Imagine if nearly every device on your shop floor had a sensor built into it. One that was collecting performance and quality data at all times. One that was also sharing data with not only every other machine and sensor, but with organizational leaders as well. The types of insight that you could derive from that information would be enormous – it would generate a type of real-time visibility into your operations that would virtually guarantee continuous improvement on a daily basis.
Thankfully, we’re talking about a category of technology that already exists. It’s called the Industrial Internet of Things (or IIoT for short), and the market is predicted to reach an enormous $124 billion in value by the end of 2021.
Yet despite this, there are still manufacturers out there that insist on doing things “the old-fashioned way” – meaning with manual, time-consuming processes that add little value to the production. All told, embracing the Industrial Internet of Things is not only a good idea, but it’s also one that can dramatically improve your OEE scores as well.
OEE and the IoT: The Perfect Pairing
Short for Overall Equipment Effectiveness, OEE is essentially the most important metric for any manufacturer. Once you begin carefully tracking quality, availability and performance, you gain an incredible level of insight into what you need to do to improve your company moving forward.
The Industrial Internet of Things can help with these efforts in a wide range of different ways. As you collect more and more data from machines and operators, you can go back and look at historical data to optimize virtually all areas of your business. You can see which machines are most likely to go offline, allowing you to spend your budget wisely in terms of what you replace and what you repair. You can see when demand is high and create schedules for employees that avoid bottlenecks. You can make sure important resources are where they need to be, exactly when they need to be there – absolutely no exceptions.
All of this creates something of a perfect storm in the best possible way. Maintenance costs are reduced almost immediately because you can see the “bigger picture” of what is going on. You’re spending less on materials and other resources because you have a better understanding of exactly what you need in a given situation. Equipment is more available and is being better utilized: significantly increasing your return on investment, too.
Quality. Availability. Performance. Those are the three areas of your operations that can be significantly boosted by the Industrial Internet of Things, and they’re the ones that will increase your OEE score as well.
If you’re interested in finding out more about why manufacturers should be embracing the Internet of Things with open arms, or if you have any additional questions that you’d like to go over in a bit more detail, please feel free to contact the team at Thrive today.
