Productivity improvement increase through consistent improvement measures
In production, waste and losses are to be avoided. Both reduce the overall equipment effectiveness (GAE) of a production facility, internationally referred to as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Downtimes, idle times and rejects reduce the plant’s effectiveness.
The productivity of a plant is influenced by three factors:
- Power
- Availability and
- Quality
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In order to achieve a sustainable increase in productivity, our consultants do not look at the performance of individual factors in isolation, but analyze their interplay with our systemic approach. This is how we create the basis for improvement measures that significantly increase the added value of your production plant.
OEE = Leistung x Verfügbarkeit x Qualität
Tailored concepts for your production
To optimize the performance of your systems, we rely on our systemic approach to increase productivity combined with the technical expertise and many years of practical experience of our consultants. In order to achieve best-of-best solutions, we adapt our approach to increase productivity tailored to the needs of your business locally, and add to or combine it if necessary with other concepts from our toolbox for operational excellence.
After the determination of the initial values, in a first step all current measures for improvement are recorded and documented. Together with your employees, our production experts develop further optimization approaches. For this we put together interdisciplinary teams individually, for example with employees from production, maintenance, QM / QA and logistics. Together, new ideas for improvement are developed in the overarching teams. By combining our concept of increasing productivity with other concepts (such as 5S or SMED), we can achieve additional synergies.
Influence on productivity is assessed
All existing and new optimization proposals are recorded and evaluated. For each idea then the probable effect on the OEE is estimated. In addition, for complex issues, the effects on productivity increases can also be determined by simulations. The interdisciplinary teams often produce proposals with high efficiency, which could not be achieved in a detached individual analysis.
After evaluating the ideas for improvement, the measures that have the greatest effect on increasing productivity from an effectiveness, feasibility and financial point of view are selected. Detailed implementation plans are being developed for these improvement measures. In addition to short-term changes, medium to long-term changes are taken into account in order to achieve a lasting improvement. We accompany you with the implementation of measures as well as with the development of a continuous improvement process and offer you also a comprehensive controlling.
Potential for improvement to increase productivity
The efficiency of the installations is often enhanced by a combination of different measures, among others
- Increase of production capacity
- Increase in availability
- Quality increase
- Reduction of downtime
effect.
In practice, changing break times or shift occupations may have a positive effect on productivity gains, such as technological improvements, optimizations of products or controlled set-up processes. The interdisciplinary cooperation often results in a better understanding of confounding variables and a higher willingness to provide comprehensive solutions.
Manipulated variables of the increase in productivity
The code OEE estimates the value of a production plant on the one hand and the amount of unplanned losses on the other. The assessment of OEE is closely linked to the individual circumstances of the company and the production process. For example, in a simple manufacturing process, the overall equipment effectiveness of 80% may be indicative of a significant potential for increasing productivity. For complex productions, however, an 80% OEE can already be a benchmark.
The productivity of a plant
is determined by the factors Power x Availability x Quality = OEE calculated.
- Power includes the actual performance in relation to the planned number of units in relation to the term of the plant. The deviation from the target power puts the loss and reduces the productivity.
- Availability refers to the time the equipment is actually available for production purposes. The runtime is therefore reduced by unplanned shutdowns due to waiting times, missing material, short-term staff shortages, additional set-up times and other incidents. Lower availability also reduces plant productivity.
- Quality has a direct impact on the efficiency of a plant. Because quality defects due to defective parts require reworking, unusable parts additionally reduce the overall productivity as rejects.
Optimize interaction
Causes for defects and starting points for improvements can be determined by analyzing the individual factors of the OEE. But in order to achieve operational excellence, the complex interplay of factors must be carefully considered and optimized. After all, the change of one factor not only affects the overall system effectiveness, but it can also have an impact on the other factors, which in turn influence the OEE. Using our simulations, our consulting professionals can predict the impact of individual improvement measures and thus estimate their contribution to increasing productivity.
Competence and experience
In order to achieve excellent results, we tailor our approach to the requirements of our customers and continuously develop our measurement and evaluation methods. We are committed to your goals with great commitment. In doing so, we place high demands on our work and our results. Trust our competence, experience and working methods. We not only increase the productivity of your plants. With TARGUS you can achieve top performances.Â
