Lean is Eco-Friendly – Coke Shows How

Today’s front page of the Toronto Star (Monday 22-Nov-09) featured an article on Coke’s new Eco-Bottle. The revolutionary plastic made from sugar cane byproducts is not biodegradable but can be 100% recycled. Are companies beginning to understand how their product or service may be impacting the environment?  Coca Cola has taken corporate leadership to the next level.  For Coca Cola, understanding how the […]

Contingency Planning For Lean Operations – Part I

Contingency Planning For Lean Operations – Part I Lean operations are driven by effective planning and efficient execution of core activities to ensure optimal performance is achieved and sustained.  The very nature of lean requires extreme attention to detail through all phases of planning and execution.  Upstream operations simply cannot tolerate any disruptions in product supply or process flow without the risk of […]

5S Your Software (Computer)

We recently discussed how software skills of people in your company can impact their effectiveness and efficiency.  One of our suggestions was to provide additional training and resources to allow staff to upgrade their skill levels. We should also mention that upgrading to the latest software release may also improve their performance.  Microsoft recently announced upgrades to their Office product line so now may be the time to “5S” […]

10 Ways to Enhance Customer Satisfaction

Customers are the reason we are in business and customer satisfaction is what keeps them coming back.  It takes a tremendous effort to gain a new customer and only seconds to lose one.  Service must be exemplary if we want to sustain and grow our customer base and ultimately our business. Mission:  Exceed Customer Expectations Is it really possible to EXCEED […]

Lean Office with Excel and VBA

Have you ever wondered what people do at their computers all day?  How can they possibly be that busy working on their day to day tasks?  The answer may surprise you!  Computers were supposed to make our jobs easier and give us more time to do other things.  The reality is quite the opposite. We have noted that many people are […]

Going DEEP with OEE

Does anyone actually look at their daily equipment availability? Instead of using TEEP that is typically based on calendarized availability, looking at the Daily Equipment Effectiveness Performance of your operation may provide some interesting insights. Working overtime due to material or equipment availability occurs many times.  Unfortunately, we find that sometimes these very same machines are idle during the week. A detailed […]

OEE For Manufacturing

We are often asked what companies (or types of companies) are using OEE as part of their daily operations.  While our focus has been primarily in the automotive industry, we are highly encouraged by the level of integration deployed in the Semiconductor Industry.  We have found an excellent article that describes how OEE among other metrics is being used to […]

OEE for Batch Processes

We recently received an e-mail regarding OEE calculations for batch processes and more specifically the effect on down stream equipment that is directly dependent (perhaps integrated) on the batch process.  While the inquiry was specifically related to the printing industry, batch processing is found throughout manufacturing. Our more recent experiences pertain to heat treating operations where parts are loaded into […]

Benchmarking OEE

Benchmarking Systems: We have learned that an industry standard or definition for Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) has been adopted by the Semi Conductor Industry and also confirms our approach to calculating and using OEE and other related metrics. The SEMI standards of interest are as follows: SEMI E10:  Definition and Measurement of Equipment Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability. SEMI E35:  Guide to Calculate Cost of Ownership […]

OEE: Frequently Asked Questions

We added a new page to our site to address some of the more frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) we receive regarding OEE.  We trust you will find this information to be of interest as you move forward on your lean journey.  We always appreciate your feedback, so feel free to leave us a comment or send an e-mail directly to LeanExecution@gmail.com or Vergence.Consulting@gmail.com We have had […]