How to optimize your equipment efficiency

Running a production unit of any kind requires the use of operation critical equipment. This could be anything from cranes and dump trucks at construction sites, to CNC machinery, bottling machines, baking ovens, 3D printers or the ever present cars or trucks which all companies depend on.

At this point you are undoubtedly evaluating your equipment’s up- and downtime. You will be trying to figure out how to maximize your equipment load during operation hours, but you are probably also limited in your capabilities to do so – or lacking the tools to truly unluck your production unit capabilities and as a consequence your companies earning potential.

Utilizing the VRS Efficiency Cycle, we have established the four pillars that impact the capabilities of your unit; Equipment, resources , materials and contracts . All of these play a crucial role to release the true potential, and in this short-paper we will be focusing on Equipment and how it is impacted.

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"Utilizing the VRS Efficiency Cycle, we have established the four pillars that impact the capabilities of your unit"

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Challenging to measure

To calculate Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) you need to consider at least:

• Total available production time
• Breakdowns
• Service
• Setup and adjustments
• Operator efficiency and skills
• Process runtime
• Quality of materials and final product
• Project management and optimum equipment use
• Lean production processes
  

And this just to name a few.

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Equipment utilization

Equipment utilization is a daunting task to measure. In a sense it may be easy enough, you have x hours of operation pr day, your machine only runs y hours, so efficiency is the % of use out of available hours. The truth however may be a bit more complicated, having to deduct service intervals, setup of processes and products, material availability, operator availability and certification / skills, as well as planned shut-downs, reduced speed of production, cycle times and much more.

In addition to the actual production and machinery planning, there is however a multitude of other factors you need to consider:

• How is machinery utilization invoiced? Does it vary from project to project or customer to customer?
• How is employees paid? Are they being more for some production tasks than others for instance?
• How reliable is your material logistics operation?
• Do you plan your production with service intervals in consideration? Could it be feasible to service earlier than required, for a more efficient production?
• Do you have a redundancy plan if critical equipment fails? If not – how do you negotiate the business risk to ensure the overall operation?

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It can be made easier

Therefor your measuring- and planning tools must be able to efficiently handle all these factors, take them in to consideration when doing project management and in addition be able to transfer these data effectively and easily to your ERP for further processing. You would want to consider being able to plan, measure, calculate risks and results, integration to other systems, easy of use, implementation complexity and other related issues.

The Efficiency Cycle is based on years of experience working as a supplier and contractor for the industry. During these years we have seen firsthand the impacts of the pillars and the effects it has on the business when focus drifts away from the essential elements.

We have developed The Efficiency Cycle to ensure you a tool for understanding your business and dedicating focus where focus is due. In addition we have built our system VRS on these principles.

Follow us on LinkedIn for more information about VRS and the efficiency cycle. Gain insight into relevant customer stories or contact us to find out how we can help you and your company .

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In short:

• We deliver
• We understand
• We simplify
• We help you succeed!