What is Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)?

What it is

OEE breaks production losses into three parts. Availability covers stops, both planned changeovers and breakdowns. Performance covers running slower than the ideal rate or with minor stops. Quality covers output that has to be scrapped or reworked. Multiplying the three gives a single percentage.

OEE is a production measure, but it has a utility side. Lines often keep drawing compressed air, steam, chilled water and power while stopped or running slowly, so low OEE usually means higher energy and water per unit of good output.

OEE is most useful when tracked by line and shift and paired with the reasons behind each loss, rather than as a single plant-wide number.

Who it applies to / where it is used

OEE is used across FMCG, food and beverage, packaging, personal care, pharmaceuticals and discrete manufacturing. Plant managers, production engineers and continuous improvement teams use it to rank lines and target losses.

How it is measured / what evidence it needs

OEE needs run state, counts and quality data from each line. Adding utility meters per line links each lost minute to the energy and water it consumed.

• Planned production time and run, idle and stopped states
• Actual versus ideal output rate
• Good units versus rejected or reworked units
• Energy and water drawn per line in each state
• Energy and water per unit of good output

How Aqueduct helps

Aqueduct does not replace a production MES, but it adds the utility view of every run state on the line.

• aQ EnergySmart shows power, air and steam use by line during run, idle and stop
• aQ WaterGuard meters process and wash water per line
• aQ PredictIQ watches motors, drives and compressors for early signs of failure that hurt availability
• Idle loads are flagged and, where control is enabled with owner approval, can be scheduled off