There are many different industry terms when it comes to the manufacturing industry. You’ve likely heard a few of them yourself, and at times it may be hard to know what these terms mean. This is especially true if they’re referred to in an abbreviated form, such as the term OEE. But what does OEE stand for? What is its significance? Here’s everything you need to know.
OEE is an abbreviation that stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness. It’s a manufacturing industry standard that is designed to measure productivity. In the world of manufacturing, measuring OEE is often considered a best practice, as you can use OEE measurements to determine your overall productivity and to identify areas of your manufacturing process that may be interfering with your ability to fabricate consistently high-quality products.
As a productivity metric, OEE works by identifying the amount of manufacturing time that is spent being productive versus the amount of time spent not being productive. An OEE measurement contains three components, which are the following:
Under OEE, the goal of manufacturing production is to only produce parts that meet your quality control standards as quickly as possible with no long stops. OEE is used to identify where there may be components of your manufacturing process that are limiting your ability to meet these goals. Then, once these failure points have been identified, it becomes easier to address those points. This requires all three metrics to be measured and compared both individually and together.
The manufacturing industry is often apart from other types of businesses, as the primary goal of a manufacturer is to produce products to offer to their customers. It is, therefore, a primary concern that those products are fabricated quickly and at a sufficient level of quality. Using OEE as a standard metric for evaluating overall productivity helps manufacturing companies achieve their goals.
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