By the Captain
What is OEE?
OEE, or OverExaggerated Efficiency, is one of the greatest known metrics. I can make OEE numbers look soooooo good. Our numbers are always good, because if they are not, I will beat people over the head so that they get back in line so that I do not get my head kicked in by my boss. Who cares about the 6 Big Losses when my OEE is 109%!
Don’t be jealous. Let me share with you our secrets. The first tip is how to manipulate the Availability calculation:
(Scheduled Time – Downtime) / Scheduled Time
The secret is to take most downtime events out of your scheduled time – that way, you can achieve a higher percentage. It works really well, especially when you pull changeovers out of this time. Remember, the goal is to hit a good number, not unmask issues in the process. We have to save our jobs, not fix things!
Captain Unreliability is a satire of the state of the manufacturing industry in ’Merica today and is written by an industry professional known for using humor to get the point across. Stay tuned for more useless advice, and if you have topics you’d like to see covered or questions you’d like The Captain to weigh in on, contact The Captain directly at [email protected] or follow on Twitter @CUnreliability.
Second, the Performance calculation. Do not use the design rate. The main reason for this is that engineering always gives us defective equipment that can’t possibly hit the rate it was designed for. Our equipment always passes the F.A.T. and S.A.T. before it is installed in our environment, so it should work, right? What you should do is take an average hourly run rate over the last year, and then subtract 10%, using this figure as your Max-T performance rate. Also, take the rework-and-rejects average out of your Max-T; that way you have more of a cushion. You can achieve 130%–150% Performance rates with these secrets implemented.
Lastly, Quality. This is simple. Install some sensors on the infeed and outfeed of the conveyors in the packaging area to count the bags as they travel in and out of the conveyor. Then, link that count to your data historian or HMI/SCADA software and use this as your quality measurement. The possibility of you having quality issues traveling down a conveyor is very slim. This will give you an outstanding Quality rate! If you need a higher-than-100% Quality rate, hire a temp to stand at the end of the conveyor near the sensor and flag it every now and then. This will give you a very good Quality rate. For example, let’s say 100 widgets travel down the conveyor on the infeed. Have the temp flag the sensor 10 times to show that the outfeed produced 110 widgets. This would be a 110% Quality rate! Woot, woot!
What is RCM?
RCM is a world-leading methodology that helps to inform your maintenance strategy. What you may not know is that you are probably already doing it. After all, Really Crappy Maintenance is how we currently do maintenance in most facilities within America. So why aren’t you giving yourself credit for the work you are already doing?
Really Crappy Maintenance takes discipline and a lack of understanding to implement. To truly understand RCM, you need to answer a series of questions. These seven questions will help you understand the magnitude of your maintenance program and figure out if yours is an Really Crappy Maintenance facility:
- Have you always done it this way?
- Do you prefer channel locks over a torque wrench?
- Do you love being a firefighting hero?
- Does your equipment fail after doing a PM on it?
- Do you know best?
- Do you hate change?
- What are your metrics?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, yours is a Really Crappy Maintenance department. Congratulations! You are in the 99%.
Remember, take these tips on OEE and RCM to heart. Do you want to look good or not? Implement them now, and I look forward to your success!
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
Connect with Alexis on LinkedIn
