The 7 deadly sins

of Overall

Equipment

Effectiveness

(OEE)

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is an effective methodology to

help improve the productivity of manufacturing processes and accurately

measure true plant productivity. Its measurable components are

availability, performance and quality.

Avoiding the pitfalls

Having an automated OEE system can provide

accurate data which can highlight significant

production improvement opportunities. However,

OEE can be complex and there are some pitfalls

you should avoid to ensure that your expectations

are met and that a rapid Return On Investment (ROI)

is achieved. Explore the 7 deadly sins of OEE…

OEE projects are technology projects

1.

OEE improvement is about people, culture and attitude. Assuming that an OEE project is a technical/IT project can be a big mistake.

Clearly, technology plays a key part with any automated OEE solution,

but that doesn’t make it a technical project.

All too often, OEE projects quickly lose the focus of

what the primary financial business goals were (reduce scrap, reduce short stoppages, improve

lead times), and quickly take on a local agenda

(must run in the cloud, must run on a virtual

machine, must capture every alarm). When this

happens, the project loses momentum, and

realisation of the original requirements becomes

less likely.

Focus on primary

business goals

OEE software is

the solution

2.

Assuming that investment in the technology alone is the

solution, is a big mistake. An automated OEE system is only

part of the story. If you do not have a culture of continuous

improvement and don’t have the resources to invest in

improving – the system will ultimately be nothing more than an

expensive recording system which will fall by the wayside.

OEE works hand in hand with

continuous improvement

OEE is an effective business performance tool

which aims to provide real-time accurate

information about the manufacturing

process as a whole.

A software solution that measures OEE can

tell us most of the information we need and

where the opportunities for improvement are,

however it does lack depth.

For example, the software can tell you

that the machine was stopped for 32

seconds because the emergency stop button was pressed, but only the

operator can tell you why they pressed it.

There has to be balance struck between

automatic data capture and human input.

3.Complexity

Understand what you would like to

achieve in the short, medium and long

term, and what is ‘actually’ needed

to achieve your short term needs.

Keep your criteria simple and constrained to a meet a

minimal set of requirements.

Keep it simple

Don’t look for the end of the rainbow on day one, you will be

disappointed. Automated OEE software

solutions can be very sophisticated – but don’t let

opportunity for sophistication distract you from a minimal set of needs which promote performance improvement.

Identify your needs

As long as there is cultural buy-in

from within the organisation an

automated system will assist you

in reducing downtime,

increasing production,

improving quality and reducing

waste.

The effect an automated OEE

system can make to production

will vary from plant to plant, but

even with only a slight

improvement in OEE, the

difference this can make over

time is significant.

100% of Cimlogic’s

projects deliver ROI within

12 months, some take

only six.

4.Unrealistic

Expectations

You may learn or be aware

that your OEE is just 30%, and

expect that the

implementation of an

automated solution will

improve this figure by 10, 20

or 30 points in just a few

weeks. It is excellent if you

do this, but sustained

improvements take time,

and are a collection of

small progressive steps.

Be patient

5.Skipping a

proper trial

Failure to trial a system, means potentially

underestimating the time investment and

challenges of collecting automated production

data, both technically and culturally. Ultimately

this may result in your cash investment not reaping

the ROI you would expect.

You wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes

without trying them on

If you are unfamiliar with the journey ahead – doing a trial is a critical step

in understanding what systems will

and won’t do, how enthused your

operators are, how responsive the

suppliers are, how good the

technology is and how meaningful

the data is.

6.Failure to get

buy-in

There are plenty of sceptics in the field of

OEE and automated data collection. Some

operators will fear they are being watched

and monitored, managers may feel they are

being scrutinised, factories may feel under

threat from head office.

Bring the sceptics on board

There has to be carrot as well as stick.

The upside of improvement has to be

understood and believed by all. Failure to

do this means operators will not enter the

data correctly, managers will not trust the

numbers, the system will not have an

owner, and it will not be the focal tool for

measuring and driving improvement.

Everyone needs

to ‘own’ OEE for

it to be successful

7.Selecting the

wrong provider

Collaborate with your chosen solution provider to understand

the reality of ROI and the wider

project journey.

Develop a partnership

between

yourselves

and the vendor,

not a transactional interaction between

a buyer and seller.

It has to be more than just

‘a buyer and a seller’

Manufacturing Improvement Solutions

enquiries@cimlogic.co.uk

01274 599 955

@Cimlogic Cimlogic Cimlogic

If like us, you would prefer to avoid unnecessary pitfalls and follow a path

which leads to measurable and sustainable improvement, then please contact us. We are here to help you.