Optimizing Setup Process in Manufacturing: A Novel SMED-Based Framework

Abstract

Manufacturing companies strive to economically produce small batches to meet diverse customer demands. However, small batch production often leads to higher setup times and increased unit costs. A common solution to this issue is reducing setup times using the Single-Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) technique. This study introduces a new roadmap for the SMED methodology, incorporating parallel worker utilization. The roadmap consists of two phases: a detailed SMED implementation and a scheduling model integrating parallel workers. This study contributes to the literature by integrating parallel worker scheduling with SMED for the first time and proposing an efficient mathematical model for setup processes. Another key innovation is the model’s ability to account for precedence relationships between setup tasks. The proposed SMED-based roadmap was applied to the setup process of a push-button switch product family in an electrical-electronics company. The setup time was reduced from 67 minutes to 48 minutes through SMED implementation. While SMED reduces non-value-added times, optimizing the makespan requires assigning parallel workers to maximize machine utilization. The developed scheduling model reduced the maximum makespan by about 48%. The application led to reduced setup times and improved work procedures, demonstrating the effectiveness of the new approach.