Solution Summary

OEE – Overall Equipment Effectiveness

OEE is a method of evaluating whether production capacity is being used effectively. Loosely defined as the equation:

Availability * Performance * Quality = OEE %

The OEE % indicates the level at which the line is being utilized to produce acceptable product at the designated rate. With 100% being perfect (although mathematically it is possible to go over 100% by running at better than rated speed with perfect quality for the entire time) industry levels are more likely between 60% and 80%. Put another way, this could be taken to mean that up to 40% of capacity sits idle, or that we need to invest almost twice what one would expect.

OEE can be a valid compensation measure, but its real power is to provide information regarding downtime and quality, so that corrective and preventive action can be taken to keep the line running longer with fewer defects.

There are various levels of implementation of OEE systems, and QIC can assist with all of them.

At the entry level, collection of downtime and quality information using paper forms is better than nothing, and may provide some data to back up proposals to improve the line. But the majority of return will result form collecting that data effectively and being able to analyze it quickly.

This second level uses the GainSeeker™ data Collection engine and DMS analysis software to automate the majority of the data collection. All the operator has to do is record the beginning of a downtime occurrence. Once fixed, the operator records the end of the occurrence and the reason. Initially the downtime reasons are for unscheduled downtime, but the system can adapt to record scheduled events as well. At the end of a shift, the available time is known, and the operator records the quantity produced and defects. With very little interaction, and using a familiar (GainSeeker™ ) screen, we have captured all of the necessary elements of the OEE equation. Not only can we calculate OEE for any period, we can also group by line, shift and operator (at minimum) and can drill down through reasons based on frequency or cost.

The third level may use GainSeeker™, Iconics ™ or other SCADA software to capture downtime based upon events. This is often seen as a fully automatic (and therefore preferable) method. In some cases it can be, but involves far more work than one typically expects. Nevertheless, there are scenarios where this is a superior approach and QIC can work with these tools to provide a state-of-the-art OEE solution.

GainSeeker™ has met all of QIC’s stringent criteria for system evaluation.

For more information on QIC’s solutions for OEE, send us an email at info@QIC-Intl.com