Raising overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
When a major European pharmaceutical manufacturer wanted to refine its production line it turned to Rockwell Automation. We helped it implement a new line monitoring and OEE solution to capitalise on line information to improve effectiveness throughout its packaging process.
When the company’s current production management system came to the end of its natural life, the organisation decided to improve cost-effectiveness in the packaging of its drug products and to future-proof the life of its ongoing information structure.
The OEE approach starts with the ideal line performance scenario; by documenting the optimum performance level of each element of the line supply, packaging process and output, multiplied by the optimum line run time, the 100% standard for overall effectiveness can be calculated. By setting the upper effectiveness standard, all performance metrics can for measured against this benchmark.
The OEE approach starts with the ideal line performance scenario |
Rockwell Automation demonstrated the ease with which RS PMX MES can integrate the manufacturing execution system with the historic data, to harness this dataflow. The standard functionality of the RS PMX MES addressed the majority of the local requirements, which avoided the need to develop a bespoke data analysis tool.
The integrated data solution deployed by Rockwell Automation enabled raw data to be acquired from the automation system and viewed in real-time via the centralised historian database repository. Analysis of the raw data delivered insight and understanding of how the packaging line was actually running, rather than how it was perceived to be performing.
“We demonstrated the ease with which RS PMX can integrate the manufacturing execution system with the data historian.” |
The OEE environment enables the packaging line to be brought back to running status more quickly by utilising a pre-defined list of reasons for the stoppage at the data acquisition stage. In this case, the line operator assigns the reason for either a long or short stoppage from the list, which is automatically updated to present a real-time view of line operation and effectiveness. Classifying the reason for line stoppage through the operative rather than relying on data from sensors inside the machine for example, enables more accurate and timely data to be recorded.
With a true information picture recorded against a set of pre-defined variables, it becomes possible to run analysers over the data history to identify trends in common breakdown points, the length of the stoppage and most importantly the causes of the downtime. The implications for output and overall effectiveness can also be easily calculated against the OEE standard for each line stoppage, enabling management to prioritise fault resolution.
Once longer line stoppage issues have been resolved, short stoppages can also be addressed through OEE. Although less significant for output effectiveness in isolation, a number of short line downtime incidents over the course of a day can accumulate. Classification of line data through the RS PMX MES solution within OEE methodology is the key to eliminating effectiveness losses through regular, small line stoppages as well as longer downtime periods.
The OEE environment enables the packaging line to be brought back to running status more quickly |
Introducing OEE metrics enabled the manufacturer to standardise its measurement of packaging line performance, batch by batch and between packaging sites both domestic and international.
The Head of the manufacturer’s Industrial Performance Group commented: “Adopting an OEE approach has transformed our ability to deal with line stoppage issues and improve the contribution of our packaging facility to company-wide performance. By recording and analysing line data more effectively we have been able to align our priorities for restoring operations to those delivering the greatest business and production benefit. The RS PMX MES solution from Rockwell Automation has been simple to integrate into our existing architecture and the quality and timeliness of the output data produced has a direct bearing on the OEE of our entire packaging facility.”
Rockwell Automation begins and ends the manufacturer’s secondary manufacturing
Weigh and dispense, the first stage in the secondary production process and packaging, the final stage in this cycle are both delivered in this manufacturing environment by Rockwell Automation in addition to an employee training management solution based on RS PMX MES.
Jamy Michel, global account manager at Rockwell Automation Life Sciences said: “This pharmaceutical manufacturer is one of the world leaders and we are very pleased to have implemented such a flexible information-centric solution. Rockwell Automation’s Life Sciences solutions were selected for the critical weigh and dispense and packaging production stages due to the strength of our products compared to competing offers.”
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