Table Of ContentPRAISE FOR THE
REDUCEDEFFORT® CHANGEOVER SYSTEM
“Ron Heiskell has given the Lean world a gift: an opportunity to improve far be-
yond what anybody could fathom.”
—Paul A. Akers, author of 2 Second Lean, Lean Health, and Lean Travel
“We worked with Ron to implement the ReducedEffort process and saw a 30%
output improvement after just three days. The real bonus came with the unleashing
of employee engagement.”
—Nick Wilson, President of Morrison Container Handling Solutions; Past Chair-
man of Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI); Packaging Hall
of Fame inductee
“Prior to the event, I was viewing this as a repackaged form of SMED. After going
through the process, I found it was not that at all. If ReducedEffort is not already
the future of changeover improvements, it will be. . . . The process works and is fun
at the same time. It makes you think, not just about changeovers but also about so
much more that is applicable to operations improvements. I’ve been through many
events and worked with many consultants. Ron is by far the most engaging, inter-
esting, and relevant one. He connects with everyone, and you can’t help but learn.”
—John O., Operations Development Manager, major beverage company
“This workshop was great. I’ve been doing this twenty years now and have no
problem admitting your process was new to me.”
—Danny K., Plant Manager, major flexographic printer
“This ReducedEffort Changeover process absolutely develops standard best-
practice work.”
—Mike S., Technical Manager, major beverage company
“Ron Heiskell and his ReducedEffort Changeover philosophy has been so success-
ful at our facility because it is highly relatable to the everyday worker and manager.
The thought that we can accomplish our goal of changeover-time reduction by shift-
ing our paradigms about how (the manner in which) work tasks are performed ver-
sus the speed at which those tasks are performed is both simple and revolutionary.”
—Tony C., Plant Manager, major beverage company
“It was the most impactful event I have yet to take part in. … While you have
always taken the stand that it is more about the culture and changing how people
view their roles and responsibilities, I never realized just how true it is. I believe
your process is key to changing our site’s culture, both at the associate level and the
management level.”
—Dirk C., World Class Manufacturing Lead Consultant, major consumer house-
hold products and food manufacturing company
“Every time you come out, you energize a new group and show them what they
are capable of and how far they can go to accomplish it. You are truly helping me
advance the culture. I love the concept of focusing on effort and effort alone. The
big “ah ha” for me is watching how risk and time decrease as effort is reduced.”
—Matt R., Plant Manager, major bag manufacturing company
“This training has been impactful in driving out wasted effort. … The shift in op-
erator thinking has been very exciting and was not fully expected. The presenta-
tions and the work during the event were the drivers of this very positive cultural
change in the plant.”
—John M., Plant Manager, major household cleaning products company
“I just wanted to give you a quick update on our REC progress. The changeover we
did this afternoon was 40 minutes. (During the REC Event, the time was reduced
from 347 minutes to 108 minutes.) I just wanted to let you know that we continue to
make progress! For our plant, the biggest impact from the ReducedEffort Change-
over (REC) process was beginning to see a change in culture, where technicians are
now engaged in the process and feel some ownership for making the changeover
as effortless as possible. Prior to REC, they felt like the changeover was the best it
could be, and if it were to be changed, it was management’s job to change it. Now,
they see they have the ability to make changes.”
—Danielle H., Operations Manager, major extruder of plastics
“The REC process provided a fun and very interesting way of engaging all partici-
pants to quickly come to time and effort reductions on a changeover for our case
packer. I, and I speak for the rest of my plant, have never seen or participated in
anything remotely like the training that you gave here. . . . This one will definitely
go down in our annals of a worthwhile and fun event. Changeover is one of our
biggest losses, and the only way to tackle it or get our hands around it is through
your process.”
—Doug R., World Class Manufacturing Lead, major food manufacturer
“The plant experienced a forty-three percent and a fifty percent reduction in change-
over downtime on their two lines. I’m thrilled to see the huge reductions in change-
over times on each line. This process reduces losses, drives up operating efficiency,
and makes the operation safer. What a great combination!”
—Rick M., Director of Manufacturing, major household cleaning products
company
“I can’t believe a forty-two–minute filler changeover is now seven minutes. Simply
awesome!”
—Tommy W., World Class Manufacturing Manager, major household cleaning
products manufacturer
“This event was a very positive experience at our plant. As a result, we saw sig-
nificant reduction and simplification in changeover, plus an increase in operator
ownership.”
—Rick V., Plant Manager, major household cleaning products company
“I participated on the labeler team, and it was impressive to witness how the process
really drove results. Prior to the event, a changeover took over seven hundred tasks
and sixty minutes to complete. Both of those numbers were cut by fifty percent. The
nice thing is that this is not about working harder and faster to achieve a shorter
downtime, but rather it is about eliminating wasted efforts. Since the operators were
taking charge in figuring out the improved way, you could plainly see their owner-
ship. Very impressive process, and I was grateful to have been a part of it. I firmly
believe that this is valuable training and that everyone should go through it.”
—Reyes F., Chemical Engineer, major automotive products company
“In three days, they cut a changeover downtime from one-hundred-fifty minutes to
thirty-five minutes, and we had been doing it the old way for twenty-five years.”
—Dave P., Plant Manager, major plastic bag manufacturer
“I consider the value of this training to be excellent and priceless due to the excite-
ment and people involvement that it has created.”
—Benvinda S., Industrial Engineer, major vitamin-tablet maker
“Thank you very much for leading the event this week. We had been working on
changeovers here for quite some time and had already made big reductions. For
both groups to get an additional fifty percent reduction is really amazing. Doug P.
even made the comment that this was the most productive event he had ever par-
ticipated in since he joined the company twenty-five years ago.”
—Jamie O., Plant Manager, major consumer household products manufacturer
“I was optimistic that we were going to improve the process, but what impressed
me the most is how involved everyone was during the event. You kept everyone
interested and involved the entire week. It was interesting to see the shift in atti-
tudes as the week went on. I have had so many positive comments about last week.
Everyone is energized and ready to improve even more. Thanks for all your help!”
—Brian V., Production Manager, major consumer products company
“Opening people’s minds to change is not an easy task. … Your methods are quite
effective.”
—Vera S., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“A lot of times when involved in a program like this, you lose interest. In this one,
you stay interested. You learn how to take ideas and implement them into a change-
over in ways you normally wouldn’t think of doing.”
—Allen B., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“I feel that this event added value to everyone’s thinking.and could benefit a num-
ber of other lines.”
—Jim K., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“I had high hopes for some great results. This training and exercise was better than
I imagined.”
—Peggy C., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“Great experience. It really changed the way I look at everything.”
—Brian P., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“It’s what this company needs. . . . I hope we can do the event on other parts of the
line.”
—Israel M., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“I didn’t think we could make the changeover go any faster. . . . [The event] enlight-
ened and empowered us to not just settle on doing things because that’s the way
they have always been done.”
—Rachel V., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“This event exceeds what I thought was possible.”
—Joe L., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“Being at my first REC Event, I didn’t know what to expect, but it was an excellent
presentation and overall success. Very rewarding and engaging, and I would par-
ticipate in another one in a heartbeat. It is an excellent way to see how collaboration
with team members can produce good results. Excellent training and presentation.”
—Wendy B., REC Event participant, major consumer products company
“The operator’s workload became significantly reduced, and the company gained
the benefit—a perfect win/win.”
—REC Event participant
“Excellent seminar, taught by someone who you can tell has a lot of experience
in this field. The ReducedEffort process takes SMED to a totally new level. The
results are amazing.”
—REC Event participant
“It has been one month since our ReducedEffort Changeover Event, and we had
our fourth ‘best ever’ and smashed our big ‘impossible’ goal again this week.
We have had best ever times four times in the past week. The ReducedEffort
process works, and the product output is showing the fruits of this work.”
—Rob M., Process Engineer, major ice cream manufacturer
“The event exceeded my expectations, because I did not expect to reduce time
while reducing effort. It is amazing what can be accomplished if we change the
way we think. This event should be part of any training program, because you can
apply these principles to everything we do. This training changed my perspective
of looking at things and showed me the true meaning of teamwork. Your class was
a wonderful experience.”
—Hiram A., Production Supervisor, major bottling company
ReducedEffort® Changeover
ReducedEffort® Changeover
The Lean Way to Quickly Reduce Changeover Downtime
Second Edition
Ron Heiskell
