Measuring OEE and Finding Losses

Measuring OEE and Finding Losses

Measuring OEE

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is an efficiency measure for production lines and equipment.  For example, if a line is rated to produce 100 units per scheduled hour of production, but only produces 60 units, then its OEE will be 60%.

OEE is a great way to identify poorly performing assets, but it can only tell you that a problem exists.  You must know when, where, and why the losses occurred if you want to improve performance.  Acumence can provide you with this information.

Consider the following example:

A filling line was exhibiting poor performance and resulting in an OEE of 60.57%.  The Acumence Downtime Graph was used to visualize the operating state of each machine on the line during a shift.

Figure 1 Downtime Graph Report

Downtime Graph Report

The case packer was identified as a significant bottleneck in the process, with downtime being identified as the contributing factor. Using Acumence’s OEE analytics, like the Event Shift Analysis tool, downtime states were quickly identified.

Figure 2 Event Shift Analysis Report

Event Shift Analysis Report

In this case, most of the case packer downtime was caused by problems that can be avoided or fixed.  A quick look at spoilage rates and speed losses confirmed the case packer as the downtime culprit.  The plant focused its resources on improving uptime, resulting in a significant improvement in line performance.

Acumence is more than just an OEE measurement and reporting system.  It is a comprehensive analysis solution for pinpointing losses and focusing scarce plant resources on the right problems at the right time.

In summation, Acumence allows you to:

  • Use OEE to measure line performance, and identify poorly performing lines
  • Identify which lines have low OEE and thus, have higher scrap, downtime, or speed losses than other lines
  • Use OEE analytics and loss analysis tools to focus improvement efforts on the highest priority machines