Saturday, September 5, 2026

The SMED System: Shigeo Shingo's Detailed Explanation

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This lesson is part of Analysis of Flow - Delays sub-module of process industrial engineering or process improvement. Reducing set up time will reduce batch sizes and therefore reduces delay in flow of material in a process. Hence analysis of setups and reducing setup time/cost is important for productivity improvement


Set up Time reduction was an issue of interest right from the Taylor's time. It was developed into a specific procedure by Shigeo Shingo.

F.W. Taylor on Quick Setups


Taylor want a foreman to be incharge of setup activities and gave him the responsibility for doing setups in quick time. Taylor advocated study of motions of men and eliminating unnecessary motions in all activities.

The gang boss has charge of the preparation of all work up to the time that the piece is set in the machine. It is his duty to see that every man under him has at all times at least one piece of work ahead at his machine, with all the jigs, templates, drawings, driving mechanism, sling chains, etc., ready to go into his machine as soon as the piece he is actually working on is done. The gang boss must show his men how to set their work in their machines in the quickest time, and see that they do it. He is responsible for the work being accurately and quickly set, and should be not only able but willing to pitch in himself and show the men how to set the work in record time.



H.B. Maynard on Setup Analysis


In this article, the issue of collecting drawings, materials and tools as well as instructions from appropriate persons are discussed. Then the machine set up and loading of  the work piece are discussed. After the processing operation is over, the work piece has to be unloaded and it has to be moved to the next stage. At the end of the day, tools etc. are to be returned. In the process, care has to be taken to see that equipment is kept in proper order. All issues are raised in the check list of questions given below. 

________________________


Before any work can be done, certain preliminary or "make- ready" operations must be performed. These include such elements as getting tools and drawings, getting material and instructions, and setting up the machine or laying out material and tools about the workplace. When the operation itself has been completed, certain clean up or " put-away " elements must be done such as putting away tools and drawings, removing finished material, and cleaning up the workplace or machine.

Questions on "Make-ready" and "Put-away" Elements. The procedure followed to perform the " make-ready" and "put- away" elements should be questioned closely, particularly on small-quantity work, for these operations are usually fairly long. Many of them carry the operator away from his workplace. This is undesirable for several reasons, and the necessity for trips to other parts of the department should be minimized. The arrangement of the setup or the workplace layout is of primary importance, and the simple rules governing efficient workplace layouts should be clearly understood.

Typical questions which will lead to suggestions for improvement in this connection are as follows :

1. How is the job assigned to the operator?

3. How are instructions imparted to the operator?

4. How is material secured?

5. How are drawings and tools secured?

6. How are the times at which the job is started and finished checked?

7. What possibilities for delays occur at drawing room, tool- room, storeroom, or time clerk's office?

8. If operator makes his own setup, would economies be gained by providing special setup men?

9. Could a supply boy get tools, drawings, and material?

10. Is the layout of the operator J s locker or tool drawer orderly so that no time is lost searching for tools or equipment?

11. Are the tools that the operator uses in making his setup adequate?

12. Is the machine set up properly?

13. Is the machine adjusted for proper feeds and speeds?

15. If vises, jigs, or fixtures are used, are they securely clamped to the machine?

18. Is material properly positioned?

19. Are tools prepositioned?

21. What must be done to  put away all equipment used?

22. Can trip to return tools to toolroom be combined with trip to get tools for next job?

23. How thoroughly should workplace be cleaned?

24. What disposal is made of scrap, short ends, or defective parts?

25. If operation is performed continuously, are preliminary operations of a preparatory nature necessary the first thing in the morning?

26. Are adjustments to equipment on a continuous operation made by the operator?

27. How is material supply replenished?

28. If a number of miscellaneous jobs are done, can similar jobs be grouped to eliminate certain setup elements?

29. How are partial setups handled?

30. Is the operator responsible for protecting workplace over- night by covering it or locking up valuable material?


Make Ready. The methods followed in giving out jobs differ widely throughout industry. Where the same operation is worked day after day, the problem is not encountered; but on more miscellaneous work, some procedure for telling an operator what job he is to work upon next must be provided.

When the operator has received notification in one way or another of the job he is to do, he must next secure drawings, tools, and material. The way in which this is done also varies widely. In some cases, the operator must hunt everything for himself. In others, he goes to a tool- or drawing-room window and waits while an attendant gets what he requires. In still other cases, everything is brought to him, and he does not have to leave his work station.

The exact procedure that is followed will depend upon existing conditions; but if it is possible to work out an economical system for furnishing the operator with what he needs at his work station, it is desirable to do so. Besides reducing costs, this procedure increases the amount of time the equipment is utilized and thus increases the productive capacity of the plant. Often a low-rated worker can do the errands of the operators and bring tools, drawings, and materials.

Where the group system is used and no supply boy is available, the group leader commonly gets all necessary supplies and tools. By getting the necessary items for several jobs at one time, he is able to effect economies.

If a conveyer system specially designed is used, the jobs may be dispatched by the production department in the order wanted, and all material, tools, and drawings can be sent out at the same time on the conveyer. Thus the amount of time spent by the operator in getting ready to make the setup or workplace layout is reduced to a minimum.

The manner in which instructions are furnished with regard to how the job should be done is worthy of careful consideration. Instruction sheets can be used to instruct operators and, under certain conditions, their use is not too costly.  It gives complete and detailed instructions.

Setup. The setup of the machine and of any tools, jigs, or fixtures used should be studied in detail. The correctness and the adequacy of the setup should first be considered, followed by a brief review of the methods employed to make it. The correct setup is fixed by the nature of the operation, the nature of the part, the requirements of the job, and the mechanical features of the machine. Sometimes, it is possible to do a job in more than one way, and care should be taken to ascertain that the best way is being used.

When the setup is being made, certain tools are usually required. These should be suitable for the purpose. If each operator must make his own setup, he should be provided with the necessary tools. If only one or two wrenches are furnished to a group of 10 operators, for example, the time lost in hunting the wrenches and in waiting for a chance to use them will usually far offset the cost of additional equipment.

If setup men are employed to setup machines ahead of the operators, their setup work is to them fairly repetitive work, because they are performing the same elements day after day. It will therefore be desirable to treat it as such and to furnish the setup men with special-purpose quick-acting tools.


Put Away. The put-away elements usually consume less time than the make-ready elements. Tools are put away, the setup is torn down, and the workplace is more or less thoroughly cleaned up. Usually, some of the put-away elements can be combined with some of the make-ready elements for the next operation.

Tools for one operation, for example, may be returned to the toolroom when the tools for the next operation are obtained. The procedure that will prove most economical for the put-away elements will depend to a large extent upon the manner in which the make-ready elements are performed.

Where a number of similar operations are performed on a machine, it is sometimes possible to use 'the same or part of the same setup on two or more jobs. A part that is common to several assemblies may be ordered separately for each and appear on several different orders. If these orders are grouped, one setup will care for them all. Again, in milling-machine work, for example, it may be possible to use the same cutter for several different jobs. The elements of "get cutter from toolroom" "place cutter on machine",  "remove cutter from machine" and "return cutter to toolroom" will thus be performed but once for the several jobs.

Where possibilities of this sort exist, provision should be made when setting up the make-ready and put-away routine so that the economies will be made. If the operator does not know what job he is to do next, if he must completely tear down his setup before going for another job, and if neither the foreman nor the dispatcher attempts to group similar jobs, advantage cannot be taken of partial setups. This is wasteful, of course, and every attempt should be made to secure the benefit of partial setups. Whether or not the operator is paid for the complete setup or only for that part which he actually makes depends upon the difficulty in controlling setups and upon whether or not the saving is due to the operator's own initiative.  In either case, more time is available for productive work which is a distinct gain.

Shigeo Shingo


The efficiency of setup requires two things on the part of operators:

1. Knowledge relating to the structure and function of the machinery and equipment, as well as a thorough acquaintence with tools, blades, dies, jigs, etc.

2. Skill in mounting and removing these items, and also in measuring, centering, adjusting, and calibrating after trial runs.


The History of SMED

In 1950, Shingo was conducting an efficiency improvement survey at Toyo Kogyo's Mazda plant. As the large body-molding presses of 350, 750 and 800 tons were declared as bottlenecks, Shingo did a production study.

There was an incident of a missing bolt and one hour was wasted in finding the bolt. Shingo had written that gave him the idea that external set operations have to set up as standard procedures and one has to make sure that all items required for set up are there before one starts the set up procedure. Shingo established the external set up procedure of making all items required for a set up  and the efficiency was raised by 50% and the bottle neck problem disappeared.

The Second Idea

In 1957, Shingo was studying the operation of a large planer which is machining diesel engine beds. He noticed that centering and dimensioning of the engine bed had to be done and was being conducted on the planer table only. He came with the idea of buying an extra planer table on which this activity can be done while on the machine a job is getting machined. When the job was completed, the table was pushed out and the second table was pushed in ready with the job. This solution resulted in 40% increase in productivity.

The Third Important Event

In 1969, Shingo studied the set operation of 1,000 ton press at Toyoto Motor Company/s plant. The setup time was four hours and it was known that Volkswagen in Germany was doing the same set up in two hours. Shingo in association with Toyota engineers have identified the external setup operations and internal setup operations and improve the process to a time of 90 minutes. According to Shingo, it took six months of effort to reach that stage.

At this stage, Toyota management thought of a challenging goal. Can be reduced drastically to only  three minutes? This challenge resulted in the inspiring insight in Shingo. Can we convert much more internal activity (setup activity that was being done on the machine) to external activity. So a search began for eliminating activities from internal setup activity to move them the external activity. Shingo had written that 8 ideas came in quick succession and they developed these 8 ideas in 3 months time to reach the single digit setup time. So Shingo remarked that it took 19 years of time to make a drastic improvement to the setup operations.

The SMED System - Book by Shigeo Shingo - Chapter Summaries 


Foreword

SMED system is the most essential method for achieving Just-In-Time Production. SMED system will revolutionize existing production systems and I hope you will practice it after reading this book.

Introduction

In many factories, diversified low-volume production is a problem. The main difficulty is the setup operations and adjustments required - calibration, switching of tools or dies etc. Frequent setups of course are necessary to produce a large variety of goods in small lots.

But now I can tell you, you can cut your setup time and increase productivity. You can do setups in three minutes for tasks which had taken 3 hours earlier. The theory and techniques are made available to you in this book. Japanese industrial engineers have long understood the need to reduce setup times and many examples are made available by them in books. But in this book for the first time principles are provided so that you can apply them to your situation even though it does not match any of the previous examples or applications.

Why the setup times remained high for long. Managers and industrial engineers neglected the task and left it to the skill of workers.

People have to realize that high volume production and large lot production are the same. Even high volume production can be achieved through small lots and economy of manufacturing can be realized.  Traditional production planning assumes inventory as inevitable but new production system based on SMED works on the concept of confirmed production and eliminates inventory.

It took 19 long years for me to develop the SMED system.

Chapter 1 The Structure of Production


Production activities may best be understood as a process consisting of operations.

A process refers to a continuous flow by which raw materials are converted into finished goods. An operation is action performed by men, machine or equipment on raw materials, or intermediate or finished goods (for example packing). A process can have one or more operations.

Manufacturing processes can be further divided into four distinct phases (traditional IE categories)

1. Processing (termed as operation) 2. Inspection  3. Transportation 4. Storage.

The storage phase can be further categorised into:
1. Storage of raw materials.
2. Storage of finished goods
3. Lot waiting for process: The entire lot is in a queue before a machine
4. Waiting for a lot: Some of items of the lot are yet to be processed and some are processed.

Each operation on a lot will have preparation and clearing. These are termed setup operations.
The principal operation carried out on workpieces include essential operation, auxiliary operation like loading the workpiece and removing it and margin allowances (activities) that irregularly happen like sweeping up cuttings and personal activities of the operator like taking rest for fatigue and drinking water etc.

It is important to note that there are setup operations in inspection, transportation and storage also.

Chapter 2. Setup Operations in the Past


The blind spot: The unspoken assumption that drastic reductions in setup time are not possible. But with the development of SMED, the concept of economic lot size has diappeared from the profit-engineering agenda. Moreover, SMED has substantially reduced the level of skill required for setups and production operators themselves can do the setup.

3. Fundamentals of SMED


In the spring of 1950, Shingo was conducting an efficiency improvement survey at Toyo Kogyo's Mazda plant. At the presses were bottleneck machines, Shingo conducted a production analysis and observed a die change.  As he observed the time wasted after the machine was stopped for setup change, it dawned to him that setup operations fundamentally were two types: Internal setups which are to be done after a machine is stopped and external setups which can be conducted when the machine is in operation. The external set up were identified and only internal setups were done when the machine is stopped. The setup time reduced by 50%.

The first step of SMED was discovered and Shingo started advising companies on improving setups.

The second insight

Shingo was doing study of open-sided planer at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipyard for methods improvement. He observed that marking-off procedure for centering and dimensioning the engine bed ws being conducted on the planer table and it was taking significant time. The idea came came to install a second planer table and perform the setup operation on it separately. Then the table was shifted in less time and it saved time and increased productivity.

The third experience

In 1969, the divisional manager of body shop at Toyota Motor Company told Shingo that they were taking 4 hours to make a die change and they know that in Volkswagen they were doing in two hours. Shingo worked with them to separate internal and external setup items and got the die change time reduced to one and half hours.

After a month, Shingo was informed that management want the setup time to go to three minutes. Shingo was strartled but challenged. The thinking led to the idea that some more internal elements can be converted into external elements. In three months, three minute goal was reached and Shingo says, he named the method SMED.

This SMED concept then spread to all types of setups in Toyota.

Basic steps in the Setup Procedure

1. Preparation, checking of all required items, tools and materials   30%
2. Removing old tools and mounting new tools 5%
3. Centering, dimensioning and setting other conditions 15%
4. Trial runs and adjustments 50%
5. Returning Old tools - Negligible

The time taken for trail runs and adjustments can be shortened by improving the prior process of centering, dimension and setting.

Basic Steps of SMED

Separating Internal and External Setup
Converting Internal Operations to External Operations
Improving Internal Setup Operations
Improving External Operations

4. Techniques for Applying SMED





Separating Internal and External Setup

Doing External Setup Operations Efficiently - Preliminary Steps

Use a checklist

Make a list of all the parts required with names and specifications and make sure that they are there before the setup. For it to happen without any shortcoming, Shingo recommended that a drawing is made with all the parts pictures and keep the parts on those drawing.

Then there has to be one more list that specifies details of pressure, temperature and other settings that are part of external setup. One has to go through this checklist and ensure that every item is having the required specification and also functioning. These list of items and checklists have to be separate for every machine.

The old die and related items should be transported back either after the setup is completed or by people who are specific to transportation. The machine should not be made to idle due to the transport operation of old die and related items.


Converting Internal Operations to External Operations

The first step in converting internal operations to external operations is to create operating conditions of the dies externally. Then only internal operations are to push the dies and attach them to ram and body.


Preheating Dies

Old practice was to heat dies in die casting by injecting hot metal between them. Instead of that if dies were preheated using gas or electric heat externally, 30 minutes could be saved.

Standardization of dies of various sizes or items on a machine can be done by shape standardization to reduce setup time. But the dies of even small parts can be large because of that. Instead Shingo suggested function standardization.

Function Standardization

What are the functions in attaching die to machine? Clamping, centering, dimensioning, expelling,grasping, and maintaining loads.

Efficient function standardization requires that for each die, the function providing features are only standardized as required by examining the die feature by feature or element by element.

Clamping height can be changed by adding shims to smaller dies. Centering can be done centering jigs. The dies can be made as a set and they can be inserted and withdrawn like a casette so that die inserting time can be only 20 seconds. Various locating elements can be used to adjust the dies in the required positions externally.


5 Applying SMED to Internal Operations

Improving Internal Operations or Reducing Time of Internal Operations

Implementation of Parallel Operations

Die-change operations on plastic molding machines, and die-casting machines and large presses require work both at front and at the back of the machine. If two work parallelly  one at the back and one at the front lot of time is saved.

The Use of Function Clamp

The length of the bolt should be determined such that only one turn is required for fastening or loosening. Such bolt will be called functional clamp.

Examples of One Turn Attachments

The Pear Shaped Hole Method

The U Shaped Washer Method

The Split Thread Method

The U-Slot Method

The Clamp Method

One Motion Methods
  Cams and clamps
  Wedges, tapered pins and knock pins
   springs

Magnetism and Vacuum Suction

Interlocking Methods
(Punch and die assembly for making interlocking integral fasteners - Patent No. US2924312)

Instead of fastening, many times, two pieces can be interlocked and it is sufficient.

Interlocking Method for Press Dies

In a press, the upper die is attached to the machine ram and the lower die is attached to the machine tool. Why there should be same number and diameter of bolts in both sides. While the die attached to the ram has to be supported against gravity, the die attached to the machine bed need not be so supported. Shingo suggests holding plates and cradles for the holding plate to hold the die.


Seeing is believing. Watch in YouTube video die changes in less than 9 minutes
SMED - YouTube Videos


Related Development:

SMED 2.0 - April 25, 2023 by Christoph Roser.
https://www.allaboutlean.com/smed-2-0/

Design for changeovers
http://etidweb.tamu.edu/hsieh/ENTC410/Design%20for%20Mass%20Customerization/DesignForChangeOver.pdf
The paper is on original equipment manufacturer making design of machine that facilitates quick setup changes











Ud 29.4.2023,  10.10.2022,  9.10.2021
Pub 9,12.2013

Operation Batch Quantity Analysis


INTRODUCTION TO MODERN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING. EBook. FREE Download.
Most popular IE publication on Academia.Edu platform. Total  12,750+ Downloads/Views. 





Prof. K.V.S.S. Narayana Rao, NITIE Mumbai, Now IIM Mumbai 
5 September Teachers Day in India 


Process Improvement - Productivity Analysis and Productivity Engineering.

Industrial engineer analyzes each process into its ultimate, simple elements, and compares each of these simplest steps or processes with an ideal or perfect condition and modifies the element appropriately. - F.W. Taylor - Hugo Diemer.

Prof. Hugo Diemer  - Taylor's Industrial Engineering

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2020/05/prof-hugo-diemer-taylors-industrial.html


Operation batch quantity analysis is important due to the benefits of flow production. The flow has to be improved and efforts are made to reduce batch quantity to one economically. The earlier notion of economic batch quantity is still valid. But efforts have to be made to reduce ordering cost and setup cost to reduce economic batch quantity. This will reduce inventory buildup due to lot quantity.

Production lot quantity decision is affected by setup cost. The setup time reduction studies are initiated based on this analysis. Reduction in transport batch quantities was achieved through developing milk runs that reduced setup cost for sending a vehicle or using a vehicle for transporting materials from a supplier to the plant.

In machine shops cells are to be formed for groups of parts. 

Theory of constraints or bottleneck management highlights that batch quantity calculations are relevant for bottlenecks to minimize time spent in setups.  But for machines with surplus capacity, the setup cost calculations are more complex and simple calculations presently made are not appropriate. More time can be spent on setups to run small batches and facilitate maximum utilization of bottleneck machine to increase the sales throughput of the system.

Batch quantity analysis is important in operation analysis and process analysis.

Now the Toyota Product Systems is a World Class Benchmark for Batch quantities.

In the operation batch quantity analysis, industrial engineers have to answer the question whether the batch quantity can be set as one?






ud. 5.9.20206, 5.9.2024,  9.10.2022
pub. 5.9.2021

Industrial Engineering - Foundation of Toyota Production System

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Introduction to Modern Industrial Engineering.  #FREE #Download.

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Lesson 40 - Taiichi Ohno on Industrial Engineering. Toyota style Industrial Engineering - Waste Elimination 


Video Presentation by Prof. N.Rao
____________________


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUDpFpNKuKQ
____________________




Taiichi Ohno repeats what Taylor said. Improve every element of an operation/process for total cost reduction.


Improve machining processes,  install autonomous systems, improve tools,  rearrange machines,  improve  transportation methods. Examine available resources and  the materials at hand for manufacturing. optimize their use.

Prevent the recurrence of defective products, operational mistakes, and accidents, and by incorporate  workers' ideas."  


Toyota Industrial Engineering that is Ohno's Industrial Engineering is improving every element of the process and reducing every delay, defect and machine breakdown (Naryana Rao)


Toyota style Industrial Engineering - Ohno


"We have eliminated waste by examining available resources, rearranging machines, improving machining processes, installing autonomous systems, improving tools, analyzing transportation methods and optimizing the materials at hand for manufacturing. High production efficiency has also been maintained by preventing the recurrence of defective products, operational mistakes, and accidents, and by incorporating workers' ideas." Taiichi Ohno (P. 21)

Source: Taiichi Ohno, Toyota Production System: Beyond Large Scale Production, pp. 21-22.

Taiichi Ohno on Industrial Engineering. Toyota style Industrial Engineering - Waste Elimination
https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/11/taiichi-ohno-on-industrial-engineering.html

Toyota Production System Industrial Engineering (TPS IE) Part 1


Toyota Production System - Main Objectives

Elimination of Waste
Low Inventory
Low Order to Delivery Period using low cycle time
.


Toyota Production System - Tools or Techniques


SMED
Poka Yoke

Now popular

TIE - Total Industrial Engineering.
TQM – Zero defects
TPM – High OEE
TPMgmt – Annual Planned Cost Reduction

Shigeo Shingo

A Study of Toyota Production System from an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint by Shigeo Shingo

Book published by Productivity Press

Two Pillars of TPS - Jidoka - JIT


Toyota Production System

A production system based on the philosophy of achieving the complete elimination of all waste in pursuit of the most efficient methods.
Toyota Motor Corporation's vehicle production system is a way of making things that is sometimes referred to as a "lean manufacturing system," or a "Just-in-Time (JIT) system," and has come to be well known and studied worldwide.

This production control system was established based on many years of continuous improvements, with the objective of making the vehicles ordered by customers in the quickest and most efficient way, in order to deliver the vehicles as swiftly as possible. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was established based on two concepts: "jidoka" (which can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch"), as when a problem occurs, the equipment stops immediately, preventing defective products from being produced; and the "Just-in-Time" concept, in which each process produces only what is needed for the next process in a continuous flow.

Based on the basic philosophies of jidoka and Just-in-Time, TPS can efficiently and quickly produce vehicles of sound quality, one at a time, that fully satisfy customer requirements.


Shigeo Shingo said
80% of the TPS is waste elimination in facilities, processes and inventory, that is industrial engineering (facilities and processes improvement, Jidoka)),
15% - production management (production batch quantities planning, JIT material and production planning) and
5% - kanban (sign board) communications

What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering is eliminating Muda, Muri and Mura (Japanese explanation).

IE is developing science that explains productivity (Productivity Science development)

IE is improving technical processes  for cost reduction (Machines and Men) (Fundamental - Productivity Engineering).

IE is improving management processes of planning, organizing, resourcing, executing (accepting and releasing orders, leading, directing, communicating) and controlling (associated activity - Productivity Management).

IE is improving business processes (Augmented).

For some more details visit:  Functions of Industrial Engineering



In Preface to the Japanese Edition

Shigeo Shingo had written that management consultants were not allowed to disclose any confidential or proprietary information. Taiichi Ohno authored two books describing Toyota Production System (TPS).  That allowed Shigeo Shingo, to use the published material as the basis to explain industrial engineering principles behind TPS.

Shigeo had as his objectives in writing the book:

1. Explaining the principles of the Toyota Production System based on Industrial Engineering Theory.
2. Explanation of the system of practicing these principles.
3. Description of the practical application of the methods following these principles.

Chapter 1 Introduction


Production is a network of processes and operations.
Process – transforming material into product is accomplished through a series of operations.
Process – flow of material in time and space.
Process analysis examines the flow of material or product.

In an operation a transformation occurs.
Process analysis questions whether that transformation is required.

Operation Analysis
Operation analysis examines the work performed on products by workers, machines and tools.
Process analysis, operation analysis, motion study and time study form part of methods efficiency engineering.
Process analysis and operation analysis are engineering activities specific to each branch of engineering.
http://nraoiekc.blogspot.in/2012/04/method-study-methods-efficiency.html

Shingo wrote "When we look at operations, we see the work performed to accomplish the transformation of the material - the interaction and flow of equipment and operators in time and space."

I keep insisting that after a process chart is made, for each operation in the process chart, the machine effort and human effort are to be recorded in detail. Motion study, provides two handed operator chart for recording work of every operator involved. For machine effort, for each machine a machine effort sheet has to be prepared to improve machine work.

Chapter 2 Improving Process

Improve process before improving individual operations.
Process is flow of material through operations.

Process Chart - Gilbreth

Processing operation
Inspection operation
Transport operation
Storage operation – Temporary, Permanent (Delay operation)

Process Improvement
Process can be improved in two ways.
The first improves the product itself through design efficiency engineering (value engineering, design for manufacture, design for assembly, and design optimization techniques).
The second improves manufacturing method through methods efficiency engineering, motion studies and production optimization and variability reduction methods.

ECR Method of Process Improvement

Eliminate the operation – sometimes it is found to be not necessary or sometimes it is due to improvement of earlier operation.
Combine operations with earlier one or latter one.
Rearrange the sequence of operations


Processing Operations Analysis

Examples in the book
Manufacturing operations can be improved by alternatives related to proper melting or forging temperatures, cutting speeds or tool selection.
Examples related to vacuum molding, plating and plastic resin drying are given in the book.
Eliminating Flashing in Castings (Die)
Flashing in die castings occurs due to escape of air.
Removing the air in mould with a vacuum pump eliminated flashing.
Removing Foam in High-Speed Plating
Spraying or showering the surface to be painted resulted in a 75% reduction.
Drying Plastic Resin
Letting the resin dry a little at a time by allowing it to float to the surface resulted in a 75% reduction of electric power consumption.


Analysis of Inspection Operations

Shingo said normal inspection is judgment inspection.
It separates good and defective items.
Rework done on defective items if possible
Informative inspection asks for process improvement.
It is like medical examination that leads to treatment.
Statistical Process Control
SPC is sampling based informative inspection.
But Shingo says even it is not sufficient to assure zero defects.
To assure zero defects we need to inspect every item but at low cost per item.
Shingo’s Suggestions
Informative Inspections

Self Inspection
Successive Inspection
Enhanced Self Inspection – Inspection enhanced with devices  - poka-yoke

Example 2.4 – Vacuum Cleaner Packing
Cleaner along with attachments and leaflets to be packed.
When a leaflet is taken from the pile,  a limit switch is operated.
When attachments are taken from the container, a limit switch is operated.
Then only, the full package is allowed to be sealed.
Principle
The purpose of inspection is prevention of the defect.
Quality can be assured when it is built in at the process and when inspection provides immediate and accurate feedback at the source to prevent the defective item to go further.
Self Inspection
It provides the most immediate feedback to the operator.
He can improve the process and also rework on the item.
Disadvantage inherent.
There is potential for lack of objectivity.
He may accept items that ought to be rejected.
Successive Inspection
The operator inspects the item for any defect in the previous operation before processing it.
Shingo says, when this was introduced defects dropped to 0.016% in Moriguchi Electric Company in television production
Inspection enhanced by Poka Yoke
Human operation and inspection can still make errors unintentionally.
Poka Yoke will take care of such errors.
Ex: Left and right covers are to be made from similar components with a hole in different places.
The press was fitted with a poka yoke which does right cover pressing only when the hole is in proper place.
Source Inspection
This is answering the question: What is the source of the defect in the process/operation?
Two types proposed.
Vertical
Horizontal
Source Inspection – Vertical, Horizontal
Vertical source inspection traces problems back through the process flow to identify and control conditions external to the operation that affect quality.
Horizontal source inspection identifies and controls conditions within an operation that affect quality.
Poka-yoke Inspection Methods
Poka-yoke achieves 100% inspection through mechanical or physical control.
Poka-yoke can either be used as a control or a warning.
As a control it stops the process so the problem can be corrected.
As a warning, a buzzer or flashing lamp alerts the worker to a problem that is occurring.

Three types of control poka-yoke
Contact method - identify defects by whether or not contact is established between the device and some feature of the product's shape or dimension
Fixed value method - determines whether a given number of movements have been made


Motion step method - determines whether the established steps or motions of a procedure are followed

Choosing/Designing  Poka Yoke
First decide stage of inspection – Self or Successive
Second – Type of regulation
Control or warning.
Third decide Error Sensing type – Contact, fixed number or motion step


Analysis of Transport Operations

Transport within the plant is a cost that does not add value.
Hence real improvement of the process eliminates the transport function as much as possible.
This involves improving the layout of process.

Ex – 7. Transport Improvement
Tokai Iron Works – process layout -  presses, bending machines, embossing
Layout Change: Flow based layout.
A 60 cm wide belt conveyor with ten presses on either side.
WIP reduced. Production time shortened. Delays disappeared.
200% increase in productivity.
Principle
Only after opportunities for layout improvement have been exhausted should the unavoidable transport work that remains be improved through mechanization.

Eliminating - Storage Operations (Delay)


Process Delay – Permanent storage – Whole lot is waiting
Lot Delays – Temporary storage – One item is being processed. Other items in the lot waiting.
Another classification is storage on the factory floor and storage in a controlled store.
Eliminating - Storage Operations (Delay)
There are three types of accumulations between processes:

E storage - resulting from unbalanced flow between processes  (engineering)
C storage - buffer or cushion stock to avoid delay in subsequent processes due to machine breakdowns or rejects (control)
S storage - safety stock; overproduction beyond what is required for current control purposes

Eliminating E-Storage

E-storage is due to engineering/planning/design of the production-distribution  system
This can be eliminated through leveling quantities, which refers to balancing flow between high and low capacity processes and synchronization.

Leveling would mean running high-capacity machines at less than 100% capacity, in order to match flow with lower capacity machines that are already running at 100% on short interval basis.
At Toyota, the quantity to be produced is determined solely by order requirements (Takt time).

Principle
Presence of high capacity machines should not be used to justify large lot processing and resulting inventory.
Process capacity should serve customer requirements/production requirements and should not determine them
synchronization.
The lots especially one piece lot is processed without delay in a flow.
It is efficient production scheduling that ensures that once quantities are leveled (output is matched), inventories do not pile at any stage due to scheduling conflicts.
Synchronize the entire process flow.


Eliminating C storage - Cushion

Cushion stocks compensate for:
machine breakdowns,
defective products,
downtime for tool and die changes and
sudden changes in production scheduling.

Eliminate Cushion Storage
Prevent machine breakdowns:
Determining the cause of machine failure at the time it occurs, even if it means shutting down the line temporarily.
Total Productive Maintenance movement.

Eliminate Cushion Storage
Zero Defect Movement.
Total quality management.
Use better inspection processes:
Self Inspection.
Successive Inspection.
Enhancement to inspection through Poka Yoke
Eliminate Cushion Storage
Eliminate Lengthy setups and tool changes
Implement SMED to eliminate long set-up times and tool changes
Running smaller batch sizes to allow for quick changes in production plans

Eliminate Cushion Storage
Absorb Change in Production Plan
Running smaller batch sizes allows for quick changes in production plans without disturbing flow production to significant extent.

Eliminating Safety (S) storage

Safety stock is kept not to take care of any predicted problem but to provide additional security
It may guard against delivery delays, scheduling errors, indefinite production schedules, etc.
Ex. 10 Delivery to stores
In example 2.10 Shingo mentions a company wherein vendors supply to store and from store components are supplied to assembly line.
Shingo suggested that vendors should directly supply the day’s requirements to assembly floor and in case of any problem, components in the store can be used.
Less Need for Safety Stock Observed
That practice led to the observation that very less safety stock is needed in the store.

Shingo recommends keeping a small controlled stock that is only used when the daily or hourly scheduled delivery fails or falls behind.
In case of unexpected defects also it can be used.


The safety stock can then be replenished when the scheduled materials arrive, but the supply of materials due for the process go directly to the line, rather than normally going into storage first.
This is the essence of the just-in-time supply method.


Eliminating lot delays
While lots are processed, the entire lot, except for the one piece being processed, is in storage (is idle).
The greatest reduction in production time can be achieved when transport lot sizes are reduced to just one; the piece that was just worked on.

SMED
Using SMED (single-minute exchange of dies), set up time is decreased so large lot sizes are no longer necessary to achieve machine operating efficiencies.
SMED facilitates one item lot sizes.




Layout Improvement - Flow
Transportation changes can be accomplished through flow  layout and using gravity feed Chutes which result in shorter production cycles and decreases in transport man-hours.

Reducing Cycle Time
Generally, semi-processed parts are held between processes 80% of the time in a production cycle time.
It quantity leveling is used and synchronization of flow is created, the cycle time can be reduced by 80%.
By shifting to small lot sizes will further reduce cycle time.


TPS – Reduction of Delays or Storage
Methods of reducing production time delays (JIT) is the foundation of Toyota Production System.
It clearly brings down production cycle time and thereby offers small order to delivery time.

Process Improvements in Toyota
Mixed model small lot production was attempted in Toyota to compete with American manufacturers.
First, inefficiencies in processing operations, inspection operations and transport operations were removed.
Then storage operations were attacked and inventories eliminated.
Toyota surpassed American manufacturers.

Now TPS is promoted as Lean System



Chapter 2 End

Ch. 3 Improving Operations

Operation may be classified as follows:

Set up operations - preparation
Principal operations - performance
Margin allowances - machine breaks
Personal allowances - worker breaks


Improving Setup
SMED

Improving principal operations
The easiest way to improve principal operations is to separate the worker from the machine.
Reduce involvement of man in machine running and production.
This involves the "one worker, many process" theory.
One worker attends 5-6 machines,
The principle is that cost reduction is more important than high machine operating rates.
Machines should not unnecessarily function and produce excess inventory.
But the operable time of the machine should be high.
Whenever needed machine must be ready for production.

Autonomation
Machine detects problem and stops.
Workers correct the problem.
The next step is to make the machine correct the problem

Improving margin allowances

Main operations are automated by marginal activities like removing chips, feeding materials and stocking products are still done by hand by men.
They also need to be automated.
Lubrication: Consider automatic lubrication, use of oil impregnated metals etc.
Cutting oil – Consider automatic oiling or cutting without oil.
Chip removal – Consider powdering chips or automatic lubrication and chip removal.

Workshop allowances

Automate the following:
Automate feeding for materials.
Automate product storage.
By adopting the SMED system, Toyota achieved dramatic reductions in setup time and inventory cost.
Adding multi-machine handling and autonomation further increased productivity.

Chapters 2 & 3 to be used in analysis of value stream map (VSM)

Toyota Production System Industrial Engineering (TPS IE) Part 2

Summary of Remaining Chapters of the Book

http://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/12/toyota-production-system-industrial.html

Updated 11.7.2024,  11.9.2022,  16.2.2022,  11 July 2021,  14 June 2020,   21 August 2019,  22 August 2017,  9 Sep 2015
First published 9 Sep 2014

September - Goldratt - TOC Month of Industrial Engineering and Productivity Management



Productivity management started by F.W. Taylor in 1895. It is an important function of industrial engineering.


Productivity Management - Evolution - Importance - Practice - Narayana Rao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dqVIVjVSoA

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31 March - Birthday of Eliyahu Goldratt - Read about his contribution to industrial engineering in March Issue of Modern Industrial Engineering. 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/march-2026-issue-taylor-month-ie-contribution-fw-industrial-kvss-71nlc


Theory of Constraints - Principle, Theory and Bundle of Practices in Productivity Management and Operations Management

https://nraomtr.blogspot.com/2024/09/theory-of-constraints-principle-theory.html


Has Industrial Engineering formally ignored Theory of Constraints Based Productivity Improvement?

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7238549696183422976/


Why is TOC not widely practiced in the industry, compared to #lean? Where is the missing link? 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/opexconsult_lean-activity-7236227018399346689-mRvZ


Summary - Book - The Goal - A Process Ongoing Improvement - Eliyahu Goldratt

https://nraomtr.blogspot.com/2024/09/summary-book-goal-process-ongoing.html


Do we designate one as Bottleneck Industrial Engineer? To implement TOC approach? He can ask for assistance from other IEs as required. #Toc #Bottleneck

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/narayana-rao-kvss-b608007_still-trying-to-fix-everything-in-your-process-activity-7367084947506987008-YFFV





Picture Source - Goldratt’s genius framework explained. -  Sergio D'Amico. 

Sergio D'Amico, LinkedIn Post

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7270785966766788608/




Harrington Emerson - A Pioneer Industrial Engineer -  12 Principles of Efficiency - Principles of Productivity Management.   Lesson 29 - Industrial Engineering ONLINE Course.

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2012/02/harrington-emerson-pioneer-industrial.html


Industrial Engineering Principle  18. Productivity Management Principle of Industrial Engineering.

18A. Productivity Management has to be part of Industrial Engineering Curriculum

Every industrial engineer is a productivity manager. 

He has to plan for productivity and achieve productivity improvement year after year.

As a part of productivity management, he has to assess management actions of the organization for effect on productivity and has to recommend changes if they have an adverse effect on productivity or if there is scope for increasing productivity by modifying them.

http://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2017/06/productivity-management-principle-of.html



Principles of Industrial Engineering - Taylor - Narayana Rao - IISE 2017 Pittsburgh Conference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU8CdWfZZdU

10,500 views so far.

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2023 - For CEOs at Davos, Efficient, Profitable Operations Take Center Stage.
Companies say they are giving priority to profitability and efficiency amid concerns about macroeconomic conditions. 
In many cases, executives say they are looking to deploy new technology to help cut costs. 
“We have to be much tougher on costs and achieve the same growth plans with a lot less investment,” Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi. 
“We in the tech industry will have to get more efficient." -  Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft Corp.
Creating long-term value and efficiency is key to any organizational transformation, said Ernst & Young CEO Carmine Di Sibio.  
https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-ceos-at-davos-efficient-profitable-operations-take-center-stage-11674151208?st=8gffac5pq3i9x4f&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

The bottleneck conundrum


Breaking up logjams can be key for process plant production


By Peter L. King


If you are an industrial engineer trying to make your operation lean, you must understand bottlenecks and how to manage them. One of the primary objectives of lean is to achieve smooth continuous flow of material through the process, and bottlenecks can inhibit flow, cause unnecessary inventories and prevent throughput from matching customer demand (takt). So in order to make progress toward lean goals, bottleneck resources must be identified, managed and improved. From a financial point of view, effective management of bottlenecks can reduce inventory and operating cost, increasing throughput, revenue and profitability.


https://www.iise.org/details.aspx?id=23266


Module of Industrial Engineering FREE ONLINE Course

1000 persons accessed in the first year (2020-2021). 

Second time daily sharing (2021-2022). (1 June 2021 - 31 May 2022). 

Present circulation (2024-2025). (1 June 2024 - 31 May 2025).  - 5th year circulation

Present circulation (2026-2027). (1 June 2026 - 31 May 2027).  - 7th year circulation

12560 hits so far for the course page.




Why Focus on Productivity and  Productivity Management?

Chapter of Productivity Management in Engineering Organizations - Online Book



For a Society or  a nation to raise the standard of living of its population, it must strive to maximize the return from its resources or improve productivity so that the economy can grow and sustain a better quality of life.  (ILO, Introduction to Work Study).

The management of an enterprise is responsible for seeing that the enterprise resources ... are combined in the best possible way to achieve the highest productivity. (ILO, Introduction to Work Study).

The Japanese economy successfully weathered the oil crises of the seventies without suffering serious damage ... This success has been attributed primarily to Japan's high productivity. (Shigeo Shingo)

Productivity is a long-term survival issue. Unless a company focuses on productivity as a key
ingredient of their corporate philosophy, it won't survive. (Ian Rolland and Robert Johnson)

Companies must plan for productivity. Productivity does not just happen. It requires a strategy that is comprehensive, long-range, and monitored. It requires rational, purposeful behavior on the part of everyone.  (Ian Rolland and Robert Johnson)

We can easily state that productivity is the only source of real economic growth and progress. A nation must maintain competitive levels of productivity in key industries to even maintain its standard of living in what is becoming an increasingly competitive world market. (D. Scott Sink)

The manufacturing sector of the Japanese economy has led the world in productivity growth rates for almost 30 years. In a number of key industries, Japan has far surpassed the United States in absolute levels of productivity. One factor contributing to Japan's success is its focus on improving competitive capability, efficiency, and "striking power" in strategically selected target industries.  (D. Scott Sink)

Japan's government and industry cooperate to manage industrial policy strategically. As part of the strategy, growth, productivity, quality, and innovation are managed systematically in target industries. (D. Scott Sink)


(C) Narayana Rao K.V.S.S. 2019

Review of the Concept and Importance of Productivity 



337. Functions of Productivity Management

338. The Evolution of Productivity Management

339. Productivity Management - F.W. Taylor

340. Productivity Management in Operations Management Since 1886

341. Productivity Management - Improving Productivity - Stevenson in Operations Management Book

342. Functional Foremanship - F.W. Taylor

        Productivity - Basic Concepts

Harrington Emerson - 12 Principles of Efficiency - Productivity Management

343. Harrington Emerson - The Twelve Principles of Efficiency - Part 1 - Principles of Productivity Management

344. Harrington Emerson - The First Efficiency Principle: Clearly Defined Ideals (Objectives and Goals)

345. Industrial Engineering #Data. Harrington Emerson - The Sixth  Efficiency Principle: Reliable, Immediate, Adequate, and permanent Records. 

346. Harrington Emerson's The Seventh Efficiency (Productivity Management) Principle: Despatching.

347. Harrington Emerson's Eighth Efficiency (Productivity Management) Principle: Standards and Schedules 

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/10/chapter-10x-eighth-principle-standards.html

348. Harrington Emerson's Ninth Efficiency (Productivity Management) Principle: Standardized Conditions. 

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/10/chapter-11-ninth-principle-standardized.html


349. Harrington Emerson's Tenth Efficiency (Productivity Management) Principle: Standardized Operations. 

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/10/chapter-12-tenth-principle-standardized.html


350. Harrington Emerson's Eleventh Efficiency (Productivity Management) Principle: Written  Standard-Practice Instructions. 

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/10/chapter-xiii-eleventh-principle-written.html

351. Harrington Emerson's Twelfth  Efficiency (Productivity Management) Principle: Efficiency Reward. 

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/10/chapter-14-twelfth-principle-efficiency.html

352. Harrington Emerson:  12 Efficiency Principles  Applied to Measurement and Cure of Wastes. 

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2013/10/chapter-15-efficiency-principles.html


354.  Industrial Engineering - Its Role in Productivity Improvement

355.  Productivity Planning

356.  Manufacturing Cost Reduction Policy Deployment - Introduction.

357. Organizing for Industrial Engineering Department and Function

358. Resourcing for IE Department and Productivity Improvement Projects

359. Productivity - Communication

360. Productivity Training by Industrial Engineers

361. Productivity Control - Productivity Management - Koontz & O'Donnell

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2022/03/productivity-control.html

362. Principles and Practices of Productivity Management

https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2021/06/principles-of-productivity-management.html



366. Industrial Engineering Strategy

367. Success Stories - Industrial Engineering, Productivity Improvement and Productivity Management



Ud.  21.3.2026, 1.9.2025

Pub. 9.9.2024