Setup Time Reduction of an Automotive Parts Assembly Line Using Lean Tools and Quality Tools

Abstract

The business world is becoming more competitive. Therefore, it is crucial to increase the flexibility of production by decreasing the time used in the processes of preparing the production lines for new items’ production, reducing changeover and setup times. This paper presents a case study where the main goal is to reduce the setup time of welding robots. Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) was implemented, using other tools such as the Spaghetti Diagram, ERCS Analysis (Eliminate, Rearrange, Combine, Simplify), Gemba Walk, Standardized Work, Flowcharts, and Pareto Diagram. The setup time decreased by 36% in the welding robots studied, decreasing the motions by 43% during the changeover process and reducing the time from the categories: “transportation”, “main”, “other”, and “waiting”. In addition to SMED implementation, this study offers an integrated study of several Lean tools and Quality tools to achieve the maximum reduction of changeover and setup times.

Keywords

• Lean manufacturing
• SMED
• automotive industry
• ERCS analysis
• Spaghetti Diagram
• Gemba Walk