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46 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2024 value. Looking at trends over time and hav- ing a target defined as a main objective is a good start. Generally speaking, an OEE of 85% would be the ideal, but before setting a target, the current value should be both measured and known. Setting unrealistic targets is totally demotivating and will not help drive tangible improvements. When talking about OEE at the line level, there are three options: 1. The line as "one unit": • OEE is measured for each machine and calculated as an average. • e advantage here is that every machine is represented and will thus have an impact on the OEE. It's then easier to assess the efficiency of each machine and to see when and where improvement is needed. • If the data is already collected and normal- ized, it's no extra effort to include it in the calculation. • Since all machines do not have the same impact on the production line, this approach can certainly diffuse important information. As an example, if one or two machines are overperforming on the line, it can give a false impression that the entire line is performing efficiently. 2. The bottleneck machine as the "line reference": • Typically, one machine on the line is slower than all the others, making it the bottle- neck. As the limiting factor in overall line efficiency, it's easier to target improvement efforts on the bottleneck machine only. • Unplanned downtime at the already bottlenecked machine will have a signif- icant impact on all downstream opera- tions on the line. However, by focusing only on the bottleneck, it is possible that other machine constraints will be missed entirely. • Over-optimizing the bottleneck machine can have consequences on downstream processes. 3. The fastest machine as the "line reference": • is method is definitely used as a motiva- tor for improvement as it provides a frame- work for performance evaluation. • But it can also be demotivating when the benchmark is not applicable to all other machines. Since all machines have differ- ent capabilities and functions, the expecta- tions for improvement need to be properly balanced. For example, if the focus is solely put on speed improvements, other impor- tant factors would be neglected, such as quality. Prioritizing speed over quality can result in an increase in defects—increas- ing the overall scrap rate and wasting both materials and time. While improving a single machine's perfor- mance (like the bottleneck machine) can be a quick band-aid to inflating metrics, it's smarter to take a wider perspective on the entire pro- cess. at's why including every machine on the production line in OEE calculations is the way to go, as it will provide realistic insights and data-driven actions. SMT007 Continue reading...