Setup Reduction for Printers: A Practical Guide to Reducing Makeready Time in Print Manufacturing

Book excerpt: Setup Reduction is how companies increase value to their customers. Yet it is not a simple process. Setup Reduction for Printers outlines a method for reducing setup times by using the proven techniques developed as Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED). Malcolm Keif and Kevin Cooper outline a ten-step process that can reduce setup times by 50% or more by focusing on reducing internal makeready tasks and moving those to external tasks. Setup Reduction for Printers goes in-depth by focusing on all aspects of your makeready, from standardizing fasteners, to minimizing adjustments, to incorporating parallel processing, to error-proofing your makeready. Using practical printing examples, Setup Reduction for Printers shows how you can engage your team, utilizing Lean principles, to methodically work through the process of makeready reduction. Using a motorsports pit crew analogy, your employees can work through the strategies discussed in this book to lower your costs and improve your bottom line. Setup Reduction is vital for your success in the competitive landscape of print manufacturing.