How to calculate availability to optimize OEE

In the manufacturing industry, ensuring optimum equipment performance is crucial to maintaining competitive accuracy. Availability, one of the three pillars of OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), plays a key role in assessing overall equipment efficiency. But how can availability be calculated to maximize OEE? Misunderstanding this calculation can lead to inaccurate results, affecting strategic decision-making and, consequently, plant productivity.

Availability can be affected by a number of factors. These include unplanned downtime, technical failures and interruptions to the logistics flow. All these interruptions have a direct impact on OEE and increase production costs. The consequences of such inefficiency include not only a drop in product quality, but also a negative impact on customer satisfaction and an increase in operating costs.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways of improving availability and, consequently, OEE. Adopting continuous improvement methods such as Lean Manufacturing and Total Productive Maintenance can significantly reduce downtime. In parallel, digitizing the shop floor with tools like those offered by TeepTrak provides real-time visibility, facilitating the detection and immediate treatment of anomalies. Tracking precise Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) also helps to identify bottlenecks and prioritize corrective actions.

A case in point illustrates the effectiveness of this approach in an electronic components factory. The plant suffered from frequent unplanned stoppages on its production lines. By integrating an OEE solution and real-time performance monitoring, the company was able to precisely identify the underlying causes of the interruptions. Thanks to a simplified dashboard and real-time alerts provided by TeepTrak, predictive maintenance was improved, reducing downtime by 30%, thus optimizing availability and overall OEE.

To sustainably improve the availability and efficiency of your equipment, it’s essential to start by accurately measuring your current OEE and analyzing the factors affecting each component. By integrating flexible, customized solutions like those from TeepTrak, you gain not only visibility, but also responsiveness. Let yourself be guided by factual data to transform insights into concrete actions, and thus into significant performance gains.

FAQ

Question 1: How do you measure availability when calculating OEE?

Availability is measured by dividing actual operating time by planned operating time. This includes the reduction of unplanned downtime.

Question 2: What is the impact of low availability on OEE?

Low availability directly reduces OEE, increasing production costs and affecting quality and delivery times.

Question 3: Where do you start to improve availability?

Identify the main causes of downtime. Use digital solutions like TeepTrak for real-time tracking and analysis.