30 pairs of footwear
dies. So for changing each pair if we are to stop the machine it would take a lot of time. So our focus
should be to minimize the change over time by suitable mechanism such as single bolt fixing die, i.e. only
one bolt to fix the die.  For removing a die from the machine, the bolt can be loosened while the
equipment is still running and the machine can be shut down only to dismantle and remount of fresh die
and final tightening, adjustments, calibrations and mounting of other accessories and tools can be done
while the machine is still running. Some of the footwear manufacturing machines instead of stopping can
be slowed down for changing the die. This will help in avoiding complete stoppage of the machine and
will save time. So by doing this SMED the machine availability and productivity can be improved. It also
lessens the wastage and improves the efficiency and the machine utilization. This is the significance of
SMED.

The methodology of SMED can be understood by the below 5 steps-

 Identify Pilot Area- Identify the changeover process. Is the duration long ? Are there any scope
for improvement? why the changeover is lengthy ? are the employees trained and familiar with
the processes? what are the bottlenecks in the processes and how it can be removed ? The
answers to all these questions are found out in this step.
 Identify different elements-In this stage the step-by-step procedure of the changeover is noted
and the sequence of work along with the time period also noted down for analysis.
 Separate External and Internal Elements- This step is just categorizing works into external and
internal setup for better understanding so that we can focus on improving internal elements.
 Convert Internal Elements to External Elements- In this step whether an internal work can be
made into an external list find out. Focus is on converting as many internal elements into
external. Which elements and how those elements will be converted is discussed and found out
and is converted after performing a cost analysis i.e whether the cost of converting is favorable
to the current process or not is also found out.
 Streamline Remaining Elements- In this step all the elements are again focused with the
objective of further reducing the time required for completion.  In general terms we can say that
any opportunity for simplifying the process is done.

Some of the Advantages of SMED techniques are-

 Quick response time to demand orders as change over time will be less.
 Better equipment utilization as machine down lime will be less.
 Productivity will be improved and cost of manufacturing will be lowered.
 Less Wastages and leads to improvement in quality
  Reduction in change over costs

2 Why is Poka Yoke Important ? Elaborate on its methodology and relationship with other
Lean Tools

Answer

Poka Yoke is a concept of zero defects. i.e. we can say it is a mistake proofing process which is aimed for
creating zero defects in a process using innovative and simple ideas or devices or practices.

The significance or importance of a poka yoke can be understood by the below example-

Consider a machine which is used to feed raw materials to a conveyor. The machine is man operated.
The machine consists of a movable tray carrying raw material. this tray can be slided using motors
towards the conveyor and the tray should stop at a particular distance from the conveyor for successful
transfer of raw materials. care should be taken as additional movement of tray will lead to collision and
may damage the machine and conveyor and will result in stoppage of production.  As the machine is
operated by human, there can be times when an error happens from the operator.  A small error may
lead to huge repair and maintenance costs. Now consider to avoid this the company installs a limit
switch. A switch such that if the tray moves beyond the permissible distance will trigger an alarm and will
automatically stop the conveyor and the machine. So by using such a simple limit switch the possibility of
mistake can be avoided. This is why a Poka Yoke is important.

The methodology of Poka Yoke can be understood as follows-

 Identify -here the mistakes in the processes all the chance of mistake happening or which will
happen in the future is identified and defined
 Locate the area -here the area where a defect is occurring or will occur is located i.e. the steps of
the process where the error or mistake is happening is found out.
 Observe and record -here the steps where the mistakes are occurring is observed and the
observations about the type and magnitude of mistake is recorded.
 Route cause -here root cause analysis or the “5 Whys”  are performed to reach the root cause of
the problem.
 Identify solution- from the results and findings of a root cause analysis, how it can be overcome
is discussed and found out. here the discussion and a suitable poka yoke technique is identified.
 Implementing Poka Yoke- The poka yoke technique finalized in the previous step is
implemented and the process is observed for checking whether the problem is resolved or not.
 Monitoring and review- the new process with the Poka yoke system is monitored to check for
old and new mistakes. If more errors or defects are existing then again the steps are repeated to
improve the Poka yoke .

Poka yoke Relationship with other tools-

 FMEA- Failure Mode and Effect Analysis is a tool or a concept in which all the components
and steps of processes are studied to identify the potential failure modes in a system. It also
can be used to study the causes and effects of these potential failures. The relationship of
FMEA with Poka Yoke is that the problems which are identified in FMEA can be countered by
using Poka Yoke techniques. Thus successfully error proofing the potential failures.
 Lean- We know that one of the aim of lean is to eliminating wastes. The errors or defects in
a process creates defective products. Defective products means wastage. So to counter this
 wastage and to maintain a successful lean management Poka -Yoke system can be used. In
fact Poka-Yoke is one of the main concept in Lean Management.
 Quality- By using a Poka -Yoke system we can error proof the process and can obtain good
quality products at the first run. i.e there wont be any need for extensive inspection and
need for reworks. This leads to better quality products and help in avoiding the excess cost
for monitoring quality. So the overall cost of the product will decrease which is an advantage
to the company.