Question

1. Answer the following:
   1. Describe what are red cards (include its objective, 2-3 lines).
   2. Provide a brief description of how they work and some of the elements that need to be included in the card.

Finally describe what is the relationship between 5s and SMED.

Answer 1

A)Red cards are used to identify rejected stock or materials. It is card which holds the record of the rejected goods held in stock. The Red card has a prescribed template which is to be filled by the storekeeper such as date, batch no, part no, the action that needs to be taken, inspectors sign etc.

B)RED cards or red tags are used to identify the rejected materials or materials where one is unsure of what action needs to be taken. This happens after the sorting phase is over in 5S. After the material is sorted, the rejected material is placed on the rejected area and red cards are placed on them with information that identifies the material, the date, the batch no, Action was taken status, inspectors sign etc. These details are also noted in the rejected register. After this is done, the material placed in rejected areas can be either sold, scrapped or reused as required.

C)SMED is a single minute exchange of die which is a lean tool to reduce the changeover time. Changing from one job to another takes some time which is considered as waste. SMED is a lean process which focuses on reducing this time.5S helps in this process by helping in organizing the area around machinery and providing with a clean and sorted workplace.Lots of equipment and tools are required for changeover. If these tools are not organized and not found at their designated place,this will result in wasteful search time. Organizaing tools by 5S methods will hence help in eliminating the search time.