How to improve the efficiency of production assets, using the indicator OEE?
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) The overall efficiency of equipment is an indicator that helps to improve the performance of machines and industrial assets.
The process of improving this indicator can be difficult if too much data are collected for monitoring and analysis, or if they are not correct. Then it can be difficult to increase OEE in the enterprise and in manufacturing operations. Today we offer seven best practices. Top recommendations for improving OEE for the entire enterprise.
OEE – avoid complications
In some production companies, calculating and tracking OEE is an important task for people responsible for car maintenance and asset management. When they collect data from several machines or production lines, they can quickly get so much information to work with them that it becomes difficult to understand what you first need to work with in order to increase the efficiency of service and technological production.
Often, one reason for this excess of data is that companies set thresholds for downtime, quality, or performance at very low or impractical levels. As a result, you estimate deviations from OEE indicators that do not carry useful information for analysis.
Below are some practical tips for effectively tracking OEE and improving the effectiveness of practice in your service and asset management.
No. 1: PRIORITY PRODUCTION ASSETS
First, focus your OEE on machines that really matter for business. These are assets that cause negative consequences for the entire enterprise when they fail, slow production or degrade quality. The term “Vottleneck” is often applied to such equipment, which in translation means the bottleneck of an enterprise.
No. 2: DATES OF SOURCE OF REAL TIME
Equipment history logs can be informative and helpful, but if this is all you have, it will be difficult for you to move forward. Connect high-priority assets to sensors in the industrial Internet space (IIoT) and collect real-time data that will give you an idea of what the state of the OEE is now. Monitoring machine health in real time is key to improving OEE.
No. 3: UNDERSTANDING THE COMPONENTS OF OEE COMPONENTS
In improving OEE, an important role is played by the correct definition of the indicators that make up the indicator – availability of equipment, throughput and product quality. They can take various forms and be caused by numerous factors. For example, do you know how to act, planned and unplanned downtime of your critical equipment for production as a whole? When manufactured products go beyond the standards of quality standards, does the problem actually occur on the machine or is it the result of improper storage of raw materials in the warehouse, is not the correct transportation or the purchase and management of supplies?
No. 4: OPTIMIZATION OF THE OEE FORMULA
OEE cannot be the same for all production companies, all machines, and all production lines, even in the case of performing similar operations. Depending on what is important to your customer, quality may be a priority, while throughput is not critical. Or performance is the main goal, and quality problems are not critical, because you massively produce a commercial product, where minor defects do not matter. Improve production with the OEE formula that fits your business, where the components of the OEE are properly weighted according to their impact on the value of your products.
No. 5: PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE PROMOTION (Predictive Maintenance)
As soon as you start real-time status monitoring and begin to get meaningful data for analysis, you can further improve the OEE by changing the service management. Your service technicians do not need to wait until performance, quality or downtime disrupts your production. Instead, they can act as soon as monitoring data begins to indicate a tendency toward an unacceptable OEE value. Your OEE will improve, and you can increase your profits.
No. 6: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT OF WORKING ASSETS
For most of your production equipment, environmental conditions will matter. Dust, fumes, temperature, humidity, building vibrations, air flow, light levels and other conditions may affect your industrial assets or materials and components that are supplied on the production line. Real-time status monitoring can be extended to track changes and trends in production environments (warehouses, workshops, production lines). Improving the working conditions of the equipment directly affects the OEE.
No. 7: CONNECTION OF MONITORING CONDITION AND MACHINERY WITH BUSINESS SYSTEMS
When OEE and intelligent services are connected to your other business systems and processes, they become more valuable to the company. At the same time, these integrations can help you improve OEE and equipment performance. For example, when you connect OEE analysis results and a machine status monitoring analyst to the ERP system, production, purchasing and sales managers can more properly plan resources, purchase materials, equipment and fulfill obligations to customers. In turn, better planning, more reliable demand forecasting, and high-quality materials can positively impact OEE.
