How well do you keep track of OEE?

Recording the Efficiency: Everything You Need to Know About Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Improvement for OEE in Manufacturing.

In the attempt to remain one up to the competition, the manufacturing industry evermore looks for opportunities to become more efficient, reduce expenses, and increase production volume. Achieving this goal has become evident for manufacturing and factories in responding to Competitiveness and Marked Considerations. It provides a concise indicator to measure how efficiently a process is functioning, measuring the portion of intended production duration that is productive. There are many who still try to attain the unattainable 100% overall efficiency rate, but at this moment most are operating lower implying that there is a possibility of improvement. Whenever manufacturers strive to increase OEE, productivity is able to get rid of the concealed barriers to achievement. Connecting SCADA systems with OEE monitoring not only provides productive opportunities but also improves processes dynamically.

Understanding and Measuring OEE

The metric of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) can be calculated using the formula with three constituents, which are Availability, Performance, and Quality as the multipliers.

Availability: The amount of status that the system is running as intended is often referred to as the percentage of time that the unit is able to operate. Downtime of systems planned and unplanned comes with availability reducing it.

Performance: The amount of time taken by the unit in comparison to the designed operating speed of the unit. The performance can depend on systems controlled with slow cycles and small halts.

Quality: output that is acceptable in terms of the intended outcome emitted compared to the aggregate output. This is also known as defective output along with impaired quality.

Understanding the Impact of SCADA on OEE Improvement

The SCADA system is a management system that enables the collection and analysis of all information and data on the production floor. Their integration with OEE monitoring provides greater benefits which include:

Acquisition of Data in Real-time: SCADA systems fetch data from PLCs and other automation devices which help in the constant collection of information pertaining to the equipment’s state, pace, and production. This new approach to data acquisition eliminates a lot of data collection work manually which helps mitigate the chances of errors.

Visual Dashboards and Reporting: With SCADA, OEE data is available in user-friendly dashboards that can be accessed by operators and managers instantly enabling them track performance. These dashboards enable the automatic generation of reports that help beset trends and areas that require fixing.

Systems Increased Alertness: SCADA systems have the ability to capture OEE parameters and from the data fetched, to set off alarms when OEE data drops below acceptable levels. This early warning helps nip small problems in the bud before they escalate.

Root Cause Diagnosis: With SCADA SCADA’s advanced capability of capturing process parameters, OEE data can be correlated with other parameters to carry out deep root cause diagnostics. For instance, a machine might experience frequent small stops and the SCADA data might showa fine correlation with a certain material or operating condition.

Predictive Maintenance: With a SCADA system, a manufacturer can forecast possible failures and schedule maintenance ahead of time by examining historical OEE data. Knowing when to plan maintenance allows a manufacturer to reduce the time they cannot operate a machine, or unplanned downtime, maximizing the equipment’s availability.

Examples of Efficiency Gains with SCADA-driven OEE Monitoring

Reducing Downtime: Picture a scenario where a bottling line is consistently pausing. While monitoring OEE, the SCADA system identifies that the pauses consistently coincide with a certain reading from a sensor on the filler. In such cases, operators can easily examine the sensor, troubleshoot for a malfunction, and hopefully fix the issue before it causes an extended operational pause.

Improving Performance: During one of the shifts, the packaging machine is observed to be operating lower than its optimal speed. Integrated OEE monitoring SCADA software identifies that the slower performance is over a particular shift. Further investigation shows that operators on that shift are not routinely loading the correct material into the machine. Performance can then be boosted through more training for operators to correct the problem.

Enhancing Quality: A particular metal stamping press is repeatedly creating too many defective parts of the same component. The SCADA that integrates OEE with quality parameters identifies that the increased number of defects appears when the machine runs at relatively higher speeds. In these situations, operators can set or change the speed or other process parameters that lead to excessive scrapping and improved quality

For manufacturers looking to flourish in today’s industrial environment, adapting SCADA-enabled OEE development is no longer a suggestion – it is a necessity.

Call us to learn more about OEE and how monitoring it has increased the efficiency of our customers. Reach us at [email protected]