Manufacturing Improvements and OEE: Boosting Efficiency & Performance
It was a Friday afternoon, I was making my way home when the phone started ringing.
A food manufacturer in the ready meals space was on the other end. They were having some problems and needed to improve their efficiency to get more production out of the door.
Their words were:
“We need to improve all the drivers of OEE.”
If you’re not aware, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is an industry standard for measuring the success of your plant. It is a measure of Availability, Quality, and Performance, giving insights into how well you’re doing and where the problems are that need focus.
Identifying the Problem
What was hurting this company was Performance, getting the most from the equipment when it was planned to run.
They went on to explain what they wanted to improve.
On a few of their production lines, they had Vertical Form Fill Seal (VFFS) machines with a multi-head weigher above, weighing the product into portions that were deposited through the machine and into the package.
They wanted to understand how to get an even flow from the vibrating top of the weigher, enabling more even weights in the package (reducing quality problems leading to rework).
Then they wanted to know how to set the machine up effectively to reduce changeovers, improve performance, and reduce rework.
This is Centerlining work—done right, you have visual standards and well-documented processes for changing over your machinery.
For them, this meant:
- Not having creases in the packaging
- Forming the packaging better and more consistently
- Knowing how and when to intervene
- Making sure the horizontal sealer was efficiently working
- Ensuring the vertical seal was optimal, as well as controlling temperatures
- Adjusting the open and close of the weighing buckets
- Knowing how to interpret and optimize planned maintenance activities
- Digging into losses and removing them
- Training maintenance and operators in how to assess problems and look after their machines
- Reducing Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and other performance metrics like MTTR, MTBF, MTTF
This was all music to my ears! I often spend a lot of time coaching manufacturers on why they need to do all of this. Why? Because it works—it drives efficiency, keeps jobs, improves profitability, and is a much more intelligent and sustainable way of running a manufacturing plant.
Getting the Team on Board
First, we need to find out how on board the rest of the team is—we can’t work with a team that doesn’t want to change.
Everyone has to understand the benefits and be open to change. They don’t have to be completely convinced initially, but humoring new ideas is a good start. Actively resisting progress will only hurt the business.
The business needs a plan to deal with those standing in the way of progress and improvement (there will always be some).
A few common concerns include:
- Fear of job loss: Employees may believe that if efficiency improves, their jobs may be at risk. The reality is that inefficient plants are at higher risk.
- Skepticism about improvement drives: Many workers have seen past improvement initiatives fail due to poor leadership. Managing change effectively is key.
The process is simple in theory but challenging in practice—it’s about managing people, encouraging change, and celebrating wins along the way.
Implementing TPM & Autonomous Maintenance
A key step in this transformation is implementing the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) framework, particularly the Autonomous Maintenance (AM) Pillar.
AM is about upskilling and empowering operators to better understand and maintain their machines. When I was at Unilever, the TPM system was so effective that operators could diagnose machine failures better than many engineers I’ve worked with since!
To get to this level, starting the AM Pillar is essential.
Keeping Processes Simple & Efficient
A big part of improvement is removing unnecessary complexity.
We should ask:
- Are teams set up for success?
- Is the engineering department structured efficiently?
- Are Condition-Based Monitoring Services being used effectively?
When I designed an engineering team from scratch in a new factory, I was able to eliminate inefficiencies that I had seen in other places.
We have written about this before in our guide on Driving Efficiency in Engineering Teams.
Setting Up the Engineering Department for Success
A well-structured engineering team needs:
- A Central Engineering Hub – A one-page engineering homepage (e.g., SharePoint) with everything engineers need—manuals, SOPs, troubleshooting guides, etc.
- Optimized Workshop Flow – Are tools and workspace layouts designed for efficiency?
- Right Tools for the Job – Providing engineers with thermal imaging equipment, ultrasonic listeners, vibration analysis, and laser alignment tools.
- Training Facilities – In one factory, we introduced the Technical Excellence Center (TEC) to upskill both engineers and operators.
The Role of Leadership in OEE Improvement
At the heart of this transformation is leadership. Even with all the right systems, if leadership isn’t fully on board, progress will fail.
A strong management team must:
- Support new initiatives
- Overcome resistance to change
- Define clear implementation structures
- Ensure ongoing measurement of success
What happens if we run into problems?
Having a structured improvement process is essential. Leadership must drive change, not just at the operations level but across engineering and management.
The first step to achieving these improvements is optimizing your engineering department.
👉 Check out our latest projects to see how we’ve helped businesses improve their OEE: Our Latest Work
📞 Need help implementing OEE improvements? Contact Us today!