Reducing Setup Time in Screen Printing: SMED Guide

TL;DR

Separate internal setup (machine stopped) from external setup (machine running).
Most shops move 40–60% of setup off the press without buying anything.
Setup time reduction pays only where the press is the constraint.

Short runs are unprofitable in most shops not because the printing is slow but because a fixed 30-minute setup is spread over 60 garments.

1Film the next four setups. You cannot improve what you have not watched.
2Classify every action as internal (press must stop) or external (can happen in parallel).
3Convert internal to external: pre-registered screens, pre-mixed ink, staged pallets, kitted tools.
4Standardise the remaining internal sequence and give it a target time.
5Re-measure after two weeks; keep the new time as the costing input.

Setup cost per garment

Setup_cost_per_garment = (Setup_minutes / 60 × Loaded_rate) / Run_size

60-piece job, €28 loaded rate

Registration time released per month

Jobs per month

Minutes before

Minutes after

Contribution margin (per press hour)

Same calculation kernel as the full calculators. For a decision-grade result, open the matching calculator.

Turn your own numbers into a bank-ready PDF report.