OEE Software

What does OEE software do?

OEE is considered the gold standard when it comes to measuring equipment efficiency. It helps to measure how much of your manufacturing time is being used effectively by giving you a score based on several factors; quality, performance, and availability. This score ranges from 0% all the way to 100%.

A score of 100% means that your overall equipment effectiveness is top-notch and your processes are streamlined to the point that there is little to no downtime or waste. Operating at full capacity is the goal as this can allow improvements in line efficiency and product quality.

The loss analysis will collect data so that you can analyze OEE metrics to monitor performance loss. This could be in the form of data collection for a particular time frame, where you have set a benchmark for performance. If you have the data to improve OEE, especially by leveraging IIoT enabled devices, you should grab every available opportunity to improve upon your business success.

You can view real time data using effective OEE solutions but you can also review the historical trends of your overall equipment effectiveness on a desktop or mobile device. This can help to reduce future labor costs and availability loss, as you will not need to further reduce downtime in the future for machine maintenance.

OEE software helps by using real time data capture (with real time visibility) to accurately track a number of extremely valuable metrics with the end goal of allowing you to see actionable insights that can improve yield and run time (cycle time), which in turn will improve production.

What are the three pillars of OEE software?

OEE software seeks to help businesses in three important areas; quality, performance, and availability. Quality means the overall quality of your final product. There may be situations where your manufacturing equipment isn’t up to your quality standards. Perhaps your machines are configured incorrectly, maybe there are certain areas of the process which are holding your production back, or perhaps there are defects caused by operator errors.

Performance refers to any factors that could affect the expected performance of your production process. If you are failing to reach 100% production, then it could indicate a number of issues. Perhaps your machines are not performing at expected levels, maybe you have overestimated your production efficiency, or maybe there is a lot of idle time in regards to your machine availability.

Availability covers any time that is lost due to unplanned stoppages. For instance, it could be caused by complete equipment failure, or it could be due to operators taking too long to make adjustments to the settings of a machine. A capacity analysis allows you to view optional machine run-time.

If you manage to achieve 100% in all three of these areas, then it means that your total effective equipment performance has been carefully optimized, your machines are maintained correctly, and your staff is well-trained. This is a great sign because it means your factories are working at optimal levels with minimal downtime and interruptions. However, if your OEE software reports anything lower than 100%, then it’s a sign that you need to step in and take action. Harnessing the power of OEE solutions is particularly popular within the food and beverage industry to improve upon their production line and ensure that their machinery is outputting the best possible results.

The biggest losses to your manufacturing equipment

OEE software is used to optimize your discrete manufacturing processes, but where are the biggest and most common losses?
Setup time can gradually eat into your efficiency. Production lines may take some time to initially set up, but they can also take time to switch to a new product or role. Any time that your production lines aren’t working is time that could be optimized. Setup can also include the time spent re-configuring a machine to suit its production needs.

Equipment failure is another common loss for companies. Equipment failures refer to any situation where equipment stops working. This can also be called unplanned downtime. When something breaks or needs to be re-configured, it takes a lot of time to return something to a workable state. This is even more difficult when parts aren’t readily available, resulting in longer machine outages than expected.

Lowered yield can occur when the usage of your raw materials and resources isn’t optimized before it turns into a final product. If your production line creates a lot of scrap material and waste, then an OEE software solution can measure the reduced yield and seek ways to help you optimize the final yield without resulting in a loss of quality.

Reduced speed happens when equipment runs slower than planned. This may be due to incorrect configurations, it could be equipment wearing out, and it might even be caused by low-quality resources. Other factors such as operator inexperience and poor maintenance may also play a role in reduced production speed. Remember, your equipment efficiency is incredibly important.

These are some of the biggest losses that companies tend to face. Optimizing these areas can be much easier with the help of an effective OEE software solution. By taking advantage of the OEE data generated by your production processes, you can achieve much higher operational efficiency which ultimately boosts productivity and increases production.

Achieving a greater return on your investment

Production lines can be incredibly expensive to build and maintain. It’s a massive business investment, so it makes sense that we’d want to quickly see a return on our investment. Unfortunately, keeping track of this with traditional systems is virtually impossible. But now that OEE software solutions are readily available and easy to integrate into modern production systems, it helps you get a deeper insight into your ROI.

OEE software will help manufacturers identify the best areas to invest in. With sophisticated calculations that take different data points into consideration, companies will have an easier time comparing different pieces of equipment, workflow optimizations, and also measure the financial value of different expenses. OEEsystems very proudly ensure compliance standards.

Lowering your operating costs

We also can’t forget about the money-saving benefits of using OEE software. Production lines utilize extremely complex and sophisticated devices that are certainly not cheap. However, OEE software could help you identify issues in the manufacturing process so you know exactly where and when a failure occurs. This will help you repair issues before they have a chance to manifest into something much worse.

With an optimized production process and pre-emptive warnings for all of your most important machines, it becomes much easier to reduce your overall operating costs. Boost your equipment effectiveness and reach maximum productivity with the help of a sophisticated OEE software solution.

Embracing lean manufacturing

At its core, the goal of OEE software is to maximize productivity through digital transformation. The manufacturing industry has been slow to adopt OEE software solutions in the past, but those habits are already starting to change.

Lean manufacturing is the idea of eliminating waste from the manufacturing process. Anything that does not add value to the final product is considered waste. Lowered yields often occur because of poor equipment effectiveness, a lack of critical data to support OEE software, and poor manufacturing productivity. In order to boost production and prevent lost production time, companies must be willing to adopt lean solutions by analyzing their business and driving improvement.

How is OEE Calculated?

OEE is a closed-loop metric measuring the 3 critical manufacturing components of Availability, Performance and Quality. It is a measure of the number of good units produced compared to the quantity which should be produced based on the scheduled time and the specified equipment rate. An OEE score is represented as a %.

The preferred way to calculate OEE is: OEE% = Availability x Performance x Quality