The SMED system was born out of necessity, in order to achieve Just-In-Time production, one of Toyota’s manufacturing corner-stones. This system was developed to cut set-up times, enabling smaller batch sizes to be produced. The set-up procedures were simplified by using common or similar set-up elements whenever possible. This approach was in complete contrast with traditional manufacturing procedures, as Shingo pointed out:
“It is generally and erroneously believed that the most effective policies for dealing with set-ups address the problem in terms of skill. Although many companies have set up policies designed to raise the skill level of the workers, few have implemented strategies that lower the skill level required by the set-up itself.”