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]

Setup Reduction Resource

Setup Reduction Resource

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.

 

[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.

AFAIK there have not been any studies done on printers doing extended process printing. The printers doing this kind of work are very secretive about the fact that they do this let alone the ROI. When I was the marketing manager for Kodak's system, from an international customer base, I was only able to get one customer (label printer) to provide samples and state publicly that they did this type of work ( you can read about them here: HiColour Printing - Fort Dearborn Company ). I don't know where you are located in the U.S. but most of the supermarket store brand labels (e.g. Publix Market) are printed this way.

The process is being done worldwide for offset and flexo and covers the product range from labels, folding cartons, packaging, and metal decorating.

In addition to spot color simulation you can do metallics with a solution like that from Color Logic (COLOR-LOGIC Special Effects for Print). For example, there are a few printshops that cater to the cosmetics industry that run a 7 color process - CMYKRV+metallic silver for all their packaging work. They completely eliminate the make ready times, washups, etc. associated with change overs since all jobs run with the same inkset.

The typical configuration though is a 6-color process. Usually (customer dependent) CMYK+warm red+violet. A green will replace either the violet or warm red for some runs. So there may be a one unit washup for a portion of the jobs.

There's a great deal more to being successful but that should get you started.

best, gordo

 

[Deleted member 16349]

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

Gordon,

This is exactly what SMED is about. SMED is NOT a continuous improvement method. Or at least it originally was not meant to be. It has come to be a continuous improvement method due to the lack of imagination of those who are in that field, but initially SMED was for RADICAL thinking of how to change the process. Most of the other improvements in the Japanese manufacturing philosophy can not work without SMED.

What is SMED? Of course it is for making short makereadies but it is more than that. SMED means Single Minute Exchange of Dies. Basically the change over in the manufacturing of automobile parts, etc. The idea is that one is aiming at changing over from one job to the next and returning to consistent production within one minute. If one is not aiming at that one minute target, then one is not thinking in the original SMED terms.

For practical reasons, one hopes to get improvements and one does not expect that one will get to the one minute target, but having such a difficult target it becomes very clear that a continuous improvement methods will not work in meeting that extreme goal. One must think of radical ways to meet that goal.

Again, there are two very important issues here. One is the short change over and the second is requirement to be in consistent production within that time frame.

I started in 1984, looking at the offset process with a SMED view. It has been what directs my thinking and actions over that time. Having a SMED view leads one down very different paths and it greatly helps in keeping the numerous issues in perspective. One is forced to thinking in radically different ways in order to imagine how one is going to meet that one minute goal.

 

[TomSCT]

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

Tom,

Ditto everything that's been posted. I've done more make ready or set up reduction's on presses using SMED than I care to remember! I can send you some basic guidelines to follow (videotaping essentials, what to look for, etc) if you'd like them. Just send an email to me at LeanPrinter (at) gmail.com

Tom Southworth

 

[gordo]

Gordon,

This is exactly what SMED is about. SMED is NOT a continuous improvement method. Or at least it originally was not meant to be.[snip]

Yes I know. I phrased my response that way because I made an inference about the OP's thinking based on how the original question was articulated.

best, gordo

 

[Deleted member 16349]

Yes I know. I phrased my response that way because I made an inference about the OP's thinking based on how the original question was articulated.

best, gordo

That's good.

I would add that without the single minute target for inspiration, what people are doing is basically just continuous improvement and there is nothing wrong with that.