Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) evaluation for an automated ice cream production line

Purpose - As overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is a metric to estimate equipment effectiveness of production systems, the purpose of this paper is to identify strategic management tools and techniques based on OEE assessment of the ice cream production line. Design/methodology/approach - This paper presents the collection and the analysis of data for ice cream production under real working conditions. The data cover a period of eight months. A framework process to improve the OEE of an automated production system was proposed. Six major stoppage losses, i.e. equipment failure, setup and adjustment, idling and minor stoppage, reduced speed, defects in the process, and reduced yield, were examined with the help of Pareto analysis. In addition, the actual availability (A), performance efficiency (PΕ) and quality rate (QR) measures, together with the complete OEE for each working day, week and month of the production line were shown. Findings - The main goal of the study is to identify major stoppage losses, in order to examine and improve the overall equipment efficiency (OEE) of the ice cream production line through the application of an adequate management, i.e. TPM approach. Based on the obtained results, maintenance management strategy and production planning have been suggested to improve their maintenance procedures and the productivity as well. Originality/value - The proposed method can be applied to each automated production system. The main benefits of this method are the improvement of productivity, quality enhancement of products, the reduction of sudden breakdowns and the cost of maintenance. Moreover, the analysis provides a useful perspective and helps managers/engineers make better decisions on the operations management of the line, and suggestions for improvement were proposed and will be implemented accordingly.