Background: This is a more general presentation of “Variation: OEE’s Silent Partner” published on January 31, 2011. In a perfect world we can produce quality parts at rate, on time, every time. In reality, however, all aspects of our processes are subject to variation that affects each factor of Overall Equipment Effectiveness: Availability, Performance, and Quality. Our ability to effectively […]
- Advanced Lean Manufacturing
- Availability
- Performance
- Problem Solving
- Process Control and OEE
- Quality
OEE in an imperfect world
- Advanced Lean Manufacturing
- Contingency Planning
- Cost Control
- Labour Efficiency
- Lean Metrics
- OEE: Overall Equipment Efficiency
- Performance
- Standardized Work
OEE and Human Effort
I was recently asked to consider a modification to the OEE formula to calculate labour versus equipment effectiveness. This request stemmed from the observation that some processes, like assembly or packing operations, may be completely dependent on human effort. In other words, the people performing the work ARE the machine. I have observed situations where an extra person was stationed […]
- Advanced Lean Manufacturing
- Availability
- Contingency Planning
- Eliminate Waste
- Lean Metrics
- OEE: Overall Equipment Efficiency
- Performance
- Problem Solving
- Process Control and OEE
- Training
OEE: The Means to an End – Differentiation Where It Matters Most
Does your organization focus on results or the means to achieve them? Do you know when you’re having a good day? Are your processes improving? The reality is that too many opportunities are missed by simply focusing on results alone. As we have discussed in many of our posts on problem solving and continuous improvement, the actions you take now […]
How Effective is Your Problem Solving?
Background Of the many metrics that we use to manage our businesses, one area that is seldom measured is the effectiveness of the problem solving process itself. We often engage a variety of problem solving tools such as 5-Why, Fishbone Diagrams, Fault Trees, Design of Experiments (DOE), or other forms of Statistical Analysis in our attempts to find an effective […]
Pivot Tables, OEE, and Differentiation Strategy
Automated systems are great at creating data and generating reports but they don’t always give us what we’re looking for. Microsoft’s Excel Pivot Tables provide an amazing ability to create and generate custom reports on the fly and it’s easier than you may think. Could this be a differentiation factor for how your company works with OEE data versus others […]
- Advanced Lean Manufacturing
- Lean Metrics
- Lean Mindset
- OEE: Overall Equipment Efficiency
- Process Control and OEE
Differentiation Strategies and OEE (Part II): The Heart of the Matter
An article published in Industry Week magazine comprises part of our pursuit of differentiation strategies and OEE. This will serve as the topical element of our post for today. Enjoy the article, OEE: The heart of the matter, and we’ll provide our thoughts and insights as well. If the above links do not work, you can copy and paste the […]
Differentiation Strategies and OEE (Part I)
If your competitors are using OEE to manage their processes just like you, how do you plan to establish a unique approach that helps your company to outperform them? You may be surprised to learn that the perception of process management and control created by high technology OEE solutions can quickly be shattered by the lack of specific process level […]
- Advanced Lean Manufacturing
- Eliminate Waste
- Environment
- Execution
- Lean
- Lean Metrics
- OEE: Overall Equipment Efficiency
- Performance
- Problem Solving
- Process Control and OEE
- Standardized Work
- Training
22 Seconds to Burn – Excel VBA Teaches Lean Execution
Background: VBA for Excel has once again provided the opportunity to demonstrate some basic lean tenets. The methods used to produce the required product or solution can yield significant savings in time and ultimately money. The current practice is not necessarily the best practice in your industry. In manufacturing, trivial or minute differences in methods deployed become more apparent during mass production or as […]
- Advanced Lean Manufacturing
- Eliminate Waste
- Lean Metrics
- OEE: Overall Equipment Efficiency
- Performance
- Problem Solving
- Process Control and OEE
- Root Cause Analysis
- Training
Lean STAR From 6 Deadly Job Networking Mistakes
Sometimes we are inundated with e-mails especially from some of the “Groups” we subscribe to. Today, one e-mail in particular caught our attention and led us to read a post titled “6 Deadly Job Networking Mistakes” that eventually brought us to a well written article by Gill Corkindale titled, “6 Networking Mistakes And How to Avoid Them“. If you or someone […]
- Advanced Lean Manufacturing
- APQP
- Contingency Planning
- Eliminate Waste
- FREE Downloads
- Lean
- Lean Metrics
- Problem Solving
- Risk Management
- Root Cause Analysis
- Training
- Trouble Shooting
Using TRIZ for Problem Solving – Resources
In our first post on this topic, “Using Triz for Problem Solving – Introduction“, we provided a very basic introduction to TRIZ. In the spirit of TRIZ, it is not our intent to rewrite or redefine the TRIZ process when excellent information is already available. Our intent is to identify the few of the many excellent and exceptional resources that we have found. What is […]