We're talking about documenting work practices and, in my last post, I referred you back to your 5S workshops.

This time we're going to talk about documenting changeover practices.

Once again, the best time to document the how changeovers should be done is right when you're conducting the quick change workshop.  Once you have your new procedure....write it down.

Let's talk about another aspect of changeover "how to"...setup sheets.

Setup sheets go by different names but, essentially, they all contain about the same information.  For a given product, the sheet gives the operator all the information he or she needs to set that product up.  Mind you, it's not an instruction sheet per se. It's more of a basic data sheet.  Information about the part or product, quality specs, customer requirements, tooling, run speeds/rates, machine settings, packaging, and so on are contained on the setup sheet.  Each sheet should have information as to what the standard/spec/setting should  be as well as a space to record what the operator actually achieves when she or he get the part or product running well.

You need setup sheets for every product at every machine.  That's a lot of work.  But, if you don't have them, you're creating a lot (a LOT) of lost time, scrap, quality defects, low efficiency, frustration, and unhappy customers.