Free OEE Calculator Can Boost Food Manufacturer Efficiency, Savings

Peak efficiency, reduced downtime and maximized productivity and product quality. It’s a food manufacturer’s dream. The Alliance for Innovation & Operational Excellence recommends its free new OEE Calculator for testing Overall Equipment Effectiveness to make that dream a reality.

Peak efficiency, reduced downtime and maximized productivity and product quality. It’s a food manufacturer’s dream. The Alliance for Innovation & Operational Excellence recommends its free new OEE Calculator for testing Overall Equipment Effectiveness to make that dream a reality. First-time users must create a log-in to reach the calculator.

The OEE Calculator was developed using data and insight from the alliance’s member CPG manufacturers within the Operational Reliability Solutions Group. It’s based on Microsoft Excel, which allows users to quickly and simply generate an estimate of potential savings on a production line as a result of OEE improvements.

“One of our objectives was to make this calculator as easy to learn and use as possible. In addition to the software, which is commonly available, the data you input is common operational and financial data. You come away with an estimate of the value of the improvements you’re planning,” Steve Schlegel, AIOE co-managing director said in a press release.

At a recent PMMI press event in Rosemont, Ill., Barry Lynch, global industry manager CPG at GE Intelligent Platforms, described a successful pilot of the calculator.

Lynch said a bottling plant that originally showed 40-50 percent operational efficiency reached 80-90 percent efficiency after utilizing the OEE Calculator. A 10 percent improvement could yield savings of $2.3 million dollars for a manufacturer. An improvement of 25 percent could produce up to $5.8 million in savings, Lynch said.

The AIOE expects to release an OEE Calculator validation tool in coming months.

The AIOE was founded by PMMI in 2011 to facilitate the development of solutions to common operational challenges through the collaboration of the manufacturing and engineering professionals in consumer products companies and their suppliers.

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