A formal design for changeover methodology. Part 2: Methodology and case study

Rapid changeover between products is paramount if genuine manufacturing flexibility and efficiency are to be achieved. Limited guidance is currently available for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) trying to create flexible and responsive manufacturing hardware suited to their customers' needs. This paper presents a formal design for changeover (DFC) methodology. This is a generic methodology aiming to assist designers in the design of flexible and responsive manufacturing equipment. The proposed methodology guides the equipment designer through a step-by-step process from analysing changeover capabilities through to the identification of improvement opportunities. The methodology builds upon basic concepts and methods described in Part 1 of this paper. The identification of improvement ideas is supported by the change driver flow-down introduced in this part. A case study is presented to illustrate the use of the methodology. © IMechE 2006.