Within the manufacturing industry, efficiency is everything. This means that every process must use the least time, resources, and energy. However, this can’t always be possible.
This is where a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) comes into play. A MES can streamline your operations to help you have a productive shop floor that is able to deliver products on time – a must in any food manufacturing company. A MES can do this by providing the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) for your machines and system. It calculates the OEE so that you have the data and information you need to analyze your factory’s overall efficiency.
More on OEE
OEE is a powerful tool that can provide valuable insights on where you can focus your improvement efforts for your shop floor. It is a measurement of how efficient you are with your manufacturing process.
The best score is theoretically a 100%, but as we all know, this is not realistic.. 40-60% is the typical OEE, but most companies set their goal at 85% – the world-class percentage for most industries.
How to Calculate OEE
OEE can be calculated with the formula:
It measures the three data points of equipment uptime (availability), equipment efficiency (performance), and the number of quality products produced (quality).
Availability (A)
Availability calculates the percentage of planned stops and unplanned stops during the manufacturing process. It uses the formula:
Operating time is planned production time minus down time (in minutes).
Planned production time must also take into account the total minutes of planned breaks and minus it from the total planned production time.
Performance (P)
Performance calculates the percentage of all stops that decrease production speed. It uses the formula:
Theoretical output comes from the hourly standard (ideal pieces/parts per minute) multiplied by the operating time which you can get from calculating the availability above).
Quality (Q)
Quality calculates the percentage of quality parts. It uses the formula:
Good pieces come from total pieces minus rejected pieces.
To finally calculate the OEE, you have to multiply A x P x Q.
Since percentages can’t be multiplied, you need to convert each value to a decimal figure. After multiplying all the decimals, convert them back to percentages and you have your OEE!
How can MES Drive OEE
Many manufacturing companies try to hit at least 60-80% in OEE. But without the use of systems like an MES, it is hard to find areas where production needs to be improved.
An MES can improve the accuracy of the measurements needed to calculate OEE. Instead of manual calculations, an MES platform can track real-time data through the devices added or embedded in your equipment. Having this will give you advanced analytics that can drive your efficiency forward.
If you want to see what else an MES can do for you click here.
