编者注：OEE在国内鲜为人知，应用OEE实时监控软件的企业更是少之又少。OEE是综合设备效率的简称，是比稼动率更全面的考核设备或者生产线的产出能力的指标。下面的文章译自国外，描述了应用OEE实时监控软件提升OEE的5个重要步骤，对IEer来说很有参考价值。
恭喜！你的企业已经选择了OEE作为首要的标准来帮助你开启制造作业中隐藏的能力。在你的生产流程中应用OEE将会帮助你测量你现在的绩效水平，找出并排除限制你产出的主要瓶颈和约束，帮助你达到世界级的绩效。现在，你只需要做的就是完善你们企业的OEE。嗯，那OEE到底是什么，还有如何去做呢？
完成OEE不是一项简单的任务。它需要一种专业的方式、作业人员的贡献和技术实践的完美结合来释放作业过程中的潜在能力。但是大多数OEE的实施是不需要花费很多时间的。提升生产力的主要成功因素是什么？为什么它们如此重要？很多公司通过实施下面至关重要的5步来快速和有效的改善他们的作业绩效。
1、开始一个不断改善项目
使OEE获得它本应该得到的关注的最好方法是为其建立一个不断改善计划。将你的计划呈给总经理，详细说明这样一个计划可以为你公司带来的收益，在继续下去之前确认你获得了他们的认可。有时候，你可能发现一个类似的产能提升计划已经存在于你们公司内，你可以借此来获取高层的认可。有了高层的支持和方向，在改善OEE的过程中分配主要工作任务到个人的阻力就会大大减少。
提示：确保获取一个现有制造过程的标杆OEE，为不断改善计划制定一个切合实际的目标，例如，每年提升包装作业的OEE10％。
2、运行数据的自动获取
为了正确的计算OEE和有效的进行报告，有一些特殊类型的车间数据需要采集。通常来说，人工采集这些数据是很费时的，往往会产生不正确的结果。让作业者收集设备的停机时间和损耗情况于一块黑板上往往使得人们对其不信任。一般来说，人工收集数据缺少对于有效地分析根本原因和改善机会顺序所需要的细节内容。
很多时候，与短暂停止相关的关键性数据漏掉了，会导致在计算总OEE的时候更加不准确。使用专门为实时绩效管理所设计的软件来自动收集为了计算OEE产出的准确信息需要的生产相关数据，这样做使得员工可以专注于他们的首要工作：保持制程正常运转。既然不是所有影响生产效率的因素都是与设备相关的，这样的方案要允许采集和分析其他因素的影响，如作业员培训、产品组合、供应商、排程和保养。自动采集这些数据帮助识别潜在的趋势和移除造成低效率的瓶颈。
提示：将自动采集数据和作业员的观察以及反馈结合在一起，为OEE的计算信息增添了内容，使得数据更有用。实时效率管理软件为作业者提供一个采集数据的界面，这与现有的自动控制系统是互不干扰的。
3、实时使用OEE
尽管OEE的历史分析很清晰的给出了效率低下的根本原因，但是它们是历史数据，不能让作业者们实时地改善发现的问题来实现他们当前班次的生产目标。实时查看OEE提供作业者们一个当不同的效率损失发生时就减少其影响的工具。
仅仅是很小的OEE下降百分率可能相当于产出量的大量减少。举例来说，在一个班次中，40％的OEE减低导致10％的产出量减少。这是一个很大的损失，可以通过对OEE瞬时改变的快速反应来避免。实时OEE还允许管理者设置生产目标来实现预先定义的OEE数据，以及当OEE在某段时间处于一个低水平时定义额外的程序。管理者可以选择对达到某个效率水平的员工进行奖励，这样将会激励他们努力实现他们的效率，找到新的方式来改善。
在任何持续改善中作业员都是主要组成部分。赋予他们合适的实时工具使得他们更有效率地工作，并走向成功。
提示：大型的显示器和屏幕是个不错的选择，它可以使每个人都对OEE的实时趋势和目标有意识。让一个人在车间，在走廊，甚至在休息室都可以达到最大的可视化。
4、实现基于WEB的报表
如果人们在需要的时候不能使用，那么OEE分析需要用到的必要数据是没有价值的。通过网络报表共享OEE使得适当的人在适当的时间得到适当的信息。OEE数据的不同查看形式的支持和基于角色的报表使得人们可以看到对他们各自的角色有价值的OEE详细信息。
维护工程师可能对各种设备停机的间隔，线长想知道对生产能力有影响的停机时间的总数，财务部分的员工可能需要显示由于低效率产生的总成本的报表。结合了其他相关制程信息的车间数据的可配置的网络报表使得不同的OEE查看形式成为可能。
网络技术允许报表在不同的地方运行，而不需要转换成文件格式，这些文件必须手工复制再以图表显示成有价值的制造过程信息。网络报表同时支持将总体OEE分解为详细的信息。预先定义好的可一键完成的报表使得用户快速的获取信息，而不必整理那些与他们的角色和职责不相关的其他信息。
提示：安排主要的报表在周会之前发布和E-mail给经理和主管，这样就可以在会议室里分享信息，而不需利用电脑和投影机来展示网络上的报表。
5、将现有的改善方法作为杠杆
当和一些改善流程如TPM、精益生产和6西格玛一起使用时，OEE是一个很有效的度量标准。它提供了一致的衡量和验证利用上述方式方法改善是否成功的方式。例如，考虑将OEE和6西格玛中的DMAIC方法学结合起来。DMAIC是一个五步质量策略的缩写，被用于改善商业流程。使用DMAIC，你需要定义要研究的过程或问题，测量过程的效率，分析数据决定引起低效率的原因和改善的机会，通过创新的方案改善流程，以及控制方案确保流程得到改善。
OEE是一个容易使用的度量标准，通过它6西格玛黑带们可以快速和准确的判定瓶颈和约束所在，衡量它们对生产过程的影响，知道那些改正措施可以最大化地改善效率。通过DMAIC循环的多次迭代，管理者们可以不断的增加目标，知道达到世界级水平位置。
无论市场条件和产品需求如何，制造商们总是要管理效率的。当生产过程运行到一个低效率的时候，在经济环境好的时候需要利用现有的设备和资源提升效率，在经济不景气的时候就必须控制成本。
提示：帕累托法则提到80％的问题或者损失是由20％的原因造成的。帕累托图很清晰的表明哪些是主要的原因，无论如何要把它作为提升效率的一个主要工具。
作者：David Ray
原文地址：http://www.plantengineering.com/article/CA6541408.html#4.%20Implement%20Web-based%20reporting
原文：
Beyond OEE: 5 steps to success
Combining the power of OEE with these critical success factors allows you to unlock the hidden capacity in your manufacturing operations and achieve World Class levels of performance.
By David Ray, Parsec Automation Corp.
Congratulations! Your company has chosen Overall Equipment Effectiveness as the primary metric to help you unlock hidden capacity within your manufacturing operation. Applying OEE to your production processes will help you benchmark your current levels of performance; find and eliminate major bottlenecks and constraints that are limiting your production throughput; and help you achieve World Class levels of performance. Now all that’s left to do is implement OEE within your factory. So, what does this mean and how do you do it?
Fulfilling the promise of OEE is no easy task. It takes a focused approach, the dedication of your operations personnel and the right combination of technology and best practices to unleash the full potential of your manufacturing operation. But making the most of OEE does not have to be time consuming or painful. What are the critical success factors for improving productivity and why are they important? Many companies have quickly and measurably improved the performance of their operations by taking these five vital steps.
1. Start a continuous improvement program
The best way to ensure that OEE gets the attention it deserves is to build a continuous improvement program around it. Present the program to senior management; detail the benefits that such a program will have for the company; and ensure that you have their buy-in before moving forward. In some cases, you may find out that a similar productivity improvement program is already in place, and that you can leverage it to get the needed management buy-in. With management’s support and direction, there is less resistance to assigning primary job duties to employees that focus on improving OEE.
Tip: Make sure to obtain a benchmark OEE value for your existing manufacturing processes and to set realistic business objectives and goals for the program – for example, “Increase OEE for packaging operations by 10% in 1 year.”
2. Automate the collection of performance data
There are specific types of shop-floor data that must be collected to correctly calculate OEE and report it effectively. Usually, gathering this data manually is time-intensive and can yield inaccurate results. Having operators collect equipment downtimes and performance loss information on a clipboard typically results in information that people have little confidence in. Typically, manually collected data lacks the needed context and details for effective root-cause analysis and ranking of improvement opportunities.
Quite often, crucial data related to short stops is missing, which could lead to further inaccuracies in calculating the actual OEE. Using software applications specifically designed for real-time performance management to automatically collect productivity-related data needed to compute OEE yields accurate information and allows operators to focus on their primary job duties: keeping the process running. Since not all factors affecting productivity are equipment related, the right solution must allow for capturing and analyzing the impact of issues such as operator training, product mix, suppliers, scheduling and maintenance. Automatically capturing this data helps identify hidden trends and removes bottlenecks that contribute to substandard performance.
Tip: Combining automated data collection with operator observations and feedback adds context to the information behind OEE, making it more actionable and useful. Real-time performance management software provides operators with an interface for collecting this information that is non-intrusive to existing automation and control systems.
3. Use OEE in real time
While historical analysis of OEE gives great visibility into the root causes of poor performance, it is still only historical and doesn’t allow operators to correct detected problems in real time to meet the current shift production targets. Viewing OEE in real time gives operators the tools to minimize the impact of different performance losses as they occur.
Just a small percentage drop in OEE can equal a large reduction in line output. For example, a 4% drop in OEE (from 40% to 36%) results in 10% fewer units produced during one shift. That’s a big loss that can be prevented by responding to changes in OEE at the first sign of problems. Real-time OEE also allows management to set production goals for achieving clearly defined OEE numbers and to define escalation procedures when OEE is substandard for certain periods of time. Management can choose to reward operators for achieving certain levels of performance, which provides incentives for them to focus on their performance numbers and to find new ways to improve them.
Operators are key components in any continuous improvement initiative. Giving them the right tools in real-time to do their jobs more effectively sets everyone up for success.
Tip: Large-screen displays and marquees are ideal for keeping everyone aware of OEE trends and goals in real time. Put one on the shop floor, in a main hallway or even in the breakroom to achieve maximum visibility.
4. Implement Web-based reporting
Having all of the necessary data required for OEE analysis is of little value if people within your organization don’t have access to it when needed. Sharing OEE through Web-based reporting allows the right people to have access to the right information at the right time. Support for different views of OEE data and role-based reporting allows different groups within your organization to see the details behind OEE that have maximum value to their respective roles.
Maintenance engineers may be interested in how many times different pieces of equipment break down. Line supervisors would prefer the total amount of downtime based on its effect on productivity. People in the finance department may require reports that show the total cost of poor performance. Configurable Web reports that combine shop-floor data with other related process information make these different OEE views possible.
Web technologies allow reports to be run from multiple locations without having to export the information into file formats where data must be manually manipulated and graphed to produce valuable manufacturing intelligence. Web reports can also support drill-down from high-level OEE data to the detailed information behind the numbers. Predefined one-click reports allow users to get to the information they need immediately without having to sort through other information that isn’t as relative to their role and responsibilities.
Tip: Schedule key reports to be automatically published and e-mailed to managers and supervisors prior to weekly meetings. This way you can share actionable information in conference rooms that don’t have computers and projectors for displaying reports from the Web.
5. Leverage an existing improvement methodology
OEE is an effective metric when used with improvement processes such as TPM, Lean manufacturing and Six Sigma. It provides a consistent way to measure and validate the success of improvement made by following one of these methodologies. For example, consider the effects of combining OEE with Six Sigma’s DMAIC methodology. DMAIC is an acronym for a five-stage quality strategy used for improving individual processes within a business. With DMAIC, you Define the process or problem to be addressed; Measure the process’s performance; Analyze the resulting data to determine root causes of poor performance and opportunities for improvement; Improve the process through creative solutions; and Control the solution to ensure process improvement.
OEE is an easy-to-use metric that allows Six Sigma Black Belts to quickly and accurately determine where bottlenecks and constraints exist, measure their impact on the production process and understand which corrective actions will improve performance the most. Multiple iterations through the DMAIC cycle allow management to consistently increase the target goals for OEE until the metric reaches World Class levels.
Regardless of market conditions and product demand, manufacturers will always need performance management. When production processes are running at peak efficiency, it allows you to ramp up production with existing equipment and assets during good times, and to control costs during bad times.
Tip: The Pareto Principle states that 80% of your problems or losses result from 20% of your known causes. Pareto charts clearly identify what these major causes are, making it a key tool for improving productivity regardless of methodology.
Author Information
David Ray is the product manager at Parsec Automation Corp., a provider of real-time performance management and enterprise manufacturing solutions. His 10 years of experience include manufacturing processes and software development. He has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science, and is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
