OEE: Know this indicator of effectiveness in industries

Have you ever noticed that usually in factories out there, there is always a conversation about such an OEE? It is like the main star when measuring production performance. But do we really know what OEE is about and how to use it to turn the factory performance? Let's dig a little deeper into this subject and find out the mornings of this indicator!

OEE, which comes from the English Overall Equipment Effectiveness, or overall effectiveness of the equipment in Portuguese, born with the intention of assisting the TPM (total productive maintenance). It is considered the gold standard to evaluate productivity in manufacturing. It is a central concept in lean manufacturing and a key performance indicator for any production installation, manufacturing unit or individual station.

The big balcony of OEE is that it is not just a beautiful number for us to admire. He is here to make the difference of truth, pointing where production is in need of help and how we can improve.

But of course, it's not enough just to have the OEE in the sleeve and wait for the magic to happen . Implementing this right is a process that requires organization and having an aligned team is crucial. You have to have the right data in hand, understand the basic principles and, especially, the benefits it brings to the company.

OEE acts as a production problem detector, revealing failures throughout the line and machines, which is often called the "hidden factory". It shows where we are losing production opportunities with the resources we have available.

In addition, OEE guides resource allocation strategies and maintenance by highlighting real problems within the factory. By focusing efforts on eliminating waste, OEE not only measures performance, but also drives the search for continuous improvement. We can go further, if you have the OEE in real time, connected to an Advanced Planning & Scheduling ) tool, you can predict whether to comply with the production orders and adjust customer delivery and anticipating problems or complaints, you will be taking your business to another level of information.

The interesting thing about this indicator is that it focuses on critical areas of productivity loss, grouped into three main categories: availability, performance and quality. These categories are fundamental to understand how factory equipment is used and how products are delivered to customers.

But after all, how do we calculate this OEE? Well, OEE is the result of multiplication of three parts: availability, performance and quality. I will explain to you what each of them means and how to calculate:

Availability

‍This is how long the machine or production line has been available to work as planned, with no non -planned stops. To calculate this, we look at the total time when it was for the machine or line should be working and subtracted the time she stood for some reason. The reasons can be planned or not planned: explain the planned ones, which were missing in the text.

Unplanned stops are when the machine to unexpectedly without programming. It may be due to breach of equipment, lack of operators or even lack of material. Already the planned stops are those we know in advance that would happen, such as maintenance, adjust some tool or even clean the machine.

It is important to remember that the list of reasons for stops may vary depending on the type of production and the company. But a good way to start understanding is to write down the most common causes of stops.

And there is one more thing: it is not told as loss of availability the already scheduled stops, such as great planned maintenance (such as those of the holiday season, for example) or renovations. Nor should we count when the lack of demand or some seasonality determines that we close some full shifts previously. that ends up leaving the machine without production programming. These are deleted from the calculation of OEE. On the other hand, setup times and waits for the production of other sectors to produce are accounted for

Performance

‍Here we are observing the actual speed of the machine or the production line compared to the speed that was foreseen. This predicted speed, sometimes called the "maximum demonstrated rate" (MDR) or "ideal cycle time", represents the maximum that the machine should be able to produce.

Performance shows how much the machine actually yielded during the time it was working compared to the maximum it could have surrendered operating at that top speed.

We divide performance losses into two types:

Micro stops: These are those moments when the machine for a short time, usually less than a minute. Often the operator himself can solve the problem quickly. However, these stops can be so frequent that their impact can go unnoticed. Examples include food failures, material jams, wrong settings and even quick cleaning that need to be done occasionally.

Slow Cycles: These are the moments when the machine works slower than the expected speed. This can be caused for various reasons, such as the machine being dirty or worn, inadequate lubrication, lower quality material or incorrect adjustments. Human factors, such as lack of training or operator experience, can also influence this.

Quality

‍The third aspect of OEE focuses on the quality of manufactured products. Simply put, quality refers to the percentage of products that come out of the production line according to customer specifications from the first time. Quality losses are divided into two categories: production tailings and initial tailings.

Production Reads: These are the defects that arise during stable production, that is, when the line is operating without major problems. These defects can be corrected through rework. For example, products with incorrect weight, labeling problems, non -chemical or physical conformities and damaged packaging.

Initial rejections: Here comes the defects that occur from the beginning of production until the line stabilizes. These defects are usually more noticeable after shift exchanges or when starting equipment operation. Examples include products outside the standards, equipment that needs time to heat or generate waste at the beginning of the operation.

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To make it easier to understand how to unite all this in the formula, we create the example below so that you can better understand and have the calculation of your OEE. Just look:

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An important point, each of these pillars of the OEE calculation, has some common errors that we must be careful not to calculate wrong distorting the indicator.

See examples below:

Availability:

Availability is an area where several challenges arise in the calculation of OEE. A common mistake is excessive deletion of stops in the calculation of OEE.

For example, shift exchanges are often omitted from the calculation, although they represent significant periods of inactivity. Imagine an exchange that lasts 30 minutes when it was scheduled to last only 10 minutes. This results in a 20 -minute loss in the process, which can greatly impact production. Identifying and understanding these losses is crucial to improving operational efficiency.

Performance:

A common challenge related to performance is the lack of understanding of the maximum potential performance of the machines. Often manufacturers underestimate the actual speed of production, which can lead to an incorrect reading of OEE, with a percentage of exceeding 100%.

One way to solve this is to contact the machine manufacturer for information on the maximum demonstrated rate (MDR). If this is not viable, it is possible to establish a reference based on the fastest changes records. Periodically adjusting cycle times based on operator performance can also help improve calculation accuracy.

Quality:

Regarding quality, two main challenges arise in the calculation of OEE:

The lack of a reliable method to automatically record the scrap, which often requires operators to manually record rejections.

The delay in obtaining quality information, which can result in inaccurate data by calculating OEE retrospectively.

Resolving these issues is essential to ensure that OEE calculation accurately reflects the efficiency and quality of production operations.

Understanding and implementing OEE is critical to setting achievable goals and optimizing the use of equipment. Following a successful implementation guide ensures that you are on the right track to achieve your lean manufacturing goals.

Now that we better understand what OEE is, how can we start implementing it in real time in our company? At Neo, we are specialists on this subject and we have already helped companies around the world reach their maximum potential. To further facilitate this journey, we are offering 30 free days of our OEE tool, along with the hardware needed to connect to your equipment and transmit the signals (yes, you read it! It's 30 days with the equipment and at no cost!). And before you ask about pranks or small letters, know that if you do not like or do not fit your process, just return the equipment. Simple as that, because our mission is to help the industry reach all its maximum potential.

If you are interested, get to know Evocon and request your free 30 -day demonstration . Our team will contact you to organize all the details.

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