Lead Time Reduction through Execution of Lean Tool for Productivity Enhancement in Small Scale Industries

Abstract

In the current dynamic global market place, especially among small and medium scale manufacturing industries the competition is show rigorous for a profitable survival. To be competent the industries have to necessarily work in an efficient way by updating and implementing new techniques. These day’s manufacturers may have to introduce and prove the success of the products not only faster but also to deliver it to the end users at the right time. The aim of this study has been to present a lean approach in the manufacturing system of injection moulding facility by reducing the change over time. In this research a lean tool of Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) has proved to be an effective tool for eliminating waste of time. In SMED the time taken for mould or die exchange should be less than 10 minutes. This improves the productivity by reducing the down time of a machine. The main objective has been to reduce the change over time from the current setup time of 39.94 minutes to less than 10 minutes. After implementing the SMED, the total change over time was reduced by about 67.72% which indirectly reduced production losses and increased the productivity.