Overall equipment efficiency improvement of turret punching press

In the current business scenario with emerging global competition and rising customer expectation, providing low cost and high quality products is a winning mantra. These high expectations can be met through low cost automation and by keeping low operational cost. Minimising the operation cost can be achieved by improving operational indicators like delivery, quality, performance of machine etc. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) under its umbrella deals with all the operational indicators at micro level which are required for achieving low cost operation. The focus of this study is on improving OEE of Turret punching press which is also the bottleneck machine with the help of techniques such as SMED, 5S, TPM, SOP etc. The project aims to minimize levels of six big losses (breakdown, setup and adjustment, small stops, reduced speeds, startup rejects, production rejects) thereby improving the efficiency of the machine.

Data collection format for measurement of machine utilization was finalized and then data was collected for one week for calculation of initial OEE. The initial OEE for the machine was found to be only 27.3%. Cross-functional team was formed to analyze the factors responsible for low OEE. Levels of six big losses were analyzed and systematic approach was formed to increase the efficiency.

Major losses which are responsible for low OEE (setup and adjustments, reduced speeds) were improved with the help of techniques like SMED, 5S, Kaizen, SOP. The techniques have helped in improving OEE from 27.3% to 50.5%. Improved OEE helped in generating extra capacity and hitting the bottom-line of the company with extra income from the existing machine. Though OEE was improved almost 2 times, few more outcome of the study were also shared with management which need investment and having long lead time. Upon implementation this, the OEE will improve further.