What is it and how to calculate the OEE index of your production

Industries need to be constantly monitoring their production capacity, raw material losses and financial waste. To obtain these answers and identify their causes, the OEE calculation becomes an indispensable and strategic tool.

Next, understand what this calculation is about and how to apply it in your textile production to improve your sector and adapt to Industry 4.0.

What is OEE calculation?

The OEE calculation, or Overall Equipment Effectiveness, is an indicator used to measure the efficiency of an industry’s equipment, which is one of the main indexes that analyze industrial productivity.

Through the OEE, it is possible to identify the frequency that your machinery is available for operation, the production time and the quantity of products produced under commercial conditions, that is, without scrap. To calculate OEE, the formula is used:

availability x performance x quality = OEE index

Availability

The availability of equipment is the time it is in production. This period is found by the formula:

availability% = (producing time / program time to produce) x 100.

Performance

Measures the quality of your equipment’s work, including its work speed. To find this index, simply apply the calculation:

performance% (actual production quantity / theoretical production quantity) x 100.

Quality

To calculate OEE, you need to measure the quality of the products that leave your equipment. To do this, the formula is:

quality% = (quantity of good / Total quantity produced) x 100.

When did the OEE calculation appear?

The OEE calculation was developed by the appointed emperor of Japan, engineer and physicist Seiichi Nakajima, who is considered a pioneer in the industry and father of the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) system. The method was disseminated with the intention of discovering where there were production losses caused by equipment and to reveal the true production rate in an industry..

In this sense, Toyotism has a direct link with Global Equipment Efficiency, as this production system aimed to eliminate any and all forms of waste or possible waste, so that it was viable to work on demand and only with products of the highest quality. This way, an industry will be able to meet consumer needs.

What is the relationship between OEE calculation and textile production?

In textile production, it is very common to identify production bottlenecks, but not know the reason for them. Even with investment in new equipment, there is a large difference and shortage between the capacity of the machinery and its productive use.

So, to identify the quality, performance and availability of equipment to level the production flow, the OEE calculation is applied as a yield indicator, in such a way that it is possible to analyze production losses in textile production.

Furthermore, this study must be carried out considering its raw material, as it cannot only focus on taking advantage of the maximum capacity of a piece of machinery without considering the inputs, which can present levels of carelessness with the material and result in leftover fabrics, for example. In other words, it is necessary to balance these two factors: equipment and raw materials.

Why should you use the OEE calculation?

The OEE calculation is used as the main methodology to evaluate industrial performance and productivity. Its measurement provides data and information about the behavior of your business’s production capacity.

By checking the effectiveness of your equipment, it will allow you to have a systemic view of the functioning of your production, so that you have a solid basis for making decisions regarding improvements, cost reductions and even possible investments in more efficient machinery.

The OEE calculation allows you to be on the right track to align your production with the Industry 4.0 concept, considering that you will have more productive efficiency and in your processes to improve and optimize your entire productivity. This adds value to your products and services.

Take the opportunity to delve deeper into the subject and check out how Industry 4.0 controls production quality in a predominantly advanced era.