Automating downtime monitoring to improve plant performance

There are a variety of reasons that production can stop on a manufacturing line. Equipment failure, material shortages, and quality issues are a few common causes. Regardless of the reason, downtime is a significant issue for manufacturers.

To combat downtime, we see various maintenance strategies in use, operator training, and process improvements. While these strategies can be effective, they often lack the necessary data to identify the root causes of downtime and measure the effectiveness of improvement efforts. That's where downtime monitoring comes in.

Downtime monitoring comes in a variety of forms, from manually recording downtime events in a shift log, to automated, integrated systems like Line Interpreter, that track downtime events and provide real-time data to operators, maintenance teams, and managers.

We're often asked about the benefits of automated downtime monitoring, and how it can be used to improve plant performance. Here are a few key benefits:

Improved Visibility

Automated downtime monitoring provides real-time visibility into production processes, allowing teams to quickly identify and address issues as they arise. One of the difficulties with manual downtime tracking is that it can be difficult to understand how well a line is operating during a shift, especially for new or inexperienced operators. Line Interpreter is designed to deploy dashboards to large screens on the production floor, our experience has shown that the act of displaying OEE at the line can lead to significant improvements in OEE without any other intervention.

Improved Downtime Details

Manual downtime tracking often lacks the necessary downtime details of downtime events, and often misses downtime events altogether. At one site, that relied on recording downtime in shift logs, 40% of downtime events (only counting events greater than 5 minutes) were not recorded in the shift logs. The shorter events (2-5 minutes) in duration, were completely missed. Automated downtime monitoring systems can capture all downtime events, regardless of duration, and prompt operators to enter detailed information about each event, including a description, cause, category and location of the event. This accurate, structured data is crucial for identifying root causes of downtime and measuring the effectiveness of improvement efforts.

Enhanced Collaboration

Automated monitoring systems facilitate better communication and collaboration between different teams involved in the production process. By providing a centralized source of truth for downtime data, these systems help ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards common goals.

Conclusion

Automated downtime monitoring is a powerful tool for manufacturers looking to improve plant performance. By providing real-time visibility, enabling root cause analysis, measuring performance, enhancing collaboration, and supporting continuous improvement, these systems can help organizations unlock significant value from their production processes.