Location:                 Netherlands

Project:                    Reducing setup time

Industry:                  Food

Products:                 Milk bottling

Project duration:     2 months

Departments:          Production

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Background:           

Individual milk cartons are packed into an outer carton as a package. Changing over to a different carton format, which occurred several times a day, took a production employee 20 minutes. The goal was to reduce the setup time to 5 minutes. ​

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Approach:   

Step 1
Kick-off meeting with the team leader, two packaging specialists, and a colleague from planning to define the scope of the improvement (documentation, camera location, product family, etc.)

Step 2
Recording of the current setup process using a camera to document individual actions and times (including a spaghetti diagram)

Step 3
In an SMED workshop, the team discussed which steps could be combined, simplified, and technically improved. Subsequently, the production planning department was consulted to determine how setup processes could be avoided altogether.

Step 4
The machine was technically retrofitted, and the new procedures and movements were then practiced. The change was evaluated over time using the system.
Step 5
The setup time was reduced to an average of 5–6 minutes within two months.
Step 6

Celebrating the success; no further adjustments were necessary.

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