Consider the following comparison between single minute exchange of die (SMED) and continuous delivery.
First, the definition for SMED.
Single minute exchange of die(SMED) - A series of techniques for rapid changeovers of production machinery. Ten minutes is a common initial objective. SMED does not literally require only one minute. It implies that die changes should be completed in a single digit of time (0- 9 minutes). Long-term objective is zero setup time to optimize continuous flow.
The goal of SMED is to reduce setup time… To be flexible and switch production between different kinds of products.
Now, it’s fascinating that in Continuous Integration (CI) there’s a concept called the ten-minute build. After you check code in to the CI build server, the automated unit tests created using test-driven development are kicked off and run against the latest code. The tests should run in ten minutes or less (similar time as SMED) so the feedback is given to the team quickly.
So when a developer runs his code changes through the unit tests and deployment pipeline and the code is deployed to production through 1-click deploy, he is making a rapid changeover of production code. After the software deployment changeover, the Scrum team is working on a new version of the software product.
Likewise, Extreme Programming practiced with a pairing station, test-driven development, and one-click deployment optimizes continuous flow.