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It's important to remember that the goal of OEE (and machine downtime tracking) in general isn't just to highlight everything that is going right with your manufacturing efforts. Sure, everyone likes a nice pat on the back every now and again - a confirmation that their hard work is paying off. But you're also looking for opportunities to improve, too, which means paying attention to trends as they develop. The issue is that OEE isn't a sprint - it's a marathon. The real actionable insight - the intelligence that will show you exactly what you need to do to thrive - will reveal itself over time. Instant gratification isn't what you're going for, here - if all your opportunities for improvement were obvious enough that they could be addressed overnight, the chances are high you would have recognized them and already done so by this point. Time is of the Essence All this is to say that if you're tracking machine downtime or OEE within the context of a sin...

When it comes to equipment downtime tracking in a manufacturing facility, OEE is far and away the most important metric to pay attention to. Short for "Overall Equipment Effectiveness," it's fairly straightforward - you're tracking how many good parts you're producing relative to the time it takes to produce them and how many instances of downtime you experience along the way. The closer your score gets to 100%, the closer your facility is to operating at peak efficiency. Many people see almost instant gains when they start tracking OEE because it doesn't just show them what is working - it shows them what isn't, allowing them to act on that insight and make improvements as soon as possible. Which, of course, demands the question - what happens if your OEE scores aren't ticking upward since you've begun your machine downtime tracking efforts? The answer to that question requires you to keep a few key things in mind. Continuous Improvement Me...

When manufacturing businesses begin to experiment with equipment downtime tracking, they normally do so with an eye towards the short-term benefits they're promised by solutions providers. They're dealing with frustrating and costly unplanned downtime, and they need it to stop as quickly as possible. For many, the most obvious benefit of equipment downtime tracking has to do with the cost savings you begin to enjoy almost immediately. If you can stop a critical piece of machinery going down unexpectedly for even a half hour, that's 30 minutes more in a day when you can generate revenue. That's 30 minutes extra where your workers are operating at peak efficiency, and when you don't have to worry about finding (and buying) things like replacement parts. But while this is important, it's also only the beginning of something far better: continuous improvement across your entire business. Tracking Machine Downtime: Playing the Long Game It's a good thing ...

If you had to make a list of all the reasons why manufacturing organizations invest in tracking machine downtime, cost savings would undoubtedly be right at the top. Obviously, every minute of unplanned downtime has a dollar value attached to it in terms of lost productivity, the expenses needed to get a machine back up and running, and your ability to use that machine's full potential to generate a profit for your company. The longer these types of problems are allowed to go on, the more they add up. Even if you only used machine downtime tracking for this purpose alone, you'd still get your money out of your investment. But once you begin to go deeper, you get a sense of just how impactful it can be across your production lines - especially in a situation where you may already be dealing with limited resources and are having a hard time unlocking their full potential. Battling Limited Resources, or: How to Work Smarter, Not Harder One of the great things about equipme...

Equipment downtime is a major pain point for just about every industry you can think of. It doesn't matter if you're in textiles, pharmaceuticals, metal, or something else entirely - keeping machines running is always a top priority. While everyone knows that there is an almost immediate cost associated with instances of unplanned downtime, there's also long-term damage that is absolutely worth a closer look. The Real Costs of Machine Downtime: An Overview When it comes to understanding the true financial impact of machine downtime, it's important to separate things into two categories: the literal cost and the larger, often hidden one. Calculating the literal cost is easy - you simply take the total minute soft downtime you experienced, multiply it by the cost per minute, and you get your number. According to one recent study , for larger businesses the cost of unplanned downtime averages out to about $9,000 per minute. The larger cost is influenced by those factors th...

It doesn't matter what type of industry you're operating in - customer loyalty is one of the most invaluable assets you have. This is particularly true in a field like manufacturing, however, where you're surrounded by competitors with new ones cropping up all the time. Once people find a solution that "just works," they tend to stick with it. Not only is a satisfied customer more likely to turn into a repeat customer, but people are also willing to spend more money   as that loyalty level increases. This also speaks to the negative ripple effect that occurs when you're constantly dealing with unplanned, unpredictable equipment downtime. If you can't rely on your own machines to produce quality parts on a regular schedule with no stop time or production issues, how can customers depend on your business? This is why, if you haven't already begun your own equipment downtime tracking process, now would be an excellent time to start. The Real Cost (and Ben...

According to one recent report   the global market for OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) software isn't just growing. It's anticipated to touch a new level by as soon as the end of the year. It certainly makes sense, particularly as manufacturing businesses search for more precise ways to empower their continuous improvement efforts. Understanding in fine detail how you're doing in terms of quality, availability, and performance doesn't just show off which of your efforts are working - it singles out which ones could use a bit of work, too. Of course, all of this demands the question - is OEE software about to reach its saturation point in the manufacturing sector, or have we only just hit the tip of the proverbial iceberg in terms of what it can do and what it allows organizations to accomplish? All it takes is one look at what else is going on in the industry to see that all signs point very firmly towards the latter. The Prominence of OEE Software: Breaking...