Kaizen Event Manager
Line 1 SMED Kaizen — 5-day AI-facilitated event with daily agenda generation and results tracking
47
min avg
28
min target
28.75
min avg achieved
$8,200
/ month
⚡ Kaizen Charter — Line 1 SMED
Problem Statement
Line 1 average changeover = 47 min. Excessive internal setup time limiting production capacity and schedule flexibility. Target: ≤28 min through SMED methodology.
Team
Terrell Johnson (Lead) · Lisa Park · Brianna Walsh · Rick Dolan · 2 Line Operators
Scope
Line 1 die changes (all 4 die sets). Excludes Line 2 and Line 3 (DMAIC project active on Line 2).
Event Dates
May 19–23, 2025 · 5 days · Line 1 production paused Day 1 only
Status
✓ CONTROL PHASE — Target Achieved (28.75 min pilot avg)
DAY 1
May 19
Current State Analysis
Video time study — 4 changeovers recorded
Internal vs external setup classification (SMED Step 1)
Spaghetti diagram — technician travel mapped
COMPLETE
DAY 2
May 20
Convert Internal to External
Pre-stage die carts 30 min before changeover
Shadow board for tooling at each press station
Identify tool prep tasks that can run during production
COMPLETE
DAY 3
May 21
Streamline Internal Setup
Standardize torque spec and die seating checklist
Parallel task assignments — 2-person setup team
Eliminate 3 redundant bolting steps via quick-release
COMPLETE
DAY 4
May 22
Pilot Run — New Procedure
3 live changeovers: 31, 29, 28 min — avg 29.3 min
SOP-PRD-028 Rev 1.0 drafted — Standard Work built
COMPLETE
DAY 5
May 23
Results & Control Plan
Final pilot: 28.75 min avg — target achieved
SOP-PRD-028 published · Operator training complete
COMPLETE
SMED Results — Line 1 Changeover
Before vs after comparison · 5-week pilot · PlantPilot AI Control phase monitoring
Time Breakdown — Before SMED (47 min avg)
Time Breakdown — After SMED (28.75 min avg)
▼ 18.25 min reduction · 39% improvement · $8,200/mo saved
PLANTPILOT AI · CONTROL PHASE MONITORING
Pilot results confirm SMED target achieved. Key win: die staging cart eliminated 8 minutes of tooling retrieval — the largest single time reduction. Shadow board cut tool search from 10 to 2 minutes. PlantPilot AI will monitor Line 1 changeover times weekly and alert if performance degrades beyond 32 minutes. Recommend adding this Kaizen as a reference case in the SOP Library and linking to Standard Work SOP-PRD-028.
Standard Work Builder
SOP-PRD-028 · Line 1 Die Changeover · Takt time 28 min · AI-generated from Kaizen results
#Work StepTimeTaktTypevs. Takt
1
Pre-stage die cart at press 30 min before changeover
2 min
28 min
EXTERNAL
Before prod
2
Retrieve tooling from shadow board (station 1)
2 min
—
VALUE ADD
-8 min vs old
3
Run final production parts — first tech removes die bolts simultaneously
0 min
—
PARALLEL
Converted ext.
4
Remove current die — 2-person lift to staging cart
3 min
—
VALUE ADD
-7 min vs old
5
Install new die — verify seating per SOP-PRD-028 Sec 3.2
6 min
—
VALUE ADD
On target
6
Torque all die bolts to 85 ft-lbs per spec (checklist req.)
3 min
—
REQUIRED
On target
7
Set press parameters — tonnage, stroke, SPM per job card
4 min
—
VALUE ADD
On target
8
First-off run (10 pcs) — CMM spot check 3 critical dims
6 min
—
REQUIRED
On target
9
Record changeover time and first-off result in ETQ Reliance
2 min
—
REQUIRED
On target
∑
Total Changeover Time
26–30 min
28 min
ON TARGET
✓ Takt met
PLANTPILOT AI · TAKT ANALYSIS
Standard Work balanced to 28-minute takt time. Step 9 (documentation) is the only non-value-add step remaining — required for IATF 16949 compliance. The parallel conversion of die bolt removal (Step 3) is the most significant design improvement — it removed dead time with no additional resources.
PlantPilot AI will flag any operator who skips Step 6 torque verification — this is linked to the die seating failure in the Line 2 scrap DMAIC root cause analysis.
PlantPilot AI will flag any operator who skips Step 6 torque verification — this is linked to the die seating failure in the Line 2 scrap DMAIC root cause analysis.