Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) programs help to guarantee that packaging equipment in facilities works the way it should, operating without any lack of efficiency that can cause downtime. OEE is a great way to carefully monitor facilities to determine how effective they are, and facilities can either rely on software to perform detailed analytics, or measure effectiveness manually.

The Basics of OEE

There are three basic aspects of OEE to consider when getting started on an OEE program. These areas include: availability, performance, and quality. OEE Availability is the specific ratio between scheduled run time and actual run time, without including lunches, breaks and other exceptions when a packaging line may be down. OEE Performance is the ratio between the number of units that a facility can potentially produce and the actual number that is produced, and the former is what packaging equipment is designed to achieve. OEE Quality is the ratio between the total units to be produced at the start of production and the actual number of good units produced.

While these aspects may at first appear to be simple, it can be difficult to implement these aspects in your business and use them to your advantage. You should first determine if your business needs OEE.

Determining if OEE is Right for You

There are several factors that you should consider before implementing an OEE program. You should consider a program if:

• Your company has competitors
• Your competitors have OEE programs in their operation
• Your competitors are more profitable than you
• Can redistribute money saved with reduced operating costs
• If your company truly requires OEE to increase profits

If these are relevant factors, you should consider implementing an OEE program to improve packaging line operations.

Implementing an OEE Program with a Packaging Equipment Company

If you believe your business can benefit from an OEE program, you should consider consulting packaging professionals with experience who can effectively train your staff. An OEE program with a packaging equipment company will not only improve the efficiency of your current packaging equipment with a better understanding of measurements, but will also serve as a training program that improves the productivity of your packaging line operators and maintenance staff.

The implementation of an OEE program could take weeks to months, depending on the size of your packaging line operation. During implementation of the OEE program, experts will work with your staff in order to help increase line speeds, productivity, reductions in yield losses, and overall efficiency of operations.