Optimizing OEE with a knowledge base: how does it work?
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is an excellent method to measure your machine efficiency. But how do you turn measurements into concrete improvements? By combining it with a knowledge base filled with (expert) knowledge. How does that work? Let us explain.
Knowledge base and OEE: reinforcing strengths
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) provides the data and insights that show where improvement potential lies in your process. You can complement this with a human element: building and sharing knowledge on the shop floor. Beyond work instructions, manuals, and training, there’s a wealth of critical process knowledge ‘floating around’. It’s hidden in the mind of that one experienced operator, or team leader who’s been there for thirty years. That knowledge enables them to solve a breakdown in minutes, while a colleague might struggle with it for hours.
By transferring this knowledge from the expert’s mind into a knowledge base, you can make this knowledge available to everyone in your organization. Now and in the future. This allows you to continuously work toward efficient production. Successfully.
How does it work in practice?
Imagine: the OEE dashboard signals a performance drop on one of your packaging lines. You’ve built a comprehensive knowledge base, so the operator checks the data, reviews the expert knowledge, and identifies which instructions match the specific performance drop. They adjust the machine settings according to the proper parameters. The drop is resolved, damage is limited, and problem recurrence is prevented. Plus, every operator can access it. This way, the entire team works on a continuous improvement cycle.
The four ways a knowledge base strengthens your OEE strategy:
- Improved availability
Having the right knowledge in your knowledge base speeds up fault diagnosis by operators. They now have expert-level troubleshooting knowledge. Common problems are solved faster and unplanned downtime is minimized.
- Performance optimization
Experienced operators know exactly how to optimally set up and operate machines. By capturing this knowledge, you make it accessible to everyone and create room to expand with new knowledge, making production consistently more efficient.
- Quality assurance
Quality problems often arise from execution variations. Capturing knowledge ensures consistency by documenting standardized quality controls and corrective measures. The result: less waste and stable quality.
- Continuous OEE improvement
Capturing successful work methods in your knowledge base enables continuous improvement of your OEE. Every improvement is captured and shared, so best practices spread and become anchored in daily routines.
How do you build a knowledge base?
Of course, building a base from expert knowledge sounds abstract. In practice, it’s much simpler than you think. ELICIT has developed a user-friendly, proven, and effective solution for building your knowledge base. ELICIT extracts knowledge from your experts’ minds and organizes it in accessible, multilingual files. This knowledge base leads to a user-friendly dashboard where you can access exactly the information you need at any moment with just a few clicks. This dashboard is accessible to everyone on the floor. This way, expert knowledge becomes shared property on the shop floor, enabling everyone to work at the highest level.
ELICIT’s results in practice
FrieslandCampina saw a significant decline in help requests to technical services after operators gained access to their ELICIT knowledge base. They now get process deviations under control faster, as operators can independently make the right decisions.
JDE Joure experiences fewer inquiries and shorter downtime with ELICIT. They reach solutions faster and see fewer quality deviations, significantly improving process efficiency.
Foremen and technical services at Van Merksteijn are less burdened with questions because employees independently find solutions. They notice improved production, reduced downtime, and lower failure costs.
Strengthen your OEE program with ELICIT
Want to know exactly how ELICIT builds your knowledge base? Curious about what ELICIT could mean for your OEE strategy? Contact us at info@elicitonline.com for a no-obligation discussion about possibilities for your production environment. Show, don’t tell? Request a demo here.
Relevant subjects
6 tips for writing good instructions
What is good instruction? One that gets used… It sounds simple, but it can be quite tricky. Especially when the author knows a lot about the subject, the temptation is to impart as much knowledge as possible. On the other hand, it is very difficult for the reader to know what to do, especially in the case of urgent breakdowns or problems.
Wie lost deze storing op: operator of TD? Hoe je onduidelijkheid voorkomt op het beslissende moment
Elke fabriek heeft verstoringen die blijven liggen omdat niemand precies weet van wie ze zijn. De operator wacht op de Technische Dienst (TD), de TD wacht op een werkopdracht. En intussen staat de machine stil. Niemand doet het fout, de grens is gewoon niet duidelijk.
You have the experts, but do you also have the knowledge?
You have fifteen operators on the shop floor. Three of them have been working there for more than twenty years. And yet the line comes to a standstill as soon as that one operator, let’s call him Joe, is not there. How is that possible, with so much experience on the floor? And how do you solve it? You’re probably looking in the wrong place.
Three main tasks for an operator
Every operator has them, here are three important ones:
- Monitoring the process
- Dealing with deviations
- Knowing the key cause-and-effect relationships of the production process.
These are discussed in more detail below.
Train faster and more effectively
Manufacturing companies are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and productivity. Yet they often cling to outdated training methods.
Consider the long days spent in training rooms, where employees are inundated with information about complex machines and systems. The reality is that by the time we need that second cup of coffee, our focus is already lost.
Kennis delen zit in ons DNA
