The Last Word: Increasing Manufacturing Capacity with OEE

Summary

InTech had the opportunity to talk with subject matter experts at LineView Solutions about how the company helped Rugby, UK-based Britvic, a major soft drink bottling company, increase capacity through line balancing optimization. LineView can be both consultant and integrator depending on its client’s needs.
 

Teaching line balancing optimization

LineView was tasked with providing the Britvic controls engineering team with the necessary skills and knowledge to identify and implement line balancing optimization opportunities across the business. With constant pressure to optimize production, LineView’s industry experts worked in collaboration with the team to implement practical improvements and enable the lines to fulfil market demand for summer can volume.

The line-balancing optimization training equipped eight Britvic team members with skills to effectively balance operator and machine time. Working together, LineView experts guided the controls engineering team through improving control, accumulation, speed, startup, and run-out times across Britvic’s can lines. The team learned how to identify and implement line-balancing optimization opportunities across the organization.

The Britvic project entailed training and coaching its team on the line balancing optimization “perfect flow” methodology, conducting audits on four can lines, and ensuring that the team could continue this process on all other lines. “We established baseline scores and monitored them via our LineView software,” said Miguel Ferreira, customer success manager at LineView. “Post-audit, we optimized line control by implementing techniques such as cascade control and dynamic accumulation, which were executed by an automation engineer directly on the line’s software.”

LineView’s involvement went beyond classroom training. “Our approach is comprehensive and hands on,” explained Ferreira. “We demonstrated how to conduct audits, set baselines, monitor, and validate. We actively coached the team, identifying opportunities for improvement. In addition, we implemented hands-on improvements on the lines, including modifying sensor positions, code adjustments and optimizing conveyor speeds.”

Ferreira said that LineView is versatile, acting as both a consultant and an integrator depending on the client's needs. “Some clients prefer us to train, coach, assess, and develop an action plan for them to execute. Others require our direct involvement in implementing changes, which is beneficial as we bring extensive experience in line control and provide valuable training for their automation engineers, enhancing their capabilities.”
 

Positive results at Britvic

Britvic is now positioned to unlock additional capacity increases across multiple lines, while fostering sustained production efficiency through a commitment to continuous improvement. The bottling company unlocked £5.4M in capacity increase—an initial capacity increase of £2.9M, followed by further capacity gains of £2.5M through enhanced control optimization.

Both LineView and Britvic express the improved capacity in monetary terms because the gains are directly tied to overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). “Specifically, an optional automated production line balance control module enables quick restart and recovery time, which significantly reduces the build-back time by 10 to 120 seconds per downtime event within each zone, optimizing recovery so dynamic accumulation can prepare for another stoppage without impacting the critical machine,” Ferreira continued.

Paramjeet Pahdi, Rugby site director at Britvic PLC, said “We’ve unlocked significant capacity for our plant and reduced the impact of minor stoppages on our production lines. Most importantly, we've equipped our people to be able to go hunt down these opportunities throughout our business. LineView ensured we have full understanding and confidence to take ownership of this process moving forward.”
 

Working through the challenges

Ferreira said that the most significant challenge was addressing inadequate line control previously attempted by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). “The coding was poorly layered, requiring a complete rewrite to ensure effective line control. This task demanded deep knowledge and experience to correct,” he said.

The most impressive success was the immediate positive impact on the production line’s speed and efficiency, from the filler to the case packer. “The faster restart times for each asset and longer running times for the critical machine due to increased accumulation were particularly noteworthy,” Ferreira continued. This success changed the team’s perspective, leading to widespread buy-in for the methodology. In addition, the project enhanced the team’s understanding of their equipment, revealing many more opportunities for further improvements and sparking a proactive approach to continuous optimization.”
 

OEE is the key

OEE is a measure of how well a manufacturing operation is used (facilities, time, and material) compared to its full potential during the periods when it is scheduled to run. It identifies the percentage of manufacturing time that is truly productive. An OEE of 100% means that only good parts are produced (100% quality), at the maximum speed (100% performance), and without interruption (100% availability).

Measuring OEE is a manufacturing best practice. By measuring OEE and the underlying losses, important insights can be gained into how to systematically improve the manufacturing process. OEE is an effective metric for identifying losses, bench-marking progress, and improving the productivity of manufacturing equipment (i.e., eliminating waste). The best way for reliable OEE monitoring is to automatically collect data directly from the machines.

OEE allows comparison between manufacturing units in differing industries. It is not an absolute measure and is best used to identify scope for process performance improvement as well as how to get that improvement. OEE measurement is also commonly used as a key performance indicator (KPI) in conjunction with Lean manufacturing efforts to provide an indicator of success.

_{This feature originally appeared in the June 2024 issue of InTech digital magazine.}