A metal stamping operation was experiencing high downtime and late deliveries due to an increase in the number of die changeovers driven by variable customer demand.  The client decided to hold an improvement event focused on reducing the length of time on changeovers.  At the start of the event the average changeover time on the largest press in the shop was 94 minutes.  During the event the current state changeover was documented by listing all tasks and coding them as either internal – done while the machine was down, or external – done while the machine was running.  Unfortunately, all 46 were all internal having been done while the machine was down.  A spaghetti diagram was also completed on the operator, die and material movements during the changeover.  The operator alone traveled over ½ mile during the 94 minutes.  After capturing this current state, the event focused on shifting internal tasks to external, and then on streamlining all steps.

The first changeover after the process was refined and numerous improvements were made took only 45 minutes – a reduction in time of over 50%.  The number of external tasks rose to over 45 with only 6 tasks remaining as internal.  Additional improvements were made after the first changeover which resulted in the second changeover taking only 23 minutes. By reducing the original changeover time by over 75%, the company freed up nearly 500 manufacturing hours annually.