Where do we Start?
We mentioned in our previous post that OEE may be an initiative that your company chooses not to do. We doubt that too many corporations would support that view entirely, however, it may certainly influence how extensive the implementation / integration strategy is.
So, where do we start? Start with an assessment of some of your key processes to determine which one(s) may be good candidates for a deeper OEE review and analysis. The purpose of the initial assessment is simple – just as healthy patients don’t need to see the doctor on a daily basis, perhaps a high performance process doesn’t necessarily need an overly complex OEE system.
Our most recent experience was working with a fully integrated and customized in-house solution. The data available at any instant in time was incredible and the number of reports available was even more extensive.
The short story is, the greatest opportunities for improvement extended to the elimination of stock outs during production and the development of a more effective maintenance program. We recommended and implemented a modified visual inventory management system and a more rigorous maintenance program that could be performed on the non-production shift.
The improvements to the net OEE were noticeable immediately and continue to show positive trends. Maintenance work could now be performed more thoroughly and problems could be resolved with permanent corrective actions as opposed to patches and short term repairs that were implemented during the production shift.
So getting started now is as simple as collecting baseline production data using whatever reporting system you already have. Hopefully you are able to access data by hour, or at least by shift. We recommend downloading one or all of our spreadsheets available in our free downloads BOX on the side bar.
If you have access to your downtime sheets or a data base that can provide this information, now would also be a good time to start reviewing what data is available to you. You should be ready to perform an initial assessment as fast as the data can be entered and reviewed.
Your initial data assessment will provide at least a small glimpse of the current process and it’s potential. We have discussed OEE calculations in depth in our previous posts. Please review our post categories if you need a refresher.
Until Next Time – STAY lean!