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IJQRM
18,4
404
Received April 2000
Revised November 2000
International Journal of Quality &
Reliability Management,
Vol. 18 No. 4, 2001, pp. 404-414.
# MCB University Press, 0265-671X
http://www.emerald-library.com/ft
Prerequisites for the
implementation of the SMED
methodology
A study in a textile processing
environment
Claire Moxham and Richard Greatbanks
Manchester School of Management, UMIST, Manchester, UK
Keywords Textile industry, Teamwork, Process control, Single minute exchange of die
Abstract Discusses the practical application of the single minute exchange of die (SMED) within a
textile processing operation. First, the operational environment is presented, and the SMED
application is considered against a changing business requirement. The current approaches to
SMED are then discussed within the context of traditional textile manufacture. The prerequisite
requirements for successful SMED application, defined in this paper as SMED-ZERO, are then
presented and discussed. Concludes by suggesting that all of the SMED-ZERO attributes must be in
place before the traditional SMED techniques can be applied successfully.
Introduction
Shingo (1985) developed the single minute exchange of die (SMED) technique
over a period of 19 years, beginning in 1950. Shingo's technique refers to both
the theory, and the practice of simplifying and improving operational set-up
activities to under ten minutes' total duration. The requirement for SMED
stems from the difficulties encountered in manufacturing environments from
diversified, low volume production. These difficulties are essentially the
increased number of machinery set-ups required to produce a variety of goods
in small batch sizes. SMED theory (Shingo, 1985, p. 33) states that, even if the
frequency of the set-ups cannot be reduced, the actual downtime caused by
machinery specification changes can be greatly reduced, thus providing an
increase in available production capacity. Shingo therefore pronounces that:
SMED can be applied in any factory, to any machine, and that the first stage of
implementation is separating internal and external set-up (Shingo, 1985).
An important first step in Shingo's method is to classify set-up activities into
two distinct categories: internal set-up, which can only be performed when a
machine is stopped, and external set-up, which can be conducted while a
machine is in operation. This traditional stance of Shingo's method is
illustrated in Figure 1.
Shingo's method was developed in the 1950s. The first step of differentiating
internal activities from external has largely been taken at face value. Indeed
there is little evidence within the current literature that suggests that the initial
concept of SMED, as defined by Shingo, in this period has ever been anything
 Implementation
of the SMED
methodology

405

Figure 1.
SMED conceptual stages

other than accepted in its entirety. The research, upon which this paper reports,
sets out to challenge this accepted starting position that, in the words of
Shingo, the first stage of SMED is ``. . . the separating of internal and external
set-up'' (Shingo, 1985).
This study, undertaken within an industrial textile processing operation and
reported within this paper, suggests that there are a number of prerequisites
that need to be in place prior to Shingo's initial implementation phase.
Attempts to implement SMED within a traditional textile processing operation,
the focus of this study, support the view that the SMED technique, as it stands
in Shingo's method (Figure 1), can be ineffective due to cultural, procedural and
management barriers, and that overcoming such barriers may be classified as
the prerequisites to SMED.
This paper outlines and attempts to develop the SMED methodology to
incorporate the prerequisites that have been identified. Shingo's original technique
will be modified and the prerequisites included as an additional stage ± SMED-
ZERO.

The manufacturing operation

The case study company, Y&N Textiles Ltd[1], is a small to medium-sized
enterprise (SME) based in Ayrshire, Scotland. The business was established in
1778 chiefly for the manufacture of industrial fishing nets and diversified into
the processing of industrial textiles in 1977. The business is now divided
between the manufacture and treatment of industrial fishing nets and the
IJQRM processing of yarn for use in the carpet industry. The study has focused on the
18,4 textile side of the business, which employs 170 people over a continuous three-
shift system.
Y&N Textiles Ltd does not own any of the raw material it processes and
therefore offers its capacity as a service on a commission basis. Such processes
comprise twisting, heat setting and air entangling. The customer, the
406 commission carpet tufting plant, generally owns the raw material. The
majority of this raw material is bulked continuous filament nylon (BCF), which
is destined for use in residential and commercial carpets. In some cases the raw
material stocks are held at Y&N Textiles Ltd on behalf of the carpet
manufacturer. The added value of the services provided by Y&N Ltd is
considerably less than the cost of the raw material.
Since Y&N Textiles Ltd was established in 1977, the majority of yarn
processed has been destined for the residential carpet market (i.e. for use in the
home) with the remainder being for commercial carpet (i.e. for bespoke corporate
use). The major issue for Y&N Ltd is that the residential carpet market is subject
to far more cyclicality regarding demand than the commercial carpet market.
Furthermore, changes in market conditions for residential carpets have tended to
be more severe than have typically been experienced in the commercial market.
Over the past four years residential carpet yarn processing demand has
decreased, whilst an increase in commercial yarn processing has been experienced
by Y&N Ltd. As new residential carpet ranges are generally launched in the
autumn, this puts increasing pressure upon Y&N Ltd over the summer months.
This increased demand then tails off until after the new year, when the ranges for
the following Christmas period are launched at the January trade fairs. This
makes the production demand pattern inconsistent. Additionally, profit margins
are generally higher for the commercial market. These factors led the company to
make a strategic decision in early 1997 to focus its efforts on increasing the
proportion of commercial carpet yarn that it processes.

The requirement for SMED application

The market characteristics for residential and commercial carpet yarn differ in
major ways. For the more profitable commercial carpet yarn the order quantity
is significantly smaller, the required lead time is much shorter and the yarn is
dyed. The processing routes remain the same as those of residential carpet
yarn, yet, due to commercial carpet manufacturers making to order as opposed
to domestic carpet manufacturers making to stock, the required lead time is
much less flexible. During the last 18 months the required lead-time for
processing commercial carpet yarn has decreased by an average of two weeks
per order. The equipment on which the yarn is currently processed has an
average set-up time of six hours. This set-up time has previously not been
particularly important, since the main focus of the yarn processing business
was the residential market. For residential orders this set-up time of six hours
was significantly less than the run time for the larger batch sizes of such
orders. The ratio of production run time to set-up time for residential carpet
yarn is approximately 2.4 percent; however, with the strategic shift to process Implementation
commercial carpet yarn, the production run time to set-up time increased to of the SMED
approximately 38 percent. This change in the ratio of production run time to methodology
process set-up time is shown in Figure 2.
For the company to be able to undertake a greater proportion of commercial
carpet yarn processing without losing significant capacity due to the more
frequent set-ups caused by smaller batch sizes, the company must reduce its 407
set-up times. Without the reduction of current set-up times, it is estimated that
the capacity of the factory would fall considerably purely as a consequence of
the reduction of productive capacity caused by more frequent set-ups. This
would make the factory uneconomic despite the higher margin on commercial
carpet yarn.
In order to tackle the problem of set-up times, the management team decided
to implement the SMED technique across the yarn processing operation. The
implementation started with the twisting process, as this section has the largest
number of machines and 90 percent of orders pass through this route, as shown
in Figure 2.

SMED ± current theory and practice

Current theory and practice regarding SMED techniques are still largely
centred on the original concept as developed by Shingo (1985) in the 1950s and
1960s. Shingo identified the concept of separating the activities involved in
machinery set-up. Activities can constitute either:
. internal set-up ± can only be performed when a machine is stopped; or
. external set-up ± can be performed while a machine is in operation.
The sequence of set-up activities is classified as internal or external with the
aim being that as many activities as possible are modified to be carried out
when the machine is in operation (as external activities), thus reducing the time
that the machine is out of action. This is illustrated in Figure 1.
Shingo states that ``SMED can be applied in any factory to any machine''
(Shingo, 1985, p. 26). Shingo remains the main reference for SMED, although
further work regarding the application of design changes to the changeover
process (McIntosh et al., 1996) and the balancing of production lines using the
set-up minimisation to improve line efficiency (SMILE) methodology (Henry,

Figure 2.
Ratio of production run
time to process set-up
time for residential and
commercial yarn
IJQRM 1998) have contributed to the development of process set-up and changeover.
18,4 Criticism that the terminology ``SMED'' restricts its use to press systems
involving the exchange of dies exists (McIntosh et al., 1996). Whilst it is
recognised that SMED was developed for such machinery, it is also recognised
that SMED is a concept and as such can be adapted to suit the purpose.

408 Application of SMED methodology within textile operations

When discussing quick changeover techniques, many authors (Robbins, 1989;
McIntosh et al., 1996; Gest, 1995) cite run-up, changeover and set-up as critical
elements. An important additional consideration within the yarn processing
operation is that of machine ``run-down.'' The twisting process uses machinery
comprising a number of spindles. Each spindle is fed with raw material on the
creel and raw material in the bowl. In order to change the variables on the
machine to the requirements of the next order, the machine must be stopped.
An ideal scenario would involve all the machine spindles running out of raw
material at the same time, the machine then stopped, and the finished product
was removed, as shown in Figure 3.
Within the yarn processing environment this immediate run-out situation is
not common practice, nor is it likely to happen in this manner. Owing to a
variety of factors, including the size of the raw material package and the
number of raw material bobbins required to make up the order, it is often the
case that the raw material in the bowl and creel will run out at different times
(see Figure 4). This then involves juggling raw material packages with the aim
of balancing the raw material input.

Figure 3.
Theoretical run-down
scenario for the twisting
process

Figure 4.
Actual run-down
scenario for the twisting
process
A further consideration is that of the weight of the finished order. If the raw Implementation
material cops are not divisible by the number of spindles, machinery utilisation of the SMED
must be considered. A number of systems are in place which aim to maximize methodology
machinery utilization, but the situation often arises in which a machine will be
running off a small number of cops, leaving the remainder of the machine
empty. For example, if an order consisted of 90 raw material cops, the initial 60
may be run to utilize the full machine. This then leaves 30 cops ``running down'' 409
which increases the set-up time and gives only 50 percent machinery utilisation
as shown in Figure 5.
The example in Figure 6 illustrates that the ``run-down'' time can add over 23
hours to the total set-up and changeover time.

Discussion: a framework for SMED-ZERO

During the initial months of the SMED programme, many issues have emerged
which suggest that, although Shingo addresses the conceptual element of
SMED methodology, the actual practicality of implementation is not as well
documented (Shingo, 1985). All examples and case studies are related to dies
and presses with little consideration given to further applications.
Whilst it is recognised that SMED methodology should be tackled as a
shopfloor kaizen activity (Gilmore and Smith, 1996; Johansen and McGuire, 1986;

Figure 5.
Twisting machine
utilization

Figure 6.
Run-down and set-up
tasks and timings
analysis
IJQRM Lemon, 1995), there are certain prerequisites that need to be in place before
18,4 Shingo's first stage ``separate set-up activities into internal and external'' can
commence. Prerequisites are not addressed by Shingo and, whilst authors have
cited SMED as a tool within a continuous improvement programme (Gilgeous and
Thomas, 1998; Regan and Dale, 1999), the research evidence from the study
described in this paper suggests that the effective implementation of SMED
410 necessitates a number of fundamental requirements. Adoption and implementation
of these fundamental requirements will be classified as SMED-ZERO.
In order to lay the foundations upon which SMED can be built within the
textile processing operation, this research suggests that the following pre-
requisites are required.
These prerequisites have been classified within four important areas, those of:
(1) teamwork approach to communication;
(2) visual factory control;
(3) performance measurement; and
(4) kaizen with a view to simplifying both assessment and measurement.

Use of teamwork approach to communication

Management commitment. As has been discussed by many authors, within any
change process it is vital to gain management commitment (Hollins, 1995;
Chapman and Sloan, 1999). This commitment must then be disseminated
throughout the workforce. Every employee must be given a consistent message
as to the objectives of the SMED programme. Methods such as a quarterly
address by the managing director or monthly meetings to disseminate business
issues could be employed.
Employee role. It must be explained to employees that their expertise and
opinions form the key to the SMED project. The development of ideas must be
encouraged through regular feedback from all managers involved in the
programme.
Employee meetings. Provision must be made for regular SMED meetings.
The frequency and attendees can be adjusted to reflect the needs of the SMED
project. Clashing shift patterns within a 24-hour operation make meetings
between employees difficult. Yet this research indicates that focusing the
improvement process on one shift alone in order to overcome inter-shift
communication difficulties can result in problems; for example, the remaining
shifts can feel ostracized and demotivated and the shift that have been involved
in the improvement activities may demand increased pecuniary and non-
pecuniary recognition. It is therefore advisable to include all shifts and juggle
shift patterns in order to facilitate the SMED meetings.
Dedicated meeting-place. If meetings are not common practice within the
organisation, it is doubtful whether an appropriate meeting area exists. This is
true of the case study company, where the choices of meeting place consist of the
operators' canteen, which is inappropriate due to the flow of people in and out, or
the boardroom, inside which, prior to the SMED programme, most shopfloor
employees had never been. The boardroom also has an ominous connection, as it Implementation
is generally where employees assemble to receive unfavourable news. There is a of the SMED
strong requirement for an appropriate meeting-place for the SMED project, as methodology
many meetings and presentations will be required.

Performance measurement
Vision. The management team must define what is required to be achieved, and 411
the means by which they can achieve it. Without an analysis of the potential gain
it is impossible to understand the scope of the project. Performance measurement
will enable the company to have a snapshot of where they currently stand in
terms of the length of time taken to set up the machinery. Realistic targets can
then be developed which detail the required set-up and changeover times. If the
potential gain to the company from reduced set-up times is not understood or
communicated effectively, the SMED project will be seen as unnecessary and will
be given a low priority. Similarly external business pressure can quantify the
requirement for set-up time reduction. The SMED project requires a vision as to
how the set-up times will be reduced and the required outcome. This visioning
process must be communicated throughout the business.

Visual factory control

Effective production systems. Production methods (i.e. loading and unloading of
machinery, the trigger for the next order and issuing of raw material) must be
in place, which are agreed and adhered to. Visual display methods negate the
requirement for reliance on verbal communication. Within the case study
company there is a lack of production control mechanisms, which results in a
strong reliance on verbal communication. This then leads to problems
regarding the relaying of information between individuals, which can be time-
consuming, often duplicated and subject to forgetfulness. The operator has to
rely on a supervisor to advise what the next order is, whether the feeder yarn is
available and if a specification change is required. Owing to pressures upon the
supervisor, this information often arrives too late to be used effectively.
Furthermore, heavy reliance on verbal communication can make performance
measurement difficult, as the trigger for each process is verbal rather than
documented. For performance measurement to be effective, production systems
need to be in place that will lend themselves to data gathering and monitoring.
The use of a visual control board was trialled on the factory floor with the
aim of negating the reliance on verbal communication. Difficulties still arose
due to lack of information from middle managers. It may have been beneficial
to adopt a strategic rather than an operational problem-solving technique, for
example, ``management by fact'' in order to uncover the root cause of the poor
information flow.

Kaizen
Communication tools. SMED focuses upon problem solving and
experimentation, using the employees who are closest to the process. The
IJQRM understanding is that such people will have the best knowledge of the systems
18,4 and machinery. In order to fulfil this role, employees must be able to use a
variety of communication tools and techniques. If problem solving has not
previously been encouraged on the shopfloor, it is very difficult to break this
mould. It must be ascertained whether employees have the necessary
knowledge to undertake problem-solving tasks. Further training may be
412 appropriate.
Internal communication of SMED project progress. Dedicated notice-boards
need to be available, upon which the project can be communicated to all areas of
the operation. It is recognised that not all employees may have direct
involvement with the project from the outset, yet effective change management
must include the entire organisation.
Continued management support. It must be recognised that the SMED project
is not a ``quick fix''. The project group may not get it right first time. Management
must communicate their continuing support regularly.

Summary of research findings

Within the research on which this paper reports, the requirement for an
approach to set-up time reduction, which involves the prerequisites of SMED
implementation, has clearly been demonstrated. A number of important issues
can be considered. First, that the original application of SMED, developed by
Shingo in the 1950s, has not been developed significantly further since that
date. This point can be extended to include the development of the terminology
and nomenclature around SMED. The authors note that, with the exception of
the phrase ``Set-Up Reduction'', normally abbreviated to SUR, there has been
little if any development of supporting terminology.
A further observation of the existing SMED concept is that little progress
has been made regarding the concept of machine or process run-down. Most
applications of SMED appear to be on discrete manufacturing processes, where
process run-down is of a defined duration and sequence. Within the textile
application detailed in this paper, process run-down was of a less precise
nature, dependent on the weight of raw material input and operating speed of
each individual machine spindle. Whilst the SMED technique discusses process
run-up to full production speeds, the important function of process run-down
has received little attention within the supporting literature.
Second, that, whilst Shingo did include a ``conceptual stage'', little thought
appears to have been given to manufacturing environments that were not
advanced to the same degree as those used in the development of SMED. There are
in fact certain essential aspects of manufacturing that must be in place before
SMED can be addressed effectively. This research has defined these essential
aspects, or prerequisites, as team working within the manufacturing environment,
appropriate performance measures within the manufacturing process
environment, the use and acceptance of visual factory control methods by the first
line supervision, and a general empathy with the concept and techniques of kaizen.
 This paper suggests that these prerequisites, defined as SMED-ZERO, must Implementation
be addressed prior to Shingo's conceptual stage being considered (see Figures 7 of the SMED
and 8). Finally, many aspects of the terminology and nomenclature, by which methodology
SMED has been developed, might in fact be a barrier to the effective
implementation of this technique in manufacturing environments which do not
readily translate to the use of die and press technology.
413
Conclusions
The adoption of the SMED-ZERO model is not restricted to the textile
industry. As with Shingo's SMED methodology, SMED-ZERO can be
adapted to suit industrial application. Preliminary research within a
number of textile and non-textile companies has found that generic
manufacturing requirements which include the use of teamwork approach
to communications, visual factory control, performance measurement and
kaizen are non-industry specific and are vital to the success of a SMED
programme. The development of a SMED-ZERO model will enable a
company to assess the existence of the SMED-ZERO prerequisites within
the organisation. The company can then develop these prerequisites as per

Figure 7.
Incorporation of
SMED-ZERO to SMED
conceptual stages

Figure 8.
Incorporation of
SMED-ZERO to SMED
conceptual stages
IJQRM the application model or, if the prerequisites are in place, proceed with the
18,4 preliminary stage of the SMED conceptual stages.
SMED-ZERO is to be developed as a pre-SMED assessment tool. It can be
adapted within the range of industries in which SMED is applicable. The tool is
to be developed as a precursor to a SMED programme to ensure that an informed,
strategic and successful set-up time reduction project can then commence.
414 Figures 7 and 8 show the incorporation of SMED-ZERO to SMED conceptual
stages.
Note
1. The company name has been changed for confidentiality.

References and further reading

Chapman, R. and Sloan, T. (1999), ``Large firms versus small firms ± do they implement
continuous improvement in the same way?'', The TQM Magazine, Vol. 11 No. 2.
Gest, G.B. (1995), ``The modelling of changeovers and the classification of changeover time
reduction techniques'', PhD thesis, University of Bath.
Gilgeous, V. and Thomas, R. (1998), ``Case studies investigating manufacturing responsiveness'',
Proceedings of the IEE Workshop on Responsiveness, 23 February, pp. 14:1-14:10.
Gilmore, M. and Smith, D.J. (1996), ``Set-up reduction in pharmaceutical manufacturing: an action
research study'', International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 16
No. 3.
Henry, J. (1998), ``Make your packaging line SMILE.sm'', Packaging Technology and Engineering
Magazine, February.
Hollins, B. (1995), ``TQM ± learning from mistakes and getting it right second time'', The TQM
Magazine, Vol. 7 No. 4.
Johansen, P. and McGuire, K. (1986), ``A lesson in SMED with Shigeo Shingo'', Industrial
Engineering, October, pp. 26-33.
Lemon, M.J. (1995), ``Cycle time reduction and synchronous flow in a batch process plant'',
American Production and Inventory Control Society Conference Proceedings, pp. 508-9.
McIntosh, R., Culley, S., Gest, G., Mileham, T. and Owen, G. (1996), ``An assessment of the role of
design in the improvement of changeover performance'', International Journal of
Operations & Production Management, Vol. 16 No. 9.
Moxham, C.L. (2000), ``An examination of single minute exchange of die implementation within a
textile processing operation'', MPhil thesis, Manchester School of Management, UMIST.
Regan, S. and Dale, B., (1999), ``Survival to success: the case of RHP Bearings, Blackburn'', The
TQM Magazine, Vol. 11 No. 1.
Robbins, R. (1989), ``Quick changeovers ± fast paybacks'', Manufacturing Systems, March, pp. 53-5.
Shingo, S. (1985), A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System, Productivity Press,
Cambridge, MA.