Optimizing OEE Calculation in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Written by Ravinder Singh

Dec 2, 2025

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In the pharmaceutical industry, optimizing overall equipment efficiency (OEE) has become a priority. Complex processes, combined with rigorous quality standards, make OEE an essential tool for maintaining competitiveness. By failing to calculate OEE accurately, companies risk losing efficiency, reducing their ability to meet compliance standards, and increasing production costs. This is why accurate OEE calculation is crucial for any plant seeking to improve its overall performance.

The causes of sub-optimal OEE can be many: prolonged downtime, sluggish machinery or production faults. In the pharmaceutical sector, these problems are often exacerbated by complex production lines requiring meticulous quality control. Poor OEE management has a direct impact on productivity, reduces equipment efficiency, and adds to operating costs. This ultimately diminishes the plant’s ability to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

To solve these problems, it’s essential to adopt a structured approach to continuous improvement. Solutions include implementing Lean methods, deploying Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), and using tools such as TeepTrak Solutions to digitalize your production. The real-time monitoring provided by TeepTrak improves OEE calculations by offering end-to-end visibility across the entire production chain. Tracking key performance indicators, such as equipment utilization and defect rates, is crucial to identifying and eliminating inefficiencies.

One striking example comes from a pharmaceutical plant that integrated TeepTrak digital tracking to monitor its multi-site production lines. Within a few months, data analysis revealed major production bottlenecks. Thanks to this increased visibility, management was able to deploy effective solutions, increasing their OEE by 15%, significantly reducing downtime and improving overall finished product quality.

It is essential for plant and production managers to start a project focused on OEE. By integrating tools such as those offered by TeepTrak, plants can look forward to significant improvements in equipment performance, reduced costs and improved compliance with pharmaceutical quality standards. To achieve these advances, systematically measuring OEE and involving all teams in a continuous improvement process must be the first key steps.

FAQ

Question 1: What is the impact of an incorrect OEE calculation in the pharmaceutical industry?

Incorrect OEE calculation can lead to widespread inefficiency, increasing costs and reducing production capacity. This affects competitiveness and the plant’s ability to meet quality standards.

Question 2: How can TeepTrak help improve OEE calculations?

TeepTrak facilitates real-time monitoring of equipment performance, enabling inefficiencies to be quickly identified and corrected to improve OEE.

Question 3: Where to start optimizing OEE in a pharmaceutical plant?

Start by measuring current OEE, identify bottlenecks and implement Lean methodologies and digitalization tools like TeepTrak for continuous monitoring.

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