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(+)+(+) S.M.I.L.E(sm)
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(+)+(+) Setup Minimization Improves Line Efficiency
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) The Lean Changeover e-letter
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Published monthly by Changeover.com
(+)+(+)
(+)+(+) Written by John R Henry, CPP
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### MARCH 2005
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I hope everyone here will be attending PackExpo in Las Vegas in September.
It is an excellent show in a great town. Besides, would your other half let
you go to Las Vegas unless they thought you were actually working?

If you do go, be sure to sign up for the conference program. Lots of good
presentations on the agenda. I will be presenting a talk on "Calculating
and Cutting the High Cost of Changeover" on Wednesday morning. I hope to
see you there. Stop and say hello.

I'll be at the show all three days and always enjoy meeting my readers. If
anyone would like to get together for a cup of coffee, my cell is 787-550-9650.

For more information on the show and conference, visit
http://pelv2005.packexpo.com/index.shtml

Now I need a favor. My presentation is on how to calculate the costs of
changeover. In the course of the presentation I have some examples of
actual costs provided by some of my clients. Unfortunately, many of them
are as much as 3-4 years old or older. I would be interested from hearing
from any of you that can share your costs with me so I can include some
more current information. I will not identify any companies, I would like
to just give some examples from various industries.

If you can help, e-mail me at johnhenry@...

SOME THOUGHTS ON...
LEAN CHANGEOVER

You may have noticed a change in the name of this newsletter. Let me explain:

The concept of lean manufacturing, if not the name, has been around for
almost 100 years. Even though the benefits and techniques were known and
published, it is only relatively recently that it has begun to be
implemented seriously. There is lots of information out there about it. A
keyword search at Amazon.com will turn up over 800 books on the topic.
Google returns more than a million and a half hits for "lean
manufacturing". If you are not already implementing lean practices and
strategies in your operations, you need to be.

Although there is lots to it, lean manufacturing can be boiled down to a
very simple definition. It is the elimination of waste in all stages of the
manufacturing process. This includes the supply chain as well as the
administrative side of operations.

Over the past six months or so I have come to realize that what I have been
preaching all along is not really quick but lean changeover. The goal
remains the same in both cases, reducing the amount of time that a
production process is stopped. It is the approach that changes. "Quick"
seems to me to indicate doing the same thing but doing it faster. "Lean",
on the other hand, indicates a rethinking of the entire process to reduce
the amount of work involved. By reducing the amount of work required, the
time involved will naturally fall.

A problem often faced in implementing a changeover program is buy-in by the
people involved. Too often mechanics and operators hear "Reduce changeover
time" and think "quick changeover = working harder." In some cases that
will be the truth. Supervisors may insist on a mechanic walking faster to
the toolroom to get a required tool. That's not the solution.

The solution is to eliminate the need to go get the tool, perhaps by having
it permanently stored on the machine. Better than that is to eliminate the
need for the tool altogether by using toolless fasteners such as toggle
clamps or handknobs. Best of all would be to eliminate the need for any
adjustment at all. Instead of repositioning photoeyes, mount multiple eyes,
one for each product and use a selector switch to change between them.

A real life example occurred during a kaizen blitz I facilitated on a tube
filling line. We went through a series of changeovers on the line
identifying and implementing improvements after each one. During one of our
brainstorming sessions someone asked about the order in which the cartoner
adjustments were made. The SOP called first for an adjustment on the right
side of the machine, then the corresponding adjustment on the left side and
so on from infeed to discharge. If there were two people doing it, this was
not a big problem since they would simply work opposite one another.
However, normally one person did the changeover and this involved a lot of
backing and forthing around the end of the line. On the next changeover we
timed it with a stopwatch and found that almost five minutes was spent
walking. Not doing anything productive, just walking. Several of the
mechanics looked carefully at the machine and determined that there was no
real need to perform the adjustments symmetrically. That is, all the
adjustments on the back of the cartoner could be made first, then the
mechanic would walk around the end of the line and make all the adjustments
on the front. This not only saved time, it also eliminated about a quarter
mile of walking per changeover. (Think of it as changeover for lazy people!)

This sounds like a no-brainer and in a way it is. On the other hand, it had
been going on for some time and nobody had ever noticed. At least nobody
had noticed it enough to come up with an improvement. The reason for this
is simple. They were too close to the problem and under too much time
pressure to stop, take a step back and think "There has to be a better
way". Once they had the opportunity to do this in the kaizen blitz, the
solution jumped right out at them.

This illustrates one of the major principles of lean changeover, it
requires a cultural awareness of the problem so that people are thinking
about it. They need to be thinking all the time "How can I make my job
easier?". More importantly It also requires a commitment on the part of
management so that when people do come up with ideas, they are taken
seriously. That does not mean every idea will be implemented. If 3-5 out of
10 ideas turn out to be practical, that is probably a pretty good
percentage. What it does mean is that management will listen to the idea,
consider it, implement it if practical and if not, explain why not.
Anything less will cause people to revert to the same old ways.
So, the concept for this month, lean changeover. Get rid of the fat. Let's
all get skinny!

TIP OF THE MONTH
POSITIONING SCALES

One of the most critical elements of changeover is the ability to establish
and re-establish the same set point time after time after time on all
adjustments. There are a number of techniques that can be help achieve
this. Digital indicators, both mechanical and electronic, work well. They
have the advantage of not needing interpretation since they are have a
digital readout.

When, for various reasons, they are not practical, scales can be a good
alternative. Oregon Rule ( http://www.oregonruleco.com ) makes scales with
adhesive backing so they can be stuck up where needed. They have a wide
range of styles, sizes and gradations so chances are good you will find
exactly what you want.

Another alternative is to purchase machinist scales from a mill supply
house such as Reid Tool or MSC. These can be epoxied or riveted in place.

A couple of things to be careful of when using scales for this purpose:

Use decimal rather than fractional scales. It is much easier to interpret
7.8 than 7-13/16's. It doesn't really matter if the scales are metric or
inch since they are relative, not absolute measurements.

Use the same graduations throughout the line if possible. This makes it for
the mechanics and operators to use them.

Don't forget the pointer. A scale without a corresponding pointer is
nothing more than decoration. Be sure to get the pointer as close to the
scale as possible to avoid problems of parallax and to make sure everyone
reads it the same way.

Develop a chart that shows the proper set points for each adjustment for
each product size.

Standardize on the gradations

Scales are a useful, simple tool. Just be careful not to make them too simple.


BOOK OF THE MONTH...
"Improving Changeover Preformance"

This month I am beginning a new feature. It is often hard to find good
books and I will recommend one of my favorites each month.

There is not much written on changeover improvement. Much of what is
written is focused more on heavier processes. It is sometimes hard to
translate into lighter applications. This book, "Improving Changeover
Performance" by McIntosh, Culley and Owen is one of the few that focus on
the lighter processes such as packaging, printing and small assembly. There
is a lot of good information here. You can find more information and order
the book by going to the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0750650877/changeovercom-20?creative=3276\
41&camp=14573&link_code=as1







Best,

John R Henry CPP

Visit the Quick Changeover website at http://www.changeover.com

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