Enhancing Efficiency of Die Exchange Process Through Single Minute of Exchanging Die at a Textile Manufacturing Company in Malaysia

The main idea of this research work is to demonstrate the benefit of the Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) tool in waste elimination. An initiative involving a selected textile manufacturing company in Malaysia and Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) has been undertaken to support the study. Throughout this initiative, SMED was introduced to improve the time-consuming changeover process at the stamping machine of the chosen textile manufacturing company. This study was conducted based on the SMED's framework introduced by Shigeo Shingo through the process of data collection, analysis and evaluation. It involves conversion of some internal activities to external activities, usage of a jig in mold alignment as well as the creation of a new system to assist pressure settings at the stamping machine. Prior to the implementation, the initial recorded average changeover time of the stamping machine was 300 min. After implementation of SMED, the changeover time of the stamping machine had been significantly reduced to 223.15 min which represent a changeover time saving of 25.62%. In conclusion, the initiative appears to be feasible in demonstrating the benefit of SMED implementation especially in the textile manufacturing company.