When to coach and when to take control?
May 31, 2010 by david.evanson
Here’s an interesting question - “Can you implement a new process without telling people what to do?”
This question was specifically asked in a discussion around how to create the processes necessary to drive OEE in a factory. Specifically carrying out tactical OEE reviews using our LineView system.
I think it’s possible to get long term change through great leadership, and all great leaders have a time when they’re very directive and also know when to change that behaviour to be supportive. When they are directive it’s done in a way that creates certainty and safety to grow rather than fear and superiority.
For me there are 2 elements to the answer of this question:
- When to direct/coach/delegate to develop skill: refer to Blanchard’s Situational Leadership model
- How that approach comes across to the team – the energy that you show up with when directing/coaching
When to be directive: If we refer to the two right hand boxes of Blanchard’s leadership model below:
1. When an individual is low competence, D1, (not carried out this task before) then you can’t coach them on how to get better as they don’t have the basics. Therefore the role of the leader is to be extremely clear about the what, how, and why for the process to build initial skill. E.g. if you wanted to teach me to snowboard you can’t be non-directive in your teaching as I’ve never done it before, I need to be told how to stop/start/fall/use the lifts.
2. When I start to develop some competence and base ability you can then start to take a step back to coach and develop and to be less directive and tell. The coaching phase. A great leader is still very directive about the what and very supportive over the how but ultimately decisions sit with the leader.
How to be directive:
1. When implementing a new process, initially it needs to be very tell to get them started. The tell is around what they will do, how they will do it, when they will do it, and to a great extent on the why they will do it.
2. This tell could be done from a world of “I’m great I know everything you must do what I say”…..which will get resistance in most cases, especially if we have some negative associations with being taught “school-style”.
3. This tell could be done from a world of “here’s a way that I know will help you get the results that you want, let me show you how it works”…..which will get a different level of response
My goal when implementing change is to be very clear and directive in a way that feel supportive and helpful whilst also creating a massive need to implement.
Institute of Leadership and Management Endorsement
May 18, 2010 by david.evanson
I’ll start this blog with an apology as i’m purely announcing something that we’re really pleased about rather than talking about OEE!
Hot off the press - over the last year our team have been pulling together a leadership programme specifically targeted to help Operations professionals get even better results. We’re delighted to announce that this week the programme was endorsed by The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).
How often to Middle and Senior manufacturing managers get really great quality practical, hands on training and coaching support that they can implement immediately to improve performance? We believe that we’ve found an answer to this and are delighted to have it independently verified.
More news to follow soon…..!
Calculating OEE for a factory
November 20, 2009 by david.evanson
So when you have multiple production lines how do you calculate your oee?
Here’s a great question that was asked to the experts at www.themanufacturer.com:
This article does a great job of examining how OEE can be applied as a benchmarking tool or as a diagnostic tool and in essence recommends that it’s not a good measure for benchmarking your facility. Whilst i personally agree with the sentiment to an extent of this i would like to add an additional thought:
- When we carry out factory benchmarking, which we do at least three times a month, we still find it useful to look at the OEE of the multiple lines on the site to identify relative priority. Do you work on line 1 or line 3 in your site? Or when you have multiple sites with multiple lines again where do you focus?
- When we do this we take each line as an individual entity and then identify the % contribution to the profitablity of the site. This gives us a weighted contribution of that line to the business.
- We then take the OEE for each line and ask - if we improve OEE by 5% what is the profit contribution to that line?
This instantly gives us a relatively real way of linking OEE improvement across sites and networks in a meaningful way. Typically this also challenges some interesting assumptions about how people are currently spending their time. Of course it doesn’t take into account business criticality….but that’s an email for another day!
Is OEE the right measure for you?
May 26, 2009 by david.evanson
I recently contributed to a post on OEE measurement on Lean.org from a guy asking if OEE is the measure for his bespoke manufacutring plant. Having posted it i think it’s worth posting here as well:
Here’s a thought for you - OEE is a great metric for an process in which equipment is the constraint. You can tell this from the way that the 6 losses/3 losses of OEE are all based on equipment performance.
At this point i would like to ask you a question - what is the constraint in your manufacturing process?
I.e. if you want to increase output what is the first thing that you change - do hire more people to run more machines, do you buy more raw materials, do you book more outgoing vehicles, do you reduce changeovers, do your increase machine running time? You can find this out be asking a random selection of people - “what do we need to do to produce more parts?”
Based on my experience in similar environments to yours equipment performance is very rarely the bottleneck in the process; it’s typically human related. I.e when we bring in more people we make more product. In this instance the best metric is something human related - a productivity Man hours/tonne type measure with OEE as a secondary driver on specific machines.
I’m not saying don’t use OEE, i’m saying make sure that your primary measure causes you to optimise your bottleneck. I was in a packing environment with 30yr old machines a while ago where they have 200% capacity and were measuring OEE. To get OEE up they were running 1/2 their machines as hard as possible whilst the others were stopped. Due to the age of the machines this meant huge amounts of maintenance was needed to keep the machines running and lots of labour to keep them going. By moving to a productivity measure we now run all the machines at 40% OEE with the same number of staff. Our cost per tonne has gone down and our poor old machines aren’t being thrashed to bits.
Pick a measure that measures your constraint. Use OEE only when equipment is your constraint.
Here’s an idea - if you want to measure productivity then it’s possible to program your XL800 OEE system with a productivity constant. This will enable it to display a real time “£/Unit” or “Man hour/Tonne” type measure on your factory floor. OEE is only the starting point!
Your biggest OEE mistake?
March 26, 2009 by david.evanson
So you’re measuring OEE and breaking out some of the losses - do you want to know one of the biggest mistakes i believe sites make at this point?
I believe that one of the biggest mistakes people regularly make is that they don’t measure the accuracy of their data.
What does this mean? Well it means that you are potentially taking action on highly inaccurate data with absolutely no idea of how inaccurate it is! In reality the chances are that your team are fudging the numbers so that they always add up to 100%. If you doubt me do this: Walk out onto the line and discretely observe how many minor stops are accurately recorded by the operator. Look at the tick sheets - how many of your stops are nice round numbers; 1min, 5min, 15min?
Whilst our MachineView and XL systems get 100% accuracy on a single asset when it comes to calculating losses on an entire production line even our LineView system which is an extremely accurate fully-automated causal downtime system only averages 98% efficiency on a complex line!
Whenever we work out an OEE number we look for:
1. Completed production
2. Maximum theoretical production
3. Mins attributed to downtime
4. Unallocated downtime
If I ever see an OEE calculation with 100% accuracy then i would lay £50 on the table that someone is fudging the numbers at some point. This is because most manual systems get calculated at the end of the shift - your 4hr of non-production time is assigned to whatever downtime reason codes the team want.
For good quality information you need to know not only how many mins of downtime were captured…but how many were missed out as well.
OEE Improvement: Short Interval Control
January 25, 2009 by david.evanson
Last week i ran a series of web seminars outlining how to improve OEE by 20% using Short Interval Control techniques.
I’ve had so many requests to share the presentation i’ve uploaded it to this link here:
DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION ON OEE IMPROVEMENT WITH SIC
Contents covered:
1. OEE systems for capturing losses to OEE: LineView and XL800 from OptimumFX
2. Use of data during production
3. Your OEE “Flight path”
4. The folly of measuring OEE by looking backwards at what you’ve made
5. Picking the right measures for you and your operators
6. Issues with using manual data capture
7. Manual OEE data capture Vs Automated OEE data capture (LineView and XL800)
8. OptimumFX Productivity model
9. How to use data (OEE) to improve production
10. Short interval control process
11. Short interval control sheets
Improve OEE by >20% FREE web conference
January 15, 2009 by david.evanson
Would you like to improve your OEE by >20% for free?
How useful would it be for you to know how to use your production data to improve the OEE of your line by 20% for absolutely no charge?
I would like to train you FOR FREE in a process that we have helped to implement on the production of some of the world’s most famous brands. Our SHORT INTERVAL CONTROL process has helped lines add an additional >20% to their OEE over extremely short periods of time.
To accomplish this, i am hosting 5 introductory web demonstration sessions over the next week at the end of each session you will know:
- How to improve your OEE by an average of 20% using SHORT INTERVAL CONTROL with whatever data you currently have available.
- How to take your improvement to the next level by using an XL800 OEE System
These sessions are highly exclusive and i will be taking a maximum of only 16 people at a time on each session.
In each session i will be covering:
1. How to create huge OEE improvement using a Short Interval Control process
2. The KPI’s that an XL800 OEE System can help you monitor in your production process, including OEE.
3. How to use an XL800 OEE System as a visual display system (andon system) on your line with your operators
4. How your management team can use the real time reporting functionality of the XL system to prioritise actions
5. How to create shift reports for your short interval control in a matter of seconds
To get started, at 5mins before the conference is due to start, click the conference link below and follow the onscreen instructions to enter the conference. Unfortunately if there are more than 16 people present then you will have to attend another time.
The sessions are:
16th January @ 16:00 GMT
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/991280949
Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.
Dial +44 (0) 203 355 7648
Access Code: 991-280-949
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting Password: xl800
Meeting ID: 991-280-949
22nd January @ 10:00 GMT
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/139019988
2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.
Dial +44 (0) 203 355 7649
Access Code: 139-019-988
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting Password: xl800
Meeting ID: 139-019-988
22nd January @ 15:00 GMT
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/193241279
2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.
Dial +44 (0) 203 355 7649
Access Code: 193-241-279
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting Password: xl800
Meeting ID: 193-241-279
23rd January @ 10:00 GMT
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/390509013
2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.
Dial +44 (0) 203 051 4835
Access Code: 390-509-013
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting Password: xl800
Meeting ID: 390-509-013
23rd January @ 15:00 GMT
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/884044492
2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.
Dial +44 (0) 203 051 4835
Access Code: 884-044-492
Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
Meeting Password: xl800
Meeting ID: 884-044-492
Optimising Line Control
December 2, 2008 by samirshah
We believe that ineffective line control is THE HIDDEN OEE Waste! By optimising your line control you will be able to increase your performance (OEE) by up to 7%!
- Do you operate in an industry that requires filling of some sort of containers like bottles, cans, bags, etc?
- Do you have continuous flow production lines with conveyor systems between the machines?
- Do you feel that there is something not quite right with the configuration of the lines and there is scope of making the lines run a lot smoother?
If you answer yes to the questions above…..then read on
What do we mean by line control?
On continuous flow production lines, typical found in FMCG environments, there are broadly 2 types of production line configuration; block and accumulation.
Block production lines operate with most machines running at the same speed. Typically block lines run with very little conveyor space between the machines (often single track). Therefore a stop on any of the blocked machines quickly or instantly causes a direct loss of performance (OEE) for the line.
Machines are typically controlled through linking the PLC controls to change speeds/stop automatically for the entire line.
Accumulation production lines, typically food related such as Coca-Cola bottling, Crisp packaging and food packaging operate with individual machines linked with large amounts of conveyor space and generally take up a lot of factory space. Typically the machines in an accumulation line have the capability of running at variable speeds, and will normally have one machine (or one block of machines) which runs the slowest; we call this the bottleneck or ‘critical’ machine. The Performance (OEE) of this line is determined by the amount of time that we’re able to keep the critical machine running at its rated speed.
Assuming good line balance and control, the accumulation minimises the impact of minor stops on all machines other than the critical machine
Machines are typically controlled by conveyor-based sensors with little direct interaction between the machines.
Line control or line philosophy is the way in which machines are stopped / started in response to changing conditions on the line. E.g. Stopping in build back when a machine downstream stops, stopping in lack when a machine upstream stops.
Have you ever wondered WHY on your production line…..
- the conveyors are running almost full all the time
- the machines on the line stop and start from no apparent reason i.e. there has been no fault or blockage upstream or downstream of the machine
- when there is a fault downstream, it almost immediately stops the critical or constraint machine although there is plenty of accumulation conveyors in between
- when there has been a stop downstream, it takes a long time for the critical machine to start up again
- the machines downstream of the critical machine are always ‘hunting for product’ i.e. either running flat out or not at all
- when the machine stops due to a build back situation, the operator has to start the machine up again and this always causes a delay on starting up again
Would you like to see more of the following happen…..
- All equipment on the line runs in automatic with no manual intervention required
- In normal condition the line speed is matched to the speed of the critical machine
- Minor stops on machines upstream or downstream do not affect the critical machine
- Extended stops affect the critical machine for a minimum period
- Critical machine starts almost instantaneously as the machines downstream after a build back situation
…..this is our vision of perfect flow and it is possible to get as close to this philosophy as you want
At OptimumFX, we have perfected a way of optimising the Line Control philosophy of an automated production line by using what we call the ‘5 Levels of control for automated flow lines’. This includes looking at (not limited to) the following concepts:
- Look at automating all machines on the line, so that machines automatically stop and start during lack or build back situations requiring no manual intervention and the machine speeds are automatically set requiring no manual adjustment
- The conveyor speeds are adjusted so that in normal conditions they are running mostly empty maximising the dynamic accumulation space
- By adjusting lack and build back sensors the conveyor space is maximised
- Link the machines together so that speeds of all the machines on the line are matched to the critical machine during normal conditions preventing wear on machines due to sudden stop / starts
- On restart after stoppages ensure that the machines downstream have sufficient over speed capability, this enables clearing of the accumulation conveyors quicker and starts the critical machine as quickly as possible
- Look at maximising the time before the critical machine stops when there is a fault downstream and minimising the time before the critical machine starts up again when the fault is repaired
We have developed a comprehensive method of auditing the production line that will identify what needs to be changed to achieve the vision of perfect flow. This is based on prioritising the actions that will give you the greatest benefit. Give us a call and we will be more than happy to help you achieve this!
Measuring OEE in the right place
November 30, 2008 by david.evanson
The Theory of Constraints (TOC):
I’ve taken this definition of TOC from Wikipedia:
“According to TOC, every organization has - at any given point in time - at least one constraint which limits the system’s performance relative to its goal (see Liebig’s law of the minimum). These constraints can be broadly classified as either an internal constraint or a market constraint. In order to manage the performance of the system, the constraint must be identified and managed correctly (according to the Five Focusing Steps below). Over time the constraint may change (e.g., because the previous constraint was managed successfully, or because of a changing environment) and the analysis starts anew.”
In a manufacturing context our role as operational managers is to identify what we ( and the business) want to achieve, identify the constraint to this, work out which measures most accurately measure our progress to this goal, and then manage that constraint accordingly.
Therefore if what you want to achieve is: “Optimise a production line to increase production output” we probably want some form of OEE or mechanical efficiency measure in our management dashboard.
If our goal is “reduce cost to produce product in an overly-capable plant” then we may want some form of cost/tonne, tonne/man-hour, or takt time/cycle time adherence metric in our management dashboard.
So let’s look at the first example and use OEE as a method of managing our constraint.
I don’t believe it’s the OEE of the constraint that you really want to know as this will just tell you what you’ve made….it won’t tell you where you need to work to improve. What you really want to know is how your losses to OEE caused the constraint to run slowly or stop.
So which part of my plant I need to get my measure from?
When you’re running individual machines it’s pretty easy to create an OEE measure for each machine. But what about if you run a series of machines connected by conveyors? Or more specially, what about getting a single OEE figure for an entire production line?
Here are a few examples of how people have measured OEE that we’ve come across over the years…and they have varying degrees of accuracy!
- Cases produced at the palletiser
- Units produced on the most expense machine
- The slowest running piece of equipment
- Raw materials consumed in the process area
- Labels applied to products
- Count at a particular machine not at the end of the line
- Averaging the OEE’s of every machine
Based on TOC the right point to have your measure is the point at which your goal is being confined. In the majority of FMCG plants that I’ve worked in with a goal if increasing output the constraint has typically been the filling machine.
So here are a few TOC questions for you:
- Do your teams know which machine or process is the real constraint to your goal?
- Are your measures targeted on this constraint (really check – I’ve visited plants in which labour is the biggest constraint only to find an OEE measure ruling the site. The outcome; few operators running few machines into the ground to get high OEE’s. Imagine now if this was an aerospace plant – surely as a potential plane passenger you’d want the primary metric to be a defect or quality metric rather than OEE!)?
- Are these measures giving you the information you need to help your teams make the right decisions to reduce loss to your goal?
Please feel free to get in contact with me if you would like to discuss this further. At OptimumFX we spend most of our time helping sites to identify the real bottlenecks to their processes, and then apply the right tools to that bottleneck to measure performance and improve decision making, We regularly help sites create manual collection processes, quick bolt on solutions such as the XL800, or fully integrated enterprise solutions such as LineView and MachineView.
Measuring OEE on a continuous flow line
November 13, 2008 by david.evanson
Something that’s often missed ouf from the standard OEE definition results in one of the questions that frequently comes up when we’re talking to new sites about OEE measurement: “Which machine do I measure my OEE from?”.
Firstly, let’s explore the real value of knowing your OEE: A lot of sites measure what they produce, very few sites know how to use this data to make more. OEE is a great example of this because It’s not how you measure the OEE figure that matters, it’s how you measure your OEE losses that makes the real difference.
The most typical way that most sites measure their output is through cases produced at the end of the line (typically a palletiser). This is by far the most common form of OEE measurement that we come across. Whilst this gives you a good idea of what you’ve made it won’t help you to identify what you’ve lost - which is what OEE is really all about.
The real ‘meat’ of your OEE calculation isn’t the % OEE number - that just tells you what you’ve made, it won’t help you identify what you need to fix/improve to get that number up.
What you really want to be measuring are your losses to OEE:
- 3 Loss: Quality, Performance, Availability
- 6 Loss: Breakdowns, Minor Stops, Speed Loss, Planned Downtime, Quality loss in running, Quality loss on startup.
With this information you have the capability to start CI plans to improve performance. It’s nice to know your OEE….it’s ESSENTIAL to know your losses.
So here’s a question for you to consider: At what point in your manufacturing process is it important to know either the 3 or 6 Losses to OEE?
In my next blog I’m going to explore the “Theory of Constraints” by Goldratt and Cox (see the Amazon link below), and how you need to apply this theory to get an OEE and Loss number that will help you improve.
Here are a couple of web-links that may help you to explore that question:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0566086654
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_(novel)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Constraints
