For a Tier 1 supplier of precision metal components, assemblies, and integrated systems, press uptime is throughput, and every minute a press sits down for a die change is capacity that does not come back. This supplier was pursuing a broader push to elevate overall equipment effectiveness and plant-wide productivity, and it had identified faster, more consistent changeovers as a major opportunity to recover capacity and improve throughput. The starting point was an 89-minute changeover average, slow enough and variable enough to cap output across the floor.

Underneath the time was a structural problem. Internal and external setup activities were not separated, so work that could have been staged off-line while the press was still running was instead done with the press down. Ownership and accountability were thin across operators, die setters, and supervisors, and there was little data visibility into how changeovers actually performed, so no one clearly owned the loss. There was no standardized changeover discipline, no pre-flight checklist, no parameter verification, and no audit, and die staging was inefficient enough to force more than 300 feet of unnecessary forklift travel per changeover, with fixtures going untracked.

Inconsistent shift handoffs and the absence of a downtime escalation path meant problems carried across shifts unresolved rather than getting closed. Leadership did not need a one-time blitz that improved a handful of changeovers and faded. It needed a system: structured SMED method, on-the-floor coaching to build ownership, and visual management that would make standard work the default and keep performance consistent over the long term.

POWERS started by understanding exactly where the time went. Detailed time studies and video analysis distinguished internal setup, the work that genuinely requires the press to be down, from external setup that could be staged while the press kept running. That separation became the foundation of a structured SMED approach and made it clear which minutes were recoverable.

On that foundation, the team built and installed the systems that make a fast changeover repeatable. A Pre-Flight Changeover Checklist and a Parameter Verification and No-Run-Without-Parameters process locked in readiness before a run began, a Changeover Audit Tool held the new standard in place, and Die Staging Area Optimization eliminated more than 300 feet of unnecessary forklift travel per changeover. A Fixture Tracking System with an audit process ended the searching for fixtures, while a Standardized Shift Handoff Protocol and a Downtime Escalation Matrix closed the gaps where problems used to carry across shifts unresolved.

To keep the gains visible and owned, POWERS introduced visual management: hour-by-hour boards, shadow board templates, changeover prioritization maps, and staffing visuals. Operators, die setters, and supervisors were coached on the floor so the standard work and disciplined routines became the way the plant ran, not a one-time event. Together the time studies, the installed systems, and the visual management converted recovered changeover time into consistent, sustainable running time.