DOI : 10.17577/The demand for overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) software is increasing. As per reports, the OEE software market can grow up to $122.4 billion by 2028.
The software is an indispensable addition to the manufacturing unit, and here’s why:
- it determines and improves the productivity level of your manufacturing equipment
- OEE speaks volumes about your manufacturing operations like their efficiency, scope of improvement, and top-performing factors
- OEE software aims to control a machine’s “six big losses,” classified into three; availability, performance, and quality.
Here are the top 6 advantages of embedding OEE software in manufacturing processes.
1. It increases the ROI of your manufacturing machinery/equipment
In a manufacturing unit, purchasing equipment is your biggest investment. No doubt, you’d want to get the best returns from this investment.
OEE software can help you maximize your ROI by:
- identifying the best investment opportunities in manufacturing equipment
- comparing and analyzing equipment performance to uncover their potential
- ensuring your equipment is put to its best use to maximize production
The numerical values produced after OEE calculations help administrators make decisions about buying new machinery or equipment and allocating their existing resources.
2. It improves equipment efficiency and manufacturing processes
The OEE software reveals information about equipment issues like downtime and performance variations, helping you resolve them on time.
It also uncovers the reasons behind performance issues and helps you to choose between selling the equipment and repairing it.
At the same time, OEE software keeps a tab on every manufacturing stage until the final product is ready. It gives you live updates about how your equipment functions during manufacturing. It includes information about glitches, stoppages, and errors that arise during the process.
When your team has such information beforehand, it can take appropriate measures to improve equipment performance and optimize the process.
3. It boosts workforce productivity and performance
The not-so-secret way to achieve production targets is to maintain a healthy and consistent production volume. It is possible only when you have a productive workforce and robust equipment by your side.
The OEE software gives detailed information about downtimes, sanitation, tank change times, and changeovers. This data alerts you about tasks keeping your workforce occupied for longer durations than required.
You can use this data to:
- optimize the performance of your equipment for time-consuming tasks
- allocate more resources to ensure the task completed on time
- identify hiring needs
When you have enough workers to perform certain tasks, the overall workload decreases and your team stays productive and motivated.
4. It paints a clear picture of production problems
OEE software doesn’t let you rely on guesswork to identify problems in your production facility. It gives you clear metrics to track equipment performance, highlighting issues slowing down the production process.
Most importantly, it sheds light on the six big losses affecting your manufacturing efficiency. The dashboards show exact numbers to portray the seriousness of these losses so you can make informed decisions for performance optimization.
A major relief with OEE software is that it provides real-time updates about these losses — so you can take appropriate action before they cause more damage.
You can also consider this as a part of predictive maintenance where you get a hold of potential losses before they cause more harm. This helps in cutting down equipment costs and improves the bottom line of the manufacturing facility.
5. It keeps manufacturing waste and scrap production in control
We cannot imagine the financial losses you have to incur due to waste production in manufacturing facilities. A small defect can lead to a whole production run being scrapped in no time. Not to mention, this impacts your production targets, and reputation, and adds to your time and resource investments.
OEE software can reduce this damage or better yet prevent it from occurring by providing real-time updates on quality losses. This way, your team can employ corrective measures and stop the damage from spreading across the whole run.
Besides, there are automated modules for quality assurance that test production quality and send alerts to the team in case of violated thresholds.
6. It keeps a scrutinizing eye on the shop floor
No matter how detailed interviews you take, it’s not possible to judge a worker’s accountability based on their skill set. You have to keep a tab on their shifts to ensure they are spending their working hours as required. This will also help you acknowledge their efforts and reward them for their efforts.
OEE software comes with labor tracking features to keep your workforce accountable and offer you a bird’s-eye view of their performance. On one hand, you’ll get information about the shift timings generating preferred results while on the other, your team will have a shared dashboard view to look into daily plans and issues at hand.
You can configure OEE platforms to assign dedicated views to your admins and team members.
Invest in OEE software to improve your bottom line
An OEE strategy works toward enhancing your manufacturing unit’s operating efficiency and productivity. While the OEE software keeps production problems and losses in check, the information it provides helps you make informed decisions to scale your production process.
Talk to a reliable OEE software partner and understand how it can impact your bottom line.
Author
Boris Shiklo
The CTO at ScienceSoft since 2003, Boris has established high quality standards for software solutions and IT services. Boris ensures that ScienceSoft’s programming competencies are relevant to ever-evolving needs of businesses. Under his management, ScienceSoft has successfully started data science, big data, and IoT technology directions. Boris authored and co-authored more than 50 publications.