Reduction of mold exchange time with smed - single minute exchange of die and tool in a footwear industry

Abstract

This paper presents applied research with the application of a tool to reduce the time of change of molds (setup) applying the methodology SMED. The study is about a sector of components for footwear that produces the upper part of the shoe, leather, in the footwear industry. An analysis of how to reduce mold exchange times and to improve these times to speed the production of small batches with the lowest index of material waste and labor was performed. The results obtained with the application of the SMED -Single Minute Exchange of Die and Tool was a significant gain in the setup as well as better productivity indexes, reduction of raw material in the construction of the tooling and recent material gains in the component's productive process. The implementation of the project added quality to the product, and the company obtained a time gain in the mold exchange of 82.60%, increasing the production of 9,592 pairs/month.