ABSTRACT
Quick changeover is an essential part of any production system that wants to adapt promptly to change. While wide-variety, small-lot production is a key ingredient for adaptability to change and improved productivity, it is also important to duplicate the advantages of large-lot production. Once factory managers understand that changeover can be done in less than ten minutes, they become interested in adopting quick changeover technologies. Changeover teams should also describe and illustrate the steps they took and problems they encountered on the road to success. The level-one company must learn that overproduction not only wastes assets by creating excess warehouse inventory, it also gives rise to other kinds of waste, such as wasted motion, defect production, work-in-process, and conveyance. In the level-four factory, single changeover has been established and changeover exhibitions have been held for all currently used types of machines and equipment.
