The New Methodology of Design For OEE Brings System Improvements

 If you are like most organizations who are using automation for productivity OEE is a key metric in determining where improvement efforts should be focused. If most of your production steps utilize production machines then all of the OEE components apply, Availability, Performance, and Quality.


With Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) most of us practitioners of Lean Six Sigma have realized the quality and cost benefits within the process of New Product Introduction. I would like to present something similar and just as beneficial which I call, Design For Overall Equipment Effectiveness or FREE. Before all of the DFSS purists get upset, I do agree the DFSS methodology can be used for machine design and some of its approach is included within FREE. The main difference is in the focus on the OEE components and an emphasis on the complete production system. So let me go on and discuss the methodology of FREE.


To start let's ask some questions you might have asked yourself in the past: Why do we add (or remove) features like vision systems, sensors, Poke Yoke devices, etc. sometime after the equipment was designed and introduced to production? Why does it take so long to change over the machine? Why is the output speed always lower than the speed stated on the name plate? Why do preventative maintenance tasks take so long? Why is production left-to-right when the next operation is right-to-left? Why can't I take the output cassette and load it directly into the input of the next operation? Why are there so many different types of fasteners? Why is the footprint huge? Why does training take so long? When FREE is applied these questions are no longer asked by your value add workers. Like DFSS, the machine design process step is where these questions are addressed, saving time and wasted resources.


The main tools and methods of Lean are applied during the machine design process, especially the practice of eliminating waste. Again, like DFSS this methodology starts with the forming of a diverse team, all departments are involved, from the Supplier (and its key component suppliers) to the value add workers who will be running the machine, to Sales and Customers. The machine design process is focused on the value-add steps it performs, all of the non-value-add steps in the original blue print are mitigated. Travel of material through the machine is significantly reduced, not only adding machine throughput but also improving quality by preventing errors likes jams, scratches, and dirt. Foot print reduction is usually another result of these improvements.


Some of the concepts of SMED are incorporated like simplify, combine, adjustment reduction through feedback loops, and even transforming internal tasks to external tasks like automatically changing a tool and mechanical adjustments.


The concepts of DFSS are directly used to reduce variation by removing unnecessary sensors, software, and enabling many product configurations.


Preventative maintenance is simplified by breaking the machine into sections, using predictive maintenance for these sections and then using modular replacement of the higher wear components. Most of the fasteners are the same, quick release, and the goal is one tool to accomplish all maintenance.


FREE takes into account the complete value stream by incorporating standardization to easily receive and transfer material from the previous and next process steps. The process looks at the current skills and potential skills of the existing value stream workers to ensure autonomous maintenance tasks can be completed easily and with less time. Within the design of operation there are fewer important steps to be trained on.



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