Microsoft Excel is an integral tool for flexible analysis of data, which is why it is also widely used in OEE calculation. Good Excel templates for OEE calculation can be downloaded from the Internet. However, there are a few good reasons to think beyond Excel when it comes to OEE management.
Excel is a valuable tool for every lean manager. An improvement process should always be driven by numbers: zero line, potential for improvement, achievement of goals — everything should be expressed in figures, data and facts. And Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is the perfect indicator for this numerical orientation.
Why is Excel not the right tool for OEE management?
The answer is quick: Excel unfortunately only represents the last step of OEE management. Calculating and visualizing the key figure. That's the easy part.
Collecting system data is much more difficult. If you have the option to access the PLC data of the system, Excel can be helpful again. However, things often get very complicated now: Depending on the formatting of the attachment download, extensive calculations must be made. And not every lean manager is in the cradle of dealing with pivot tables. However, the improvement process should not fail because of this.
If you have no way of accessing the system data, lean production uses a pen and a pen. Because it's easy and fast. However, the disadvantages are growing:
- Generating high-quality data requires a consistently high level of discipline across all responsible operational employees. This is certainly possible, but usually not over a long period of time. In addition, the primary task of employees is to operate the plant. Documentation of productivity is therefore, of course, priority two.
- A manual write-down must be digitized and visualized at a later stage. In addition to personnel costs and the potential vulnerability to errors, another important option for OEE management is being destroyed here. The key figure only has retrospective, evaluative effect, but cannot be used for immediate reactions.
From the experience of many OEE management projects, here is another clue to the cleverness of the employees. It is not uncommon that, at the end of a shift, there is a retrospective calculation of how much downtime corresponds to the quantity produced. The missing time is then booked for downtimes. Although this approach satisfies the desire for a complete reporting system, it usually goes in the wrong direction when it comes to deriving improvement measures.
And as a final and very important point, it should be mentioned that targeted OEE improvement requires not only the loss time but also the reasons for loss. The recording can be supplemented with the reasons for the standstill, but with the disadvantage of the further increasing complexity of the forms. However, this only allows the causes of availability losses to be recorded. Causes of performance losses will never be apparent with pen and paper and only with extreme effort through PLC data. Excel has reached its limits there at the latest.
oee.ai is designed to address all of these operational challenges. Talk to us and test us. OEE management has never been easier.
What now?
We've sparked your interest. Contact us at info@oee.ai or call us: +49 (0) 241/401 842 75. We will be happy to provide you with oee.ai sensors and access to the analysis cockpit for a test period. Only then do you decide. We're easy at this point too!