Reduce Small Stops in Manufacturing and Increase Throughput
Unplanned downtime is the largest source of lost production and revenue in manufacturing. While most manufacturers focus on preventing large downtime events, many underestimate the significant cost associated with micro-stops (stops that last a minute or two).
The losses go undetected because the majority of manufacturers don’t track and record these small events. The problem is, the total downtime for minor stoppages can equal or exceed larger downtime events. That amounts to significant losses in production and revenue.
The example below shows the average Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) across manufacturing organizations, including an average of 15% in unplanned downtime associated with minor-stoppages.
There are many reasons micro-stops are not tracked or justified. The most common is that minor stoppages are considered negligible by most manufacturers.
Another common reason is the time it takes to manually record small downtime events takes as long as the stop itself.
That’s where Automation Intellect’s IIOT platform comes in. Our solution automatically collects, identifies and visualizes every minute of downtime, no matter how small. The real-time data visualization screens show trending micro-stops that are causing the most collective downtime so you know where to focus your cost saving efforts.
A recent implementation of Automation Intellect at a packaging manufacturer demonstrates the substantial loss attributed to micro-stops.
Real-time visibility into minor stoppages on just one line identified an accumulation of 7 HOURS OF UNPLANNED DOWNTIME in one week.
This was data that had previously gone undetected and undocumented. Once the client gained insight into the source of the micro-stops they were able to make improvements that added an additional $56K in revenue each month.
