How to measure the efficiency of a machine in real time

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is fundamental to measuring meefficiency of a machine in real time.l. It is used to assess the efficiency with which a manufacturer's plant is used, identify losses, compare operations and highlight areas for improvement. But for many manufacturers, accurately measuring OEE is a challenge because they have always done it manually. While this works, it is error-prone and does not provide the kind of in-depth information that digital solutions offer.

What do you need to know in order to mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time?

The first thing that manufacturing organisations need to do is to be aware of the state-of-the-art methods and the benefits of medy the efficiency of a machine in real time.

Today, due to rising costs associated with raw materials, energy, wages, etc., it is more important than ever to increase competitiveness, improve efficiency and reduce losses.

With the advancement of digitalisation, Industry 4.0 offers a number of solutions for manufacturers to increase their competitiveness. Perhaps one of the most powerful of these solutions is to monitor and mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time that factories have put in place.

The advanced industries that have been at the forefront of lean methodology for years needed a way to mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time. As a result, many invested in and developed their own individual systems, training their staff and engaging with the developer in the process. In other situations, the parent company invested in very sector-specific systems. However, organisations found that their staff were reluctant to new modern systems simply because they were so used to doing things a certain way.

Fortunately, for most manufacturing companies, unique and expensive systems are not necessary and accurate and intuitive OEE measurement can be done much more cost-effectively.

How mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time?

OEE is widely regarded as the industry's fundamental factor for identifying underperforming parts of the production process. For many manufacturers, OEE is the most popular metric.

By tracking OEE and identifying underperforming components, manufacturers can design development plans to address them, often leading to cost savings and capacity expansion. For this reason it is essential to know how to do the monitoring the efficiency of industrial machines and ways to increase it.

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness). OEE% shows how close the production line is to perfect production, e.g. 50% OEE for an 8 hour shift would mean that the production line produced a good quality product for 4 hours at maximum capacity.

Mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time to find out what happens on the production line

Without accurate information on shutdowns and outages, manufacturers would never mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time nor know really how profitable their production lines are. With manual logging, workers often overlook the shortest downtime incidents, resulting in potentially hundreds of hours of downtime per year going unreported. In many cases, these short periods of downtime can be due to simple and easily avoidable causes that, once resolved, will dramatically increase efficiency.

Manufacturers often believe they are first class when it comes to efficiency, but this is mainly because they do not monitor thoroughly enough. Once an accurate measurement is introduced, it often turns out to be only 60% and there is significant room for improvement.

A new level for mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time

Advanced OEE monitoring systems automatically collect data in real time, which helps to highlight the following issues:

• Inaccurate reporting of downtime: machine failures and minor jobs, which were previously not considered important, are also recorded.
• Time-consuming data collection, aggregation and calculation is eliminated, allowing production managers to focus on development.
• Monitoring is carried out in real time, so that earlier intervention is possible.
• These solutions help manufacturers to see the effects of positive changes, whether it is a development team (KAIZEN) or simply an annual target.
• Contribute significantly to the development of corporate culture

What impact does the mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time?

Cultural differences often arise between company management and factory workers, especially when it comes to judging and medy the efficiency of a machine in real time.

Manual data collection and calculation requires a lot of time and energy from everyone, and the result is often questionable. With advanced OEE monitoring, the production manager, the production line workers and the company management all obtain truly reliable data in the same way, which greatly reduces any possible mistrust.

With such systems, many factories project OEE metrics on large monitors next to their production lines. This is one of the first steps suggested in TPM/Lean, helping line workers to respond quickly and creating an informative environment.

Most manufacturers set an increase in OEE as a priority target. For this it is important that they know how to calculate the efficiency of a machine and tips on how to increase it. All in all, this indicator is one of the indicators that guarantee a high level of attention from everyone.

Employees soon recognise the importance associated with a relatively high increase in OEE and often start suggesting development ideas with a view to testing them. This would probably not happen if most workers considered that they had already reached the maximum OEE.

Another problem associated with premium OEE targets that rely on manual data collection is that employees come to question their own data. In addition, they do not realise the calculation, which shifts the responsibility to the production manager. In such cases, management can also be criticised for not having to pay a premium.

Mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time often reveals a competitive spirit between shifts. The reality is that it is often a friendly competition between shifts to see who can bring the greatest efficiency gains to the organisation. The system also allows tracking of efficiency records, which can then be used in an organisation's reward initiatives. This is a much more accurate indicator than simple quantity produced, as it gives a much broader and more detailed picture.

Nowadays, more and more attention is being paid to employer branding and employee promotion, i.e. the likelihood that employees will recommend and promote their workplace. A visual control system on TVs and smartphones creates an even more modern environment, even if production takes place on 20-30 year old production lines. Being seen as innovative and embracing digitalisation is an attractive proposition when recruiting new staff.

Audits and partner visits are commonplace for most manufacturers and, with accurate OEE monitoring, visual and modern presentations can be made for the occasion.

Financial implications of mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time

OEE is often considered to be only a measure of production, although it is also a financial indicator for the company's management. Examining the three components of OEE separately, we see the following 3 losses:

• Due to downtime (planned and unplanned)
• Due to reduced throughput (slow production and short downtimes)
• Due to defective products.

It is recommended to calculate how much an 1% increase in OEE will mean in terms of savings per week or per year, and how much the production capacity will increase. Due to the effective improvement, the scrap rate is also always reduced. The associated losses can amount to millions of euros, even on the smallest production lines.

Experience has shown that when you start to monitor and mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time, OEE growth of 10-15% can be achieved in the first few years. In other words, just by introducing measurement, everyone becomes more interested in improving the figures. The most important considerations may then appear in one's target and the associated bonuses.

Basing business decisions on the mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time

If the management knows the production processes and the exact utilisation and efficiency (OEE) of the current production lines, it can consider maximising them in case of increased orders, which may allow postponing new capacity investments.

Mo measure the efficiency of a machine in real time to know the exact OEE allows precise planning of the number of shifts and personnel required. Not only can this result in higher profits, but a manufacturer can choose to offer a more competitive price, thereby increasing its market share. Furthermore, by making better use of its capacity, the manufacturer can achieve further OEE improvements, resulting in additional savings on the already increased production volume. All these considerations cannot be made with great certainty without accurate measurements.

Maintenance support

Using the system, maintenance teams also gain a lot of valuable information and, in addition to analysis, alarm notifications can be set up, allowing troubleshooting to begin more quickly.

Thanks to the statistics collected by the software and the monthly or weekly graphs that can be obtained, problems can be clearly identified and subsequent actions or development activities can be initiated for them, the results of which can be accurately measured.

As you can see, there are many advantages to tracking machine performance in real time. If you are thinking about implementing monitoring systems in your processes, learn how to use real-time production analysis to improve operational efficiency.