Changeover

In manufacturing, changeover is the process of converting a line or machine from running one product to another. Changeover times can last from a few minutes to as much as several weeks in the case of automobile manufacturers retooling for new models. Reducing changeover times became a popular way to reduce waste in Lean manufacturing after Taiichi Ohno and Shingo Shigeo popularized the SMED (single-minute exchange of die) method in the, now famous, Toyota Production System (TPS). The terms set-up and changeover are sometimes used interchangeably however this usage is incorrect. Set-up is only one component of changeover. Example: A soft drink bottler may run 500 ml glass bottles one day, perform a changeover on the line and then run 750 ml plastic bottles the next day.