OEE Benchmarks: What is a Good OEE Score?
So, you’ve got an OEE score.
That’s an awesome start. It means that you now have a snapshot of your plant’s overall efficiency. But what the heck does that score mean?
What you need is some context.
What good is data without context? Knowing how many miles per gallon your vehicle’s fuel consumption is can only be useful if you know what a good MPG is for your type of vehicle. Is an OEE score of 70% good or bad? That’s where OEE Benchmarks come into play.
An OEE score should almost always come with an asterisk. The credibility of the score is entirely dependent on the accuracy of the data used in the calculation. The accuracy of your data can vary widely depending on which system is used to collect and analyze your OEE data. The 3 most common methods of calculating OEE are: Manual Data Capture, Legacy Systems, and real-time OEE software.
Manual OEE
Manual data collection has its limitations.
It is a waste of valuable resources (employees time) to manually input the data and then turn around and analyze it! Your employees have more important tasks to focus on than tedious data entry. This also opens the door for human error since Employee A might classify an event differently than Employee B. How are you supposed to have accurate data with the threat of human error or without having Standard Time Usage Codes?
Manual data collection has limited sharing capabilities that are basically restricted to email attachments or a shared document. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone had access to the same data and analysis interface in real-time, so that you’re always all on the same page?
Legacy Systems
Most Legacy Systems were implemented by one individual at an organization and that individual is quite often the only person who understands how to operate the system. What happens when that individual is no longer an employee for one reason or another?
The main problem with Legacy Systems is the continued cost to try to keep up with industry changes. As the production industry continues to evolve, there becomes a need for the technology used to keep pace. If there are new pieces of equipment or organizational processes which have been implemented since the inception of the Legacy System, then a lot of data can be lost as “text data.” This lost data can skew your results and make it difficult to search for new trends.
Good enough isn’t always good enough anymore.
Real-time OEE Software
What could you do to improve your operations if you didn’t have to worry about calculating OEE? Wouldn’t it be great if you could have an intern do it for you? What if this intern was incredibly accurate and even more timely?
Consider OEE software the best intern ever. It takes the burden of having to do the tedious calculations off your shoulders and allows you to focus on the more important aspects of your job. Better yet, your intern (OEE software) will produce the calculations in real-time, rather than at the next production meeting. Man, this kid works fast!
Having real-time calculations allows you to address a problem when it occurs, being proactive in increasing OEE and effectively (sorry for the bad pun) your bottom line. Knowing that the software will provide you with accurate and timely data, gives you peace of mind that your OEE is in good hands, so you can turn your attention to more important matters, like what you’re going to order for lunch.
Don’t let your initial score scare you!
Companies that are new to OEE (or rather lackadaisical about it) will typically score in the “Low” to “Acceptable” range (50–60%) for their inital OEE. This may appear to be alarming at first, but don’t throw your tablet at the wall just yet; there is always the opportunity for significant improvement.
