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WHY SET UP REDUCTION
2017-06-19 12:12:53| Anderson Tool and Die
Last week we discussed some of the activities that caused long set up times. Before we begin our discussion about how to reduce set up times, let’s thoroughly understand why we need short set up times. The first benefit is obviously the saving of the “waste” time out of production, which was discussed last week. Since we said we do not get paid for the set up time on the job, this savings is easily understood. The other equally important reason for quick set up is the ability to economically run small quantities of parts. Historically we have wanted to run large quantities of parts so the cost of the set up per part could be low. Customers are no longer willing to accept long waiting times and then take delivery of large quantities of product. They only want to buy, at one time, the amount of product they can consume in a very short period of time. Also, since they do not keep inventory to keep them running, they want quick delivery. This is called “Just In Time” manufacturing. It is the way efficient business works today. Short set up time is the key to economical small lot quantity production. To help explain how critical set up time is to delivery, let’s consider for a moment if set up time could be zero. If set up can be done instantly, then we can make as few parts per order as the customer wants, and then switch over instantly and make other parts for another customer without “wasted machine time during set up” and without concern about the cost of set up. This keeps our customers happy, our “waste” on long set ups low (zero), and keeps our equipment busy making money. In this scenario no one pays the cost for inventory, yet every one keeps their production running efficiently, without wasted down time either waiting for parts or for set up time. The customers are happy, and our business is efficient. Fast set up permits small orders, at low cost, delivered quickly, and the ability to go from one job to the next almost immediately. If there is a secret to success in today’s manufacturing world, short set up times ranks right up there with technological capability as the prime key to success. Even though we may not be able to eliminate set up time completely, as speculated in the above example, we can do many things to minimize set up times. Set up reduction techniques begin next issue.
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reduction
Category:Industrial Goods and Services