OEE Best Practices: A Step-By-Step Guide To Implementation

Overall equipment effectiveness, or OEE is a way to measure equipment performance by assessing productivity (output), quality (defects), and uptime (downtime). With OEE best practices and the integration of the right software, a business can effectively optimize operations in a manufacturing plant. 

Are you still confused about whether OEE software is right for your company? Here are things you need to know so that OEE software can become an important tool in improving your business’s ROI. 

Know The OEE Fundamentals, Crucial For OEE Best Practices 

OEE best practices identify the constraint, and they also figure out how close a business is to optimizing its operations. Further, practical OEE measurements depend on three key factors: availability (A), performance (P), and quality (Q) of equipment. 

So, OEE or Overall Equipment Effectiveness = AxPxQ

Availability Of Equipment 

The highest availability score of your equipment can be 100%. If the equipment scores 100%, it indicates that there is no downtime and it is always running through the set production time. The negative factors in the availability score of the equipment are changeovers of the parts, maintenance and downtime. 

Performance Of Equipment 

The highest performance score of equipment can be 100%. A 100% score means that the equipment runs as fast as possible or follows the ideal cycle time (ICT). If the equipment makes small stops and has slow cycles, the performance of the equipment is reduced.

Did You Know? 

The ideal cycle time or ICT means the fastest time a manufacturing process can record on a sustained basis. It is measured when the manufacturing process is ongoing. No planned stops or downtime is considered in ICT. 

The ideal cycle time is measured using two common approaches: nameplate capacity and time study. The nameplate capacity indicates the value specified by the equipment builder.

Time study, on the other hand, determines the fastest speed the equipment can reach. The average or normal speeds are not factored in. You also need to eliminate small stops, slow cycles, or other forms of speed loss. 

Quality Of Equipment 

The highest quality of equipment can be 100%. A 100% score indicates that there is no defect in the goods or parts produced. The quality score is determined by the result (rejects/passes) of the goods during the first manufacturing pass.  

A good OEE score based on the performance, availability, and quality of the equipment indicates sustainable, continuous, and consistent improvements. The measurement of the OEE score is important to make positive moves toward achieving your business goals by identifying constraints and areas of improvement. 

Make Sure OEE Is The Right Solution

Before you start implementing OEE or consider how to improve OEE, it’s important to make sure that this is the right solution for your company. 

OEE is a complex process that requires a lot of data to be collected and analyzed. The right software can help with this task by providing an easy way to collect and analyze data. However, if you don’t have enough information about your operations or if your manufacturing process isn’t stable enough yet, then using OEE may not be worth it.

If these conditions apply to your business and its operations:

• You have been operating for at least one year without any major changes in production methods or machinery (or are planning on making some changes soon).

• You want better visibility into how each step in your manufacturing process contributes towards overall productivity levels – whether it’s through increased efficiency or decreased waste – so that any bottlenecks can be identified early on before they become serious issues affecting productivity across multiple areas simultaneously.

• The process you follow is stable, and you don’t expect any major changes shortly. You want to be able to easily collect and analyze data about your manufacturing process so that you can make informed decisions about how best to improve it.

Create A Plan

Before you begin, it’s important to create a plan. The first step in doing this is defining your goals. What do you hope to achieve? How will this affect your business and its performance? Once those questions are answered, it’s time to determine the following factors.

• Time and money allocated for the project
• Breaking down each task into smaller and actionable tasks that matter

Breaking down the job at hand into smaller chunks helps to manage individuals and operations more effectively. Further, with this, you have more flexibility regarding the changes and innovations in each stage of the task.

Implement OEE Software

You find the right OEE software by considering the following features. 

• Real-time tracking of performance and efficiency metrics.
• Automatic OEE calculation.
• Automated alerts when thresholds are crossed or exceeded, allowing you to take action quickly before issues become more serious problems.

OEE software will provide a detailed picture of what’s happening in your plant at any given moment–and it’s easier than ever before for manufacturers to get their hands on this information thanks to new cloud-based solutions that offer instant access anywhere there’s an internet connection (or even without one).

What Are Common Mistakes In OEE Implementation?

The most common mistake in the implementation of OEE is the wrong calculation of the ideal cycle times or ICT. It is a bad practice to use standard or budget speeds in the process. These speeds are always less than the ideal cycle times. A company following this method is already cutting down the opportunity to optimize the efficiency of equipment.  

Further, you can never consider factors like the age of the equipment or the quality of materials to lower the ideal cycle times. It is a malpractice preventing sustainable growth toward the accompaniment of your business goal.

Don’t Forget About Human Factors

With appropriate training of the employees, implementation of the software and its successful operations become easier. 

Further, training helps to build a sense of trust and confidence in the employees about the software. 

Measure Results And Make Improvements Over Time

After you have a baseline, it’s time to measure results and make improvements over time. The first step is to identify the key metrics that will help you measure OEE in your business. These metrics could include:

• Cycle time (how long it takes for an employee or machine/equipment to complete one cycle)
• First pass yield (the percentage of parts that pass inspection on the first try)

Once you’ve identified your key metrics, look at how they change over time. This will give you insight into how well your process is improving–or not improving as quickly as expected. You can then use this information to make adjustments and improve further!

Create An Environment Where Employees Can Give Feedback And Discuss Problems Openly

You cannot implement OEE best practices unless you create provisions for open communication between the employees and management. An efficient OEE software and its successful implementation always encourages employees to share their feedback. 

Do wait Until Your Plant Is In Trouble To Implement OEE Software

OEE software is a tool, not a solution. You need to use the software to solve your problems and improve operations.

You can’t just implement OEE software and expect results. Your plant needs to be ready for change before you start using OEE data as part of your decision-making process. If there isn’t buy-in from everyone involved in operations at all levels of an organization (from management down through maintenance), then any improvements will be short-lived or fail altogether because they aren’t supported by everyone who needs support to succeed.

OEE Software Is One Of The Best Ways To Improve Your Manufacturing Operations

You can improve your manufacturing operations and create a broader improvement strategy using OEE software.

• Training and education for employees
• Regular audits and reviews of progress
• Frequent communication with management about what’s going well as well as where improvements are needed
• Better collaboration with the suppliers 

Conclusion

OEE best practices ensure proper implementation of OEE software that assesses and identifies the constraints and helps to optimize operations. OEE implementation can further improve with automated data collection and reporting, real-time OEE visualization and display, and the elimination of losses and rejects. 

Also, OEE software can be a vital tool in boosting a business’s ROI when implemented correctly with measurable targets in mind. There is no wonder that the OEE software market size is estimated to reach USD 122.3 Billion by 2030. A manufacturing business that prioritizes operational excellence and believes in data-driven decision-making can never undermine the importance of OEE software.

What is your take on the benefits and implementation of OEE software? Don’t forget to share your insights with us!