OEE projects often fail due to common pitfalls. These "7 deadly sins" include viewing OEE as only a technical project, focusing on the software alone rather than continuous improvement, making the process too complex, having unrealistic expectations of rapid gains, failing to properly trial systems, lacking buy-in across the organization, and selecting the wrong OEE solution provider. To succeed, it is important to keep goals focused on business priorities, gain cultural support, start simply and grow solutions over time, and partner with a provider committed to measurable improvements.

1. The 7 deadly sins
of Overall
Equipment
Effectiveness
(OEE)

2. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is an effective methodology to
help improve the productivity of manufacturing processes and accurately
measure true plant productivity. Its measurable components are
availability, performance and quality.
Avoiding the pitfalls
Having an automated OEE system can provide
accurate data which can highlight significant
production improvement opportunities. However,
OEE can be complex and there are some pitfalls
you should avoid to ensure that your expectations
are met and that a rapid Return On Investment (ROI)
is achieved. Explore the 7 deadly sins of OEE…

3. OEE projects are
technology projects
1.

4. OEE improvement is about people, culture and attitude. Assuming that
an OEE project is a technical/IT project can be a big mistake.
Clearly, technology plays a key part with any automated OEE solution,
but that doesn’t make it a technical project.

5. All too often, OEE projects quickly lose the focus of
what the primary financial business goals were
(reduce scrap, reduce short stoppages, improve
lead times), and quickly take on a local agenda
(must run in the cloud, must run on a virtual
machine, must capture every alarm). When this
happens, the project loses momentum, and
realisation of the original requirements becomes
less likely.
Focus on primary
business goals

6. OEE software is
the solution
2.

7. Assuming that investment in the technology alone is the
solution, is a big mistake. An automated OEE system is only
part of the story. If you do not have a culture of continuous
improvement and don’t have the resources to invest in
improving – the system will ultimately be nothing more than an
expensive recording system which will fall by the wayside.
OEE works hand in hand with
continuous improvement

8. OEE is an effective business performance tool
which aims to provide real-time accurate
information about the manufacturing
process as a whole.
A software solution that measures OEE can
tell us most of the information we need and
where the opportunities for improvement are,
however it does lack depth.
For example, the software can tell you
that the machine was stopped for 32
seconds because the emergency stop
button was pressed, but only the
operator can tell you why they pressed it.
There has to be balance struck between
automatic data capture and human input.

9. 3.
Complexity

10. Understand what you would like to
achieve in the short, medium and long
term, and what is ‘actually’ needed
to achieve your short term needs.
Keep your criteria simple and
constrained to a meet a
minimal set of requirements.
Keep it simple

11. Don’t look for the end of the
rainbow on day one, you will be
disappointed. Automated OEE software
solutions can be very sophisticated – but don’t let
opportunity for sophistication distract you from a minimal
set of needs which promote performance improvement.
Identify your needs

12. As long as there is cultural buy-in
from within the organisation an
automated system will assist you
in reducing downtime,
increasing production,
improving quality and reducing
waste.
The effect an automated OEE
system can make to production
will vary from plant to plant, but
even with only a slight
improvement in OEE, the
difference this can make over
time is significant.
100% of Cimlogic’s
projects deliver ROI within
12 months, some take
only six.

13. 4.
Unrealistic
Expectations

14. You may learn or be aware
that your OEE is just 30%, and
expect that the
implementation of an
automated solution will
improve this figure by 10, 20
or 30 points in just a few
weeks. It is excellent if you
do this, but sustained
improvements take time,
and are a collection of
small progressive steps.
Be patient

15. 5.Skipping a
proper trial

16. Failure to trial a system, means potentially
underestimating the time investment and
challenges of collecting automated production
data, both technically and culturally. Ultimately
this may result in your cash investment not reaping
the ROI you would expect.
You wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes
without trying them on

17. If you are unfamiliar with the journey
ahead – doing a trial is a critical step
in understanding what systems will
and won’t do, how enthused your
operators are, how responsive the
suppliers are, how good the
technology is and how meaningful
the data is.

18. 6.
Failure to get
buy-in

19. There are plenty of sceptics in the field of
OEE and automated data collection. Some
operators will fear they are being watched
and monitored, managers may feel they are
being scrutinised, factories may feel under
threat from head office.
Bring the sceptics on board

20. There has to be carrot as well as stick.
The upside of improvement has to be
understood and believed by all. Failure to
do this means operators will not enter the
data correctly, managers will not trust the
numbers, the system will not have an
owner, and it will not be the focal tool for
measuring and driving improvement.
Everyone needs
to ‘own’ OEE for
it to be successful

21. 7.
Selecting the
wrong provider

22. Collaborate with your chosen
solution provider to understand
the reality of ROI and the wider
project journey.
Develop a
partnership
between
yourselves
and the vendor,
not a transactional interaction between
a buyer and seller.
It has to be more than just
‘a buyer and a seller’

23. Manufacturing Improvement Solutions
enquiries@cimlogic.co.uk
01274 599 955
@Cimlogic Cimlogic Cimlogic
If like us, you would prefer to avoid unnecessary pitfalls and follow a path
which leads to measurable and sustainable improvement, then please
contact us. We are here to help you.