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As the signage industry begins to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies such as AI, loT, and digital tools, it’s essential to understand some manufacturing jargon that may be unfamiliar. While these concepts may seem daunting, they are crucial for the long-term success of your business.
So, let’s dive in and learn about OEE!
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is a metric used to measure the effectiveness of manufacturing processes or individual equipment. It considers three factors:
Availability
(actual production time vs. planned),
Performance
(equipment performance vs. maximum potential)
Quality
(production rate of “good count” products).
The OEE is calculated by multiplying scores of these three factors, resulting in a percentage value that indicates the equipment’s or process’s overall effectiveness.
It is widely used in manufacturing industries to identify areas for optimization, track improvements, and benchmark different equipment and production lines. With Industry 4.0, IoT devices provide real-time data to gauge and improve OEE.
Benefits of improving OEE
Improving OEE has many benefits for sign manufacturing organizations, such as:
- Increased productivity
- Improved efficiency
- Cost reduction
- Enhanced quality
- Better decision-making
- Increased capacity
- Equipment reliability and longevity
By optimizing equipment utilization, reducing downtime, and minimizing quality issues, sign shops can achieve higher production rates and output, improve overall efficiency, reduce costs, and produce exceptional products that meet or exceed customer expectations.
Monitoring and analyzing OEE metrics provide valuable insights into equipment performance and production processes, enabling data-driven decision-making and increasing the overall capacity of the production system.
Finally, improving OEE often involves proactive maintenance and care for equipment, which can improve equipment reliability, extend equipment lifespan, and reduce the risk of unexpected breakdowns.
How to improve OEE
Improving OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) requires a systematic approach. The following are key strategies and practices to help maintain world-class OEE:
- Measure and track OEE: Start by measuring and tracking OEE accurately for your equipment and production processes. Establish a current condition baseline and set goals for improvement. Use OEE as a performance metric to monitor progress and identify areas that need attention.
- Focus on Availability: Address equipment downtime and maximize equipment availability. Implement preventive maintenance programs to minimize breakdowns and schedule maintenance activities during planned stops. Optimize changeover processes to reduce setup time and improve equipment utilization.
- Enhanced Performance: Look for opportunities to optimize equipment performance. Identify and address factors such as availability losses, speed losses, and idle time that impact overall performance. Implement training programs to ensure operators have the necessary skills to operate equipment efficiently.
- Improve Quality: Quality losses can significantly impact OEE. Focus on reducing defects, rework, and scrap. Implement quality control measures, conduct root cause analysis for defects, adopt computer vision technologies to detect anomalies, and ensure quality in manufacturing and production processes. Implement corrective actions to improve product quality and reduce waste.
- Implement autonomous maintenance: Empower operators to take ownership of the equipment through autonomous maintenance practices. Remotely monitor assets from IoT sensors and devices and deploy computer vision at the edge, reducing reliance on maintenance teams and minimizing downtime.
- Implement OEE-driven maintenance: Use OEE data to prioritize maintenance activities. Focus on critical equipment or components that have a significant impact on OEE. Implement predictive maintenance strategies by leveraging condition monitoring techniques and real-time data to detect potential equipment failures.
- Continuous improvement culture: Foster a culture of continuous improvement throughout the organization. Implement structured improvement initiatives such as Kaizen events, Six Sigma projects, or lean manufacturing methodologies to drive ongoing improvement efforts.
- Data-driven decision-making: Utilize data analytics to gain insights into the factors affecting OEE. Analyze OEE trends, identify patterns, and use data to make informed decisions about equipment upgrades, process optimizations, or resource allocation. Leverage advanced analytics and predictive models to identify potential areas for improvement.
- Employee engagement and training: Engage and train employees at all levels to drive OEE improvements. Ensure they understand the importance of OEE, provide them with the necessary training and resources to perform their roles effectively, and involve them in meaningful initiatives. Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing among teams.
- Continuous monitoring and review: OEE improvement is an ongoing process. Continuously monitor OEE, track performance, and review progress against targets. Regularly assess the effectiveness of implemented improvements and make adjustments as needed. Stay proactive in identifying new improvement opportunities.
Remember that OEE score improvement is a long-term endeavor, requiring commitment, collaboration, and relentless focus on continuous improvement. It’s essential to involve all stakeholders, from operators to managers, and celebrate wins to maintain motivation and engagement.
Related Terms
Various terms related to OEE are commonly used in discussions and analyses of equipment and manufacturing performance. Understanding these terms and their relationship to OEE can aid organizations in identifying and addressing areas of improvement to enhance equipment efficiency, throughput, and overall manufacturing performance.
Planned production time refers to the total time allotted, excluding any scheduled downtime for planned maintenance or changeovers.
Production losses – the six significant losses impacting OEE include equipment breakdowns, setup and adjustment time, equipment idling time and minor stoppages, reduced speed or rate process defects in startup, and yield losses.
Downtime is when equipment is unavailable for production due to unforeseen factors such as breakdowns, unplanned maintenance, and other unexpected events – the opposite of uptime.
Small stop refers to a brief pause in production that’s too short to be tracked as downtime.
Bottleneck is a point in the production process where the flow of materials or operations is constrained, causing a slower overall production rate. Bottlenecks limit the maximum output of the entire system.
Runtime is the time equipment is actively producing, calculated by subtracting downtime from the planned production time.
Changeover time refers to the duration required to switch from producing one product to another. It includes tasks like cleaning, reconfiguration adjustments, setup, and warmup.
The ideal cycle time is the theoretically fastest possible time to manufacture one piece.
Slow cycle is a cycle that takes longer than the ideal cycle time but less than a slight stop.
Takt time is the available production time divided by the customer demand. It represents the maximum time allowed per unit to meet customer demand.
Challenges for improving OEE
Improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) can bring numerous benefits, but organizations may encounter several common challenges when implementing and optimizing it. Below are some of the common challenges organizations face when working on OEE optimization:
Organizational alignment and culture: OEE improvements need a culture of continuous improvement, employee engagement, and effective communication. Resistance to change, lack of buy-in, and a focus on short-term productivity over long-term efficiency can hinder OEE initiatives.
Equipment complexity and variability: Managing OEE for modern production equipment can be challenging due to its complexity and variability. Developing standardized OEE metrics to account for different equipment configurations can be complex.
Understanding OEE metrics: Understanding OEE metrics can be challenging for organizations. Proper training and education can help identify underlying causes of low OEE and prioritize improvement efforts.
Identifying and addressing root causes: Finding the root causes of low OEE is challenging. It needs a systematic approach, data analysis, and stakeholder collaboration, including operators, maintenance personnel, and process engineers. Identifying the underlying issues accurately is crucial for implementing practical corrective actions.
Data availability and accessibility: Real-time production data can be challenging to assess and integrate from different systems and sources, including legacy equipment that may require additional connectivity and sensors.
Sustaining OE improvements: Maintaining initial improvements in OEE can be challenging. Ongoing measurement and analysis are necessary to maintain these improvements.
Data collection and accuracy: Reliable data collection is essential for accurate OEE calculation. However, manual data entry and inadequate tracking systems can lead to inaccuracies and incomplete information, affecting the reliability of OEE measurements.
Balancing trade-offs: Balancing OEE (Availability, Performance, and Quality) is crucial as improving one aspect may lead to other exchanges, affecting the overall impact on customer satisfaction.
To conclude, organizations can effectively implement OEE by proactively identifying and resolving challenges. This approach leads to consistent improvements in equipment efficiency and overall productivity. Though it may seem overwhelming, understanding OEE principles and adopting the related language can help teams make significant progress toward making operational efficiency a competitive advantage.
John Hackley has more than 35 years of experience in build-to-order sign manufacturing. He currently owns and works as a consultant for Oculus Business Solutions. If you want to learn about lean production and Industry 4.0 strategies that can help your business grow and become more profitable, please visit www.leanshopmanager.com.
