Many companies have jumped on the bandwagon of using OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
as a KPI for their manufacturing equipment, lines, and plants. This article will introduce what OEE
is and briefly discuss how it should and should not be used.
What is OEE
OEE indicates how effectively machines are utilized on the manufacturing plant floor. Another way to put it is OEE is the percentage value the machine is performing up to its true potential.
OEE is made up of three parts, each of which is calculated as percentages, and the total value is calculated by multiplying all three parts: Availability rate x Performance rate x Quality rate. Ex: 70% Availability x 80% Performance x 90% Quality = 50% OEE
Each of these three parts can be further broken down as follows:
Availability (uptime of the machine)
- Equipment failure or breakdowns
- Setup and adjustment
Performance (speed producing widgets)
- Idling and minor stoppages
- Reduced speed of operation
Quality (products produced correctly the first time, without rework)
- Process defects (scrap, repairs)
- Reduced yield (from startup to stable production)
Why is OEE Valuable?
This is very valuable because the utilization of an asset has a direct correlation to the revenue the machine provides the manufacturer. Of course, you want to make sure that your machine is operating as efficiently as possible. paying attention to OEE will help you to keep your machines running more, with less downtime. OEE can also assist in making sure that your machine is making a good quality product to be sent to the customer. If your machine is down or making poor quality products that cannot be sent to the customer, then the machine is not generating as much revenue as it otherwise would.
Having machines down or just not working at an effective pace can greatly affect the overall production of the plant, and cause you to miss deadlines. That means less happy customers and a higher chance of them taking their business elsewhere. Happy customers mean more business, more money, less stress, and a great strong reputation to retain a good customer base and push your growing business up to the next level.
The bottom line is that your machines across the plant floor will be more productive, making better products. Making sure that your machines are being used to their full potential will lead you to generate higher revenue.
How to Use it
Here are 3 ways we recommend using OEE if your company is new to this manufacturing KPI:
- Find machines that need attention: A good manufacturer will attempt to remove all constraints in its production process whether or not that additional capacity is currently needed. Users can find constraints or issues with machines by looking at the individual OEE values for each machine and determining which are performing effectively and which are not. Lower OEE values will indicate which may need some attention. Addressing issues with machines and thereby improving their operating effectiveness can then increase the revenue the machine produces.
- Find the cause: Once a machine with a lower OEE is identified the staff can look at each of the three components of OEE (Availability, Performance, and Quality) and find a leading cause of the OEE difficulties. Additional analysis is then required to find the cause and fix it. Then set up improvement projects to address the issues.
- Confirm improvement: Once the issues are addressed with the machines continue to monitor the OEE values for those machines. If the OEE numbers go up, especially in the parts where the issues were addressed, then the efforts to fix them may have been worthwhile. Otherwise, the machine and its issues may warrant a second look.
