A SMED workshop at CASAR took place in mid-January. The aim of the 11-member cross-sectoral team was to deal with the long setup time caused by the machine’s construction type on the longest tubular strander. The team had the task of reducing the setup time through the use of suitable organisational and personnel measures. Generally, 25-strand filler braids and 26 to 31-strand Warrington-seale braids are produced on this tubular strander. The machine is frequently prepared and many spools are also prepared again and again during production.

In order to define a target, a statistical evaluation was first carried out over the last 12 months in order to record the current situation. On the basis of this analysis, the setup processes carried out most frequently were selected.

The following targets were agreed:

  • Reduction of machine downtime by 30%
  • Reduction of spool change time by 50%

After clarification of the general condition for opening the workshop by Mr Heims and Mr Tudela, a complete setup process was carried out according to the procedure which applied up to this point in time. This was attended by the entire team and additionally recorded on video. In this the machine operator’s procedure took place in the foreground, each movement and journey was precisely followed and recorded. All journeys made by the machine operator were recorded with a spaghetti diagram. The entirety of the setup process was determined and each one of the 72 process steps was documented. Subsequently, the team classified each individual step into the categories “internal” and “external”. Process steps which were considered avoidable by the team were eliminated.