With Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) you can identify and isolate the issues affecting the performance of your machines or lines – and make data-driven decisions around how to improve performance and achieve greater ROI.

OEE gives you the competitive edge you need

OEE is a process that measures how a machine or line is performing against how it should be performing. It tracks every minute of performance and monitors every alarm, alert or stoppage to tell you where issues are arising and why. The resulting data helps you make continuous line improvements so your equipment is running as efficiently as possible.

OEE monitors the following to gauge overall effectiveness:

Availability. Planned downtime and breakdowns.
Performance. Minor stops and speed loss.
Quality. Number of rejects.

Setting it up is simple. QSI’s seamless OEE solutions often don’t require any additional hardware on plant machinery – nor do they change your equipment in any way. All we do is install a server loaded with software customized to your individual needs. This software runs constantly in the background, gathering information and logging data, so that you can identify areas for continuous improvement.

OEE also means overall employee effectiveness

OEE doesn’t just help your equipment run better – it helps your employees do more.

For example, if a machine occasionally stops for a fault and the operator fixes the issue every time without getting maintenance involved, there’s a greater chance that the fault could lead to an hour of downtime across three shifts. By putting an OEE system in place, this fault is identified as a major contributor to downtime so the maintenance team can step in and focus their attention on resolving the issue in order to get the machines and the line at peak performance.

There’s no more writing down error logs on a whiteboard. No more manually entering data into a database. And no more generating Excel reports. QSI’s seamless OEE solutions deliver insight and value to everyone in your plant from operators through leadership

With OEE your plant engineer has the data they need to see what design or programming improvements can be made to improve your overall output. Maintenance knows what components are liable to break down and when, allowing them to proactively replace parts and schedule preventative maintenance. Operators have an at-a-glance baseline for performance that they can seek to improve.

On top of that, management can boost your company’s bottom line by doing more with less. How? With the constant incremental improvement made possible by OEE, you can get more out of your existing equipment – rather than making expensive equipment purchases or line expansions. This makes your company competitive against others in the field, as well as against other plants within the same company.

OEE is a smart, low-risk decision

The ease with which OEE can be introduced means that implementing it is a smart, low-risk decision. It doesn’t change the way your line runs, and it doesn’t require an investment in expensive equipment. On top of that, you’ll be able to see important trends almost immediately – and make smart, data-driven decisions within just 6-8 weeks. You’ll get more out of your equipment and your workers, along with a jump on the competition.

Speak to QSI today about implementing OEE on your lines, and watch your production efficiency and bottom line grow.

The post Why OEE is Your Ticket to Optimum Efficiency – and ROI. appeared first on Quantum Solutions Inc..

The Client

Wicked Weed Brewing is a craft brewery located in Asheville, North Carolina. Since 2011, they’ve been developing signature flavors and stylish names like Bedeviled Golden, El Paraiso, and Lieutenant Dank. In 2017, they entered into a partnership with the Anheuser-Busch (A-B) family of craft brewers, giving them access to marketing, distribution, and capital support while maintaining freedom and control over their own operations.

Wicked Weed had plenty of beer knowledge, style, and skill. What they needed, though, was a greater presence across the country, in order to capitalize on their new partnership with A-B.

The Problem

Wicked Weed therefore began an expansion of their production operations. However, this proved to be challenging almost immediately. With the current single-can production process, they were maxed out and could not meet their targets.

Wicked Weed would need not only to expand their beer-making facilities, but also their packaging process. Their current setup included systems that worked okay yet were inadequate for ramping up to meet the wider production demands.

Thus, it became obvious quickly that the production operations would need to be automated. Which often presents an additional challenge.

David McWain, project manager for A-B, said that it’s quite difficult to implement an automation that works quickly. “Most integration companies and automation companies don’t pass the first performance test the first time.” Usually that test is a requirement of line efficiency, or what percentage of its full capacity the line is running at.

For example, if a line has a capacity of 250 cans per minute, and because of problems that cause stoppage of the line the overall production is only 200 cans per minute, that’s an 80% efficiency. For the record, Wicked Weed did not have a good handle on their line efficiency, because the line itself was not automated. This led to an additional opportunity for enhancement. Automating the line would allow Wicked Weed to know exactly how efficient they were, be able to diagnose future problems faster, and develop solutions more efficiently.

But, as McWain pointed out, that’s not always a given.

The Solution

A-B partnered with a contractor to design, build, and program the new automated production lines. The goals included increasing capacity and swift resolution of alarms, all of which would lead to more efficient use of the line.

As in any automation project, multiple steps were involved. QSI got engaged right from the start, consulting on electrical design. Engineers from QSI were able to provide guidance on all aspects, including the HMI (human/machine interface) layouts, alarms, and trigger systems.

An interesting twist to the standard automation process also arose early in the project. Because of Wicked Weed’s production layout, one of the steps involves a right-angle pusher. Cans filled and packaged into either 4-packs, 6-packs, or cases wait at the end of a conveyor. When the appropriate quota has been met, they are then pushed off at a right angle for the next step. An additional challenge is that this quota varies by the brew and the packaging requirements, so flexibility in design and action are a must.

This became a problem, because slight irregularities in the alignment of the varying packs or cases mean that sometimes those bundles getting pushed to the side would bump against a fixed barrier and alarm the line to stop. Stopping the line means cans and packs weren’t moving through the process fast enough, that the line was experiencing down time, and that overall the facility was not running as efficiently as it could.

In order to overcome this bottleneck, QSI consulted on a solution that involved a variable mechanical stopper to align the various cases or packs before pushing. QSI brought engineering experience and combined it with a real-world solution to the problem. The stopper could be adjusted for the number of packs necessary in each push, it could appear or disappear as necessary (depending on the packaging requirements), and it would help to ensure proper alignment at each push, meaning that there would be less blockage and less down time.

Once the mechanical designs were in place, electrical design and programming were necessary. QSI engineers worked to customize not only the software underneath, but the external interface as well. They designed and programmed the HMI system, developed a series of alarms and triggers, and programmed everything to interact seamlessly.

The Results

David McWain, the project manager from A-B overseeing the Wicked Weed can line expansion, said that QSI passed all their benchmarks with spectacular margins. “98% line efficiency, they passed on the first try,” he said. This is unusual, he said. Remember, most automation projects don’t pass with the first implementation. For QSI to hit that benchmark meant faster completion of the project, at a lower cost, with higher satisfaction.

What was most special, though, about working with QSI was the people. McWain said that QSI’s ability to create real-time solutions to open questions was unparalleled in the industry. Often, responses from other engineers could take up to a week, delaying projects and adding significant barriers. But from QSI, solutions usually came back quickly, sometimes even the same day. “Really, very timely solutions to open items,” he said.

And overall, the expansion and automation project has gone well. A-B has continued the relationship with QSI, too, including them in multiple projects since the first. These investments have helped Wicked Weed increase production from 30,000 barrels a year to 150,000 now, with a target for more. And McWain has decided to work with QSI directly, rather than going through other contractors. Why? “It’s their ability for real-time solutions. Which is pretty big in the automation world. … And all their solutions were cost-efficient.”

What a great combination.

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