Available online at www.pelagiaresearchlibrary.com Pelagia Research Library Advances in Applied Science Research, 2015, 6(10):54-72 ISSN: 0976-8610 CODEN (USA): AASRFC 54 Pelagia Research Library Study and designing of new chute plate for single minute exchange of die (SMED) in sheet metal industry on high speed presses Khushee Ram * , Sanjeev Kumar and D. P. Singh Department of Mechanical Engineering, Subharati University, Meerut, U.P.-India _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Today’s business growth is totally dependent on the productivity and the customer satisfaction through in-time delivery and services. This Paper addresses the application of lean manufacturing in sheet metal industry. The goal of this research is to investigate how to improve the productivity and in time delivery as expected by customers. In a sheet metal industry, there is always a big challenge for improvement in the productivity of the plant. KANSAL INDUSTRIES sheet metal industry manufacturing for automotive vehicles have faced the productivity problem from the last few years. Machine capacity utilization is a key goal in achieving minimum time consumption for setup change over time. Tool change over process is recognized as possible area for reducing the time consumption. The main objective of the present study is to identify the root causes of bottle necks operation and implement possible solution to the problems. Single minute exchange of die (SMED) method and quick die change (QDC) technology. Size of the Nut/Bolt & Chute plate design was found as the major cause for high setup time. A standard chute plates was designed for rotor and stator chute with software solid work and designed some other relevant assembly component required for easy setting of chute. The SMED Technique has been improved by additional technology QDC and design modification implementation of chute plate was simultaneously applied. A Significant time savings have been achieved with minimum investment. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION The survival of any industry in today‘s competitive market place depends on response time, production costs and flexibility in manufacturing. In recent years, companies have become increasingly focused on market demand and customers Satisfaction. This has led to the implementation and adoption of lean manufacturing techniques in the automotive industry. Reducing Tool change over time will boost your company‘s capacity, increase your manufacturing flexibility, and help increase overall output. Setup time can be reduced by using Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) concepts, which can be achieved through better planning, process redesign and product. SMED is a scientific approach to reduce setup time that can be applied in any factory to any machine. In which tool can be set in single digit, the ultimate goal of SMED is to perform machine setup and changeover operations in less than ten minutes. Some practitioners have proved that the SMED method really works in practice and in some situations reductions of 80 percent or more are feasible (1, 12). The two main objectives of this study were: first, to identify the root causes of bottlenecks operations and implement possible solutions to the problems; second, to study the cost saving effect after reducing the setup time. Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) methods were applied at two major bottlenecks setup operations; cast on strap and heat seal. The result shows significant reduction of cast on strap setup time to 54% and heat seal setup time to 47%. This study had achieved more than the target 35% of setup time reduction. From setup time reduction, a total cost