Combining Simulation and Data Analytics for OEE Improvement

Abstract

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a productivity performance metric widely used in industry to support production control decisions. However, there is still a gap in organisational procedures to systematically identify and address the most promising opportunities to improve the production setup. In this study, we propose and demonstrate a data-driven approach for increasing OEE by combining the strengths of discrete-event simulation with data analytics tools and methods, which provides a risk-free test environment that forms the basis for data-driven decisions and supports revealing production interdependencies. Therefore, this approach eases the process for practitioners to proactively identify production losses and forecast the outcome of the most promising selected improvement measures. A case study is performed to illustrate the potentialities of the proposed approach, demonstrating the interdependence between the processes and the improvement measures, and the knock-on effect both upstream and downstream. The results yield substantial insights and facilitate operational decisionmaking for managers.

Case Study: Testing the Overall Efficiency of Equipment in the Production Process in TX Plant Simulation Software

“…The study of the authors (Lindegren et al, 2022) shows that the reduction of downtime resp. other improvements lead to a predictable conclusion about increased productivity, but changes in inputs do not necessarily change in direct proportion to outputs.…”

application of real-time overall equipment efficiency indicator in a medium-sized company

“…In the Lean Manufacturing approach, the combination of this indicator with the six big losses is emphasized, providing a detailed description of the main causes of productivity loss. Categorized clearly, these losses help to identify different types of production inefficiencies and offer valuable guidance for implementing measures to avoid such waste (Lindegren et al, 2022). The use of OEE can lead to an increase in workforce efficiency; with the information provided by the indicator, operators have the ability to identify possible improvements in their performance and adjust their work practices.…”

Predicting the overall equipment efficiency of core drill rigs in mining using ANN and improving it using MCDM

“…Approaches for predicting and improving OEE are important to increase the accuracy of the operations [54]. Lot of experiments was conducted in the past, for improving the efficiency of core drilling.…”