SMED stands for Single Minute Exchange of Die. The SMED system is theory and set of techniques that make it possible to perform equipment set up and changeover operations in under 10 minutes – in others words, in the single minute range. SMED was originally developed to improve die press and machine tool set-ups, but its principles apply to changeovers in all types of process. It is important to point out that if may not be possible to reach single minute range for all Set ups, but SMED does dramatically reduce Set up times in almost every case.

Customers today want a variety of products in just the quantities they need. They expect high quality, a good price, and speedy delivery SMED helps meet these customer needs with less waste by making it cost – effective to produce things in smaller quantities, or lots.