SMED in Printing

[thmurphy]

Hi,

Was looking for help in terms of free resources available around SMED in printing industry...specifically around reducing setup time between different changeovers.

Any help would be appreciated.

Rgds,
Tom

[gordo]

Hi,

Was looking for help in terms of free resources available around SMED in printing industry...specifically around reducing setup time between different changeovers.

Any help would be appreciated.

Rgds, Tom

Have you googled "smed makeready"?

gordo

[thmurphy]

Hi Gordo,

Yes i did do that but unfortunately wanted information more specifically to the printing industry ( Cartons and leaflets) .. and wanted to see what practical things have been already done to improve SMED.

Rgds,
Tom

[Cornishpastythighs]

I have done quite a lot of SMED projects and they can sometimes pay back quite handsomely. As with all process improvement projects you must begin with 5s. Get rid of all the uneeded clutter and get everything close at hand,labeled, and in its correct place. Next you might want to construct a Spaghetti diagram, follow each of your operators around while plotting their path on a map to see how much wasted time and effort they are doing during a changeover. Next see what tasks can be moved offline as oppossed to online to have things ready when the press comes to a halt. Use a video camera to record different changeover techniques and involve the whole department.
Just some suggestions to get you started

[thmurphy]

Thanks for those initial suggestions ... drawing from your experience what have you seen as the biggest issues during changeovers.?
The project i am working on .. one of the longest times is during the changing over from one ink to the other due to the entire cleaning which needs to be done .. have you seen any potential improvements which can be done here?

[Coopkev]

It's not quite free but it's worth every penny - just published in the past month:

Setup Reduction for Printers

[gordo]

[SNIP]
The project i am working on .. one of the longest times is during the changing over from one ink to the other due to the entire cleaning which needs to be done .. have you seen any potential improvements which can be done here?

Not quite SMED but one radical way to improve on that issue is to virtually eliminate the need for change overs by implementing an extended process color workflow. I.e. Using a 5-6- or 7 color inkset to replace spot colors with process color builds. It effectively eliminates make ready time (other than the plate change).
Like I said - radical, but the printers that are doing it are saving a fortune in costs and provide other benefits to their customers.

best, gordo

[Cornishpastythighs]

Wash ups/Changeovers.
1. Have jobs scheduled Light colours to dark colours.
2. Have scheduling plan like colour jobs together.
3. Evaluate the effiency of your wash up equipment.
4. Seek better wash up solvents if needed.
5. Use ink fountain inserts to cut down washing time.
6. Pull resources from equipment that doesnt need the manpower at that time to assist in the changeovers.
7. Have work delegated fairly so that one person isn't doing all the work while others are doing nothing.
8. Have a changeover cart for each person with rags,gloves,solvent close to the area of use.
9. Eliminate all 'non value added' tasks during the changeover.
10. Have crews plan the changeover while they are still running an order so that all supplies and people are ready when the press comes to a halt.
There's 10 to get you going.

[chevalier]

Not quite SMED but one radical way to improve on that issue is to virtually eliminate the need for change overs by implementing an extended process color workflow. I.e. Using a 5-6- or 7 color inkset to replace spot colors with process color builds. It effectively eliminates make ready time (other than the plate change).
Like I said - radical, but the printers that are doing it are saving a fortune in costs and provide other benefits to their customers.

best, gordo

Are there any detailed studies (publicly available of course) of the results that you know of?
What about metallics? I'm deeply into researching this at the moment.

[KAM465]

I agree with Gordo, 7-Color, H-Def, Extended Gamut what ever name you want to call it can certainly help reduce the need to was-up the press.

WE recently implemented this process for one of our customers that produces product for Private Label (Drug Store, Grocery Stores, etc...). Using the Esko Graphics software we developed a color strategy that gave us an ink gamut that covers a large portion of the Spot PMS colors required. Although no perfect is has allowed us to reduce the number of color wash-ups required by 75% and the number for forms required by upwards of 50%.

In a perfect world we would run everything this way but there will always be demands to run spots (Metallics and Day-Glo) for corporate colors and such. Depending on the 3 colors you use will determine which colors will be outside you gamut. Purples and Violets will give you the most trouble and some of your lighter and pastels colors.