OEE analysis

What is OEE in a company

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is a key indicator for measuring the efficiency of a machine. The OEE of the plant allows us to know the productivity and efficiency of the plant’s production processes. In the same way, it allows to know those aspects that are not favouring productivity. Among these are identified stoppages, breakdowns, quality problems, etc.

The analysis of the OEE of the plant will allow us to know where the production processes are in terms of efficiency and productivity, and to work to improve them and achieve the best results.

How to calculate OEE

The OEE analysis is calculated on the basis of three concepts: availability, performance and quality.

• Availability: is obtained by dividing the operating time by the planned production time.

Availability = time producing / planned time to produce x 100

• Yield: is known as the division between what was produced in operation time, whether good or bad, by what would have been produced in an ideal production time.

Yield = quantity of actual production / quantity of ideal production x 100

• Quality: is the number of good parts in relation to the total number of parts produced.

Quality = quantity of good parts / quantity of produced parts x 100

Calculation of OEE production

To calculate OEE production, the three variables are applied to the following formula:

OEE = Availability x Performance x Quality

For the OEE analysis, all the concepts are expressed as a percentage (%), obtaining a result that will be between 0% and 100%, the latter being the optimum result.

At present, many companies have their OEE below 70%, thus having a great margin for improvement in productivity and efficiency.

Not taking plant OEE into consideration can lead to a great loss of profitability and efficiency. On the other hand, analysing OEE systems can ensure an improvement in your productivity and efficiency and an increase in the quality of your results.

How to improve OEE

To improve your plant’s OEE systems you should look at optimising the OEE indicators that affect your performance.

• Reduce unplanned downtime: by detecting the errors that occur, a maintenance plan can be put in place to help adjust the timing and reduce the occurrence of stoppages and breakdowns that slow down production times. This will have an impact on improving availability.

• Improve production speed: by obtaining information in real time and with a good planning system that connects different departments, all operators will be able to know the necessary information and will be able to prevent unexpected stoppages. In this way, plant performance will be optimised.

• Reduce “bad” products: thanks to the analysis of OEE, the quality of the products produced can be improved, identifying the most critical points for production and, therefore, influencing its good performance. In this way, better results will be achieved and the quality of the results will be improved.

Furthermore, with the implementation of an MES system, a complete OEE analysis can be carried out to find out the points that are affecting productivity, both positively and negatively, and to influence them in order to obtain the best results.