When it comes to manufacturing, there is so much happening on the shop floor and it can be very chaotic. It is a challenge to know what is happening and how to improve the processes. This is where Overall Equipment Effectiveness or OEE software comes in. OEE software is a valuable tool that helps you track, manage and improve your manufacturing processes.
What is OEE?
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a measure of how well a manufacturing process or machine is performing. It takes into account factors such as availability, performance, and quality. It is a metric used to define performance and see what needs to be improved.
- Availability: Downtime, changeovers, and maintenance
- Performance: Cycle time, yield (non-defective items produced), and scrap (unusable material)
- Quality: Rework, defects, first-time pass yield or FPY (percentage of product made correctly without any correction needed)
It is used for data collection, provides real-time information about the shop floor operations, and helps supervisors make quick and informed decisions.
Data to Collect with OEE
There are many factors to consider when collecting OEE data. Whether you are doing it manually or using data-collecting software, you need to collect specific data points to calculate OEE accurately. These data points are used to measure and calculate the availability, performance, and quality factors mentioned above.
- Planned production time
- Ideal cycle time
- Actual time
- Total parts used
- Good parts
What is OEE Tracking Software
OEE software can help you collect and track all of this data. It enables your business to measure OEE by utilizing analytics and customization. This real-time software can web-based and managed in the cloud or an on premise software.
This software is designed to help you improve your manufacturing process. It can help you identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies. It can also help you track progress and benchmark against other manufacturing processes.
Benefits of OEE Tracking Software
As you can imagine already, there are many benefits of implementing OEE tracking software.
Locate Problems
The data collected by your OEE tracking software can help narrow down the reasons and origins of problems in production. This makes it possible for problems to be categorized and then prioritized based on process improvement and facing the larger issues first.
Manage Downtime
Downtime is a major factor in lost productivity. OEE software can help you manage and work to eliminate downtime by providing real-time information about your manufacturing process.
This information can help you make informed decisions about when to schedule maintenance and repairs. Whether it be unplanned stops in production like breakdowns or interruptions, planned stops like shift endings or Maintainance, or slow cycle time, OEE tracking tracks it all.
Improve Quality
Quality is a major factor in OEE. OEE software can help you improve quality by providing information about defects and rework and optimizing production. This information can help your business or your supervisors make more informed decisions on how to improve quality and avoid defects.
Increase Productivity
OEE is a measure of productivity. OEE software can help you increase productivity by providing information about cycle time, yield, and scrap. Using this information, your business can crack down on productivity issues and capitalize on what is working.
Reduce Costs
OEE software can help you reduce costs by providing information about downtime, defects, rework, and optimizing equipment performance. These reduce the operating time and help distinguish what could be hurting your profit.
How to Choose the Right OEE Software
When choosing OEE software for your business, there are many factors to consider. You will need to decide what your goals are, what features you need, what data you want to be collected, how you want it customized for users, and how you will use the software. It is important to have the right OEE software that fits your business.
Implementing OEE Tracking Software for Your Business
Improving productivity, optimizing equipment, problem-solving, and managing downtime all while reducing cost seems like a scenario where you cannot lose.
If you are interested in learning more about implementing OEE software for your business, we encourage you to reach out to professionals. It could be what saves your business or what brings it from good to great.
