Availability Loss in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) represents any event that halts planned production for several minutes or longer.
This reduces the effective manufacturing time.
Frequent stops lower the percentage of productive time.
Addressing these losses is crucial to improving OEE. By reducing downtime, you increase available production time, thereby improving overall efficiency.
Prioritising actions to minimise Availability Loss leads to improved manufacturing output and reliability.
Performance vs Quality vs Availability
| Availability Loss | Occurs when events like equipment failures or material shortages stop planned production. These interruptions result in lost manufacturing time. |
| Performance Loss | Happens when the production runs below its maximum speed. Causes can include machine wear or substandard materials affecting the process. |
| Quality Loss | Involves parts that don’t meet quality standards. This includes scrap and parts requiring rework. |
Common Causes of Availability Loss
Equipment Failures and Breakdowns
Unplanned stops stem from equipment failures and tooling issues. These failures lead to unplanned maintenance, which disrupts planned production.
Equipment downtime also results from a lack of operators or materials, as well as being starved by upstream equipment or blocked by downstream equipment.
Setup and Adjustments
Planned stops include changeovers and major adjustments necessary for various manufacturing processes. Activities like tooling adjustments, cleaning, and warmup time fall under this category.
Other planned interruptions involve scheduled maintenance and quality inspections. These planned activities, although necessary, reduce the overall productive time of equipment.
Strategies to Minimise Availability Loss
Reducing Availability Loss enhances overall equipment effectiveness and manufacturing efficiency.
Here are some key strategies:
Implementing Preventive Maintenance
Regular maintenance helps avoid unplanned stops from equipment failures.
Preventive activities like cleaning, lubrication, and part replacements keep machinery running smoothly.
Scheduling these maintenance tasks limits downtime and boosts production time.
Optimising Setup and Changeover Processes
Reducing setup and changeover times can minimise Availability Loss.
Implementing SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die) techniques makes this possible.
Streamlining these processes ensures quick transitions, increasing available production hours.
