A quick changeover (sometimes called a Single Minute Exchange of Die or SMED) is a tool used by Lean production to reduce the amount of time it takes to change from running one part or product to running a different one. It is also referred to as setup reduction.
Use: Quick changeovers have the potential to reduce costs, improve cycle time, and increase process flexibility. The reason why they call it Single Minute Exchange of Die is due to the one time goal to try to get the changeover time, measured in hours, down to a time measured in single digits (e.g., 9 minutes, 8 minutes, etc.) ever since that was accomplished, the whole idea of SMED spread.
