Andon Systems and OEE improvement
January 14, 2009 by david.evanson
What are Andon systems or Andon lamps?
Andon lamps are an extremely simple system of visual management for helping teams identify when there is a problem with a process or machine. Originally they were developed as part of the Jidoka quality-control method within the Toyota Production System and have now been incorporated into standard lean manufacturing practice
Originally andon lamps were used to notify teams of a quality problem, and more frequently we see them installed on continuous flow lines to help inform operators of why machines have stopped. For example if i have an operator running two packaging machines and one of the machines stop, a simple Andon light stack can instantly tell the operator if he has a problem (and has to intervene) or if the machine has just run out of product.
Here are some sample Andon Systems courtesy of google images:
Andon lamp block
A traditional andon light stack
Andon panel with fault alarms
Andon Text display
Benefits of traditional Andon systems in your visual factory:
- Reduce reaction times for machine problems - operators see the state of machines quickly
- Reduced downtime for fault fixing - lamps indicate most common “faults” e.g. low reel, jams etc
- Improve management efficiency - Managers can quickly see which machines are stopped on a busy floor
Drawbacks of traditional Andon systems in your lean implementation:
- Signals need to be interpreted - complex systems need a code or key card to help operators remember what the alarms mean.
- Can be hard to see - if they’ve been in place for a long time lights often get damaged and dirty and can be hard to see. They can also often become ‘background noise’.
Taking Andon systems to the next level…XL800 for the ultimate visual factory
The XL800 OEE system brings Andon systems into the 21st century by taking all the strengths of existing systems, adding even more functionality, whilst keeping the core simplicity.
When you install an XL800 OEE System on your machine or line the highly visual alphanumeric display system can be used to highlight KPI’s and running conditions just like any display system.
Basic functionality:
Almost instantly the XL800 OEE system can support your lean manufacturing implementation by very quickly enabling you to show:
- MACHINE DOWN + Duration of downtime
- BREAK TIME REMAINING + Duration of break
- CHANGEOVER + Duration of changeover
More advanced functionality:
If you can get a signal from your machine to indicate why that machine has stopped then your XL800 could automatically display additional faults or alarms such as:
- Stop - Build Back (too much product on outfeed)
- Stop - Lack (no raw materials on infeed)
- Stop - No raw material
- Stop - Guards open
- Quality check due now (based on the number parts produced)
- Stop - SPECIFIC FAULT MESSAGE
- Target achieved - Good job team
- …..and the list goes on! If you can get us a signal, the XL800 OEE System can give you a display!
So what are the benefits of an XL800 as your Andon system?
- All of the benefits as traditional Andon systems
- Inform and motivate your team: by displaying real time data for how long each alarm has been triggered, and by showing targets for the production run
- Increase productivity: Simplify your shop floor - the display is 100% user configurable so you can quickly select the alarms that make the most difference to you
- Save money: Your operators will be able to respond to the right causes of machine downtime and get your machines fixed faster.
- Increase OEE: With machines being fixed faster you will produce more product than ever before
- Essential for TPM: The built in reporting and analytics software in the XL800 system is ideal for driving your TPM implementation as part of your lean journey.
Introducing automated data capture
November 30, 2008 by david.evanson
This week i’ve enjoyed many extremely interesting discussions about the use of automated data capture systems in an improvement process and thought i’d share a condensation of these discussions with you.
I think most people would agree that the reason to measure performance is so that we have hard factual data with which to make the right decisions. With this data we can be assured that we’re focussing on the right area and that our precious and limited resource is working effectively to improve output. When we’re working without data then ‘gut feel’ and assumptions can mean that we’re spending our time on areas that MAY improve output….or may not. We have limited time and resource so use it wisely.
This creates a little process for us: we need to:
- Capture data - with sufficient accuracy,
- Interpret it - with sufficient speed,
- Act on it - with sufficient focus,
- Review actions using it - with sufficient detail.
As we specialise in helping sites with the steps above we often recommend automated systems as these have the advantage of being accurate, autonomous, and needing very little time invested to get instant feedback. The higher the base level of performance, the more sophisticated a measurement tool you want.
For sites that are in an OEE performance window of 40-70% we often recommend our low cost XL800 system - for £2910 (*) a site can get great quality data and eliminate the majority of the resource needed to complete and collate machine based tick sheets. For the purpose of this post i’m ignoring the huge benefits that high performing sites could get from a line based visual display system, and instead focussing on data accuracy.
For sites performing at 60%+ we often recommend our LineView or MachineView systems as they provide highly accurate data with 6 Loss analysis and full reporting and ERP integration.
So when would we recommend that you don’t use one of our systems to capture data?
Well, in these 2 discussions i had this week both individuals wanted their organisation to develop a strong in-house feel and knowledge of OEE through collecting it manually for several months:
- When the team leaders have calculated their OEE manually for several months how aware will they be of how to influence it? Extremely!
- After a team leader has spent 30mins collecting data, running calculations, and preparing reports only to report a 30% shift how important is it that they understand how to influence it? Extremely!
- With this deep knowledge and understanding in place, how valuable will these team leaders find a fully automated system which gives them accurate data, instantly, without needing to analyse operator hand writing, without the need for a calcuator? Extremely!
My personal belief is that the only way to run a modern production line is with accurate data guiding my decision making. I also believe that data and systems are only as valuable as how they’re used.
So if you’re just starting your data journey perhaps it’s worth considering not only the value of collecting data, but also the value in your teams intrinsically understanding it from hours of painful analysis - Vs the cost saving from implementing automated systems and finding some other way of getting this deep understanding.
Food for thought.
My thanks to the Gentlemen in question with whom i had these discussions - a lot of fun and very thought provoking.
*price correct as of 30th November
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.
Displaying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
November 5, 2008 by samirshah
Every company has some metrics to measure how well they are performing against targets. A few get these measures correct. The idea is to measure The Key Metrics so as to not over complicate and dilute the absolute key indicators for success.
Imagine driving a car….the dashboard provides me with key indicators to show how it is performing. There are some indicators that I react to immediately and others that warn me so I can plan ahead. To give an example of this:
- Immediate Reaction - If the speed indicator shows that the current speed is above the legal limit there will be an instant reaction to reduce that speed
- Planned intervention - If the fuel dial shows that there is a quarter tank left, I would make sure that I fill up at the next available opportunity
Now imagine if I received this feedback daily or weekly? It will be too late before I realise I need to do something and will be likely to receive a speeding ticket or left stranded as there was no fuel left. This is how most companies measure their Key Performance indicators. It is too late to remedy what happened yesterday. Won’t it be immensely beneficial to indicate the current performance to target in real time?
The XL800 system enables you to give this instantaneous feedback on the level of performance to the people who are driving your production. They can use this information to make an immediate change or a planned intervention at their earliest convenience. The important thing is that they are given the information to enable them to make a certain decision.
You can customise your XL800 system to display whatever performance measures you deem are important. It is capable of measuring over 100KPIs and this gives you the flexibility to customise and display your chosen KPIs to ensure that you are tracking the measures that will ensure your ultimate success!
Follow this link to get more information on defining the right KPIs for you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_performance_indicator
XL Visual Display and OEE
October 29, 2008 by samirshah
The XL800 visual display provides real-time information to enable your staff to have the most up-to-date information on their current performance and enable them to make the appropriate decisions to improve productivity.
“You cannot change what you do not measure”
The XL800 display provides real-time information to enhance productivity and create a true visual factory environment – from the shop floor to the top floor.
Below are some situations that may resonate with you. We can provide you with solutions to these issues and many more with the XL800 display.
| Initiative | Issue | Strategy | Solution |
| Visually Display KPIs | We would like to display our KPIs but have not defined all of them yet and also don’t know how best to display them so that everyone is made aware. | Expose KPIs just as soon as they are defined and provide this information to the people most likely to affect changes that enhance manufacturing performance. Display KPIs as deemed necessary to support change. | XL800 production monitor can be reprogrammed at any time to show any of the more than 100 real-time process variables. Additionally the XL Series products have a built-in Ethernet connection and can push this information over your network. Imagine seeing real-time production data via a simple web browser! |
| Real-time OEE Display | Our company has identified OEE as a great tool to enhance manufacturing performance. Our problem is implementing it. | A visual display provides critical real-time OEE data to everyone involved from the plant floor to the boardroom. | XL800 production monitor display provides OEE visually to all levels of the informational hierarchy. With just a couple sensors, the ideal cycle time and a time schedule you can collect and display real time OEE on your plant floor and over your network. |
| Availability, Performance, Quality Percentage Display | We want to focus on one specific OEE factor at a time but want the flexibility to display other variables in the future | Display last event and/or total accumulated downtime. Other focused displays can provide target count/actual count data, real-time run rate and much more. | XL800 production monitors can show any combination of over 100 production focused process variables. Other features include the ability to push this information over your network via its integrated Ethernet communications. |
| Reduce Quality Waste | Quality loss is affecting our customer satisfaction. | Display good, reject and total pieces. Additionally show the percent good part yield. | XL800 production monitors can show good, reject and total pieces, percent efficiency, OEE Quality and more. |
| Reduce Cycle Time Waste | Performance loss costs us capacity, on-time delivery and ultimately profitability. | Display the current cycle, last completed cycle, average cycle time, small stops, reduced speed cycles and/or OEE Performance metrics in real-time and in any combination. | XL800 production monitors can display all of the above cycle time metrics and more including average cycle time, OEE Performance, number of events and cumulative time for small stops and reduced speed cycles to help pinpoint performance loss and recover capacity. |
| Reduce Downtime Waste | Downtime loss remains an issue and is a significant contributor to waste in our manufacturing process. | Start by exposing downtime. Real-time display of downtime creates a sense of urgency that is not felt in a report a day or week later. | XL800 production monitors can show last event and total accumulated downtime as well as the number of events and the average event downtime in addition to OEE Availability. |
| Event / Accumulated/ Average Changeover Timer | We perform several changeovers throughout a shift and lose track of our progress. | Record and display last event and total accumulated changeover time. Additionally the total number of events and an average changeover time can be displayed. | XL800 production monitors can show last event and total accumulated changeover time as well as the number of events and the average changeover time to really fuel SMED and quick changeover programs. |
