A Framework Based on OEE and Wireless Technology for Improving Overall Manufacturing Operations

Manufacturers have the challenge to increase productivity given complex manufacturing environments. A source that provides substantial levels of productivity is the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) metric, which is an indicator to improve not only equipment utilization; but also the overall manufacturing operations, because of the valuable information that comes from the availability, performance and quality rates. Although information technologies have been introduced, companies use manually recorder data and have complicated measurement procedures. As a consequence, inaccurate information is generated and opportunities to improve productivity are missed. This paper presents a continuous improvement framework based on Lean manufacturing philosophy, operated by a system of wireless devices to support the real time equipment performance metrics. In order to validate the framework, results of a case study are exposed.