## Introduction

You have learned about Process Maps, now you will learn about Overall Equipment Effectiveness or OEE. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a key performance metric used in manufacturing to assess the productivity and efficiency of production equipment. It provides a holistic view of equipment performance by considering three primary factors: availability, performance, and quality. Availability measures the percentage of time that equipment is available for production during scheduled production time. Performance evaluates the speed at which equipment operates compared to its maximum potential speed. Quality assesses the percentage of good-quality products produced by the equipment relative to the total output.

## Objectives

- Define Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
- Identify an Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) equation.

## Manufacturing Perspective

Manufacturers use OEE to identify opportunities for improvement and optimize equipment utilization. By analyzing OEE data, manufacturers can pinpoint areas of inefficiency, such as equipment downtime, slow operating speeds, or quality defects, and take corrective actions to improve performance. This might involve implementing preventive maintenance programs to reduce downtime, optimizing equipment setup and changeover procedures to improve performance, or implementing quality control measures to reduce defects. Bottlenecks identified within a plant don't necessarily effect OEE. Coincidentally problematic areas revealed by OEE analysis may also be the bottleneck, however, bottlenecks are just the slowest parts of the plant not necessarily the least efficient.

OEE is a powerful tool for driving continuous improvement in manufacturing operations. It provides a comprehensive view of equipment performance and enables manufacturers to identify and prioritize opportunities for optimization. By focusing on improving OEE, manufacturers can enhance productivity, reduce costs, and ultimately improve their competitiveness in the market.

OEE

OEE is calculated by multiplying these three factors together: OEE = Availability × Performance × Quality. The result is expressed as a percentage, with a higher percentage indicating better overall equipment effectiveness.

For example, if a factory has an Availability of 95%, Performance of 92%, and Quality of 99% the OEE would be 87%.

Using these figures to calculate OEE you would:

This would mean the OEE is at 87%.

Factories with OEE higher than 85% are considered world-class.