Having identified the need for more effective management of their equipment assets, Pioneer Foods commissioned system integrator Systems Anywhere to implement an online OEE solution that would be rolled out on 48 lines at eight production facilities across South Africa. The result is business and operational benefits through real-time decision-making.
Goals and requirements
“The goal of this project was clear but somewhat daunting,” says Gordon Schoombie, operations director at Systems Anywhere Coastal. “It was to implement an OEE system as a management tool to manage efficiencies and waste on the production lines across all production facilities around the country on a tight budget and in no longer than five months. It sounds overwhelming and after you’ve had the chance to think about it, it gets a lot worse.”
In addition to its having access to expert and readily-available technical support, Pioneer Foods specified that the system must be capable of:
• Real-time data collection, analysis and reporting so as to be a management system as well as an information system for its users.
• Drill down capability and the ability to do Root Cause Analysis as well as rolled-up information and management dashboards.
• Open and easy integration with other solutions.
• Easy configuration and customisation to cope with change.
• Web access.
Lastly, the solution supplier must provide change management protocols and get the buy-in of operators for the new system.
“The solutions we needed for this project would have to be tried and tested, fast and easy to implement as well as low-cost if we were to comply with Pioneer Foods’ requirements,” says Schoombie. “With the help of Wonderware Southern Africa, we contacted Software Toolbox who recommended their Equipment Effectiveness Suite (EES) as well as TOP Server for OPC and I/O management – the latter is a reliable standard with all our installations.”
Pioneer Foods had already evaluated two other systems with pilot implementations. “When it was our turn, we implemented a working pilot within four days,” says Schoombie. “This included hardware installation. While we were competitively priced, the richer functionality we were offering and the proof of its ease of implementation must have appealed to Pioneer Foods’ sense of future-proofing and independence.”
“Our final choice of Systems Anywhere was based on the company’s successful track record of a creative and innovative approach to projects. We also agreed on their selection of reputable Software Toolbox solutions supported locally by Wonderware Southern Africa,” says Piet Burger, supply chain executive, Pioneer foods.
Implementation
OEE is a hierarchy of measurements developed by Seiichi Nakajima in the 1960s to evaluate how effectively a manufacturing operation is utilised. It is based on the Harrington Emerson way of thinking regarding labour efficiency.
“It quickly became obvious that one of the benefits of this project would be to ensure that everyone was on the same page regarding the measurement of OEE, which was being done differently at each plant that we visited,” says Schoombie. “The determination of OEE is a universal standard and not subject to individual interpretation. It is also not an excuse to measure the effectiveness of people so that someone can be blamed for poor results. This by itself required the implementation of an extensive change management programme for which we enlisted the help of Competitive Dynamics International.”
The project was started in May 2014 and commissioning was completed within the specified time period by the end of September of that year. The system was integrated with Pioneer Foods’ intranet and provides Internet access through which full remote support, configuration and control is possible. Web access also provides users drill-down reporting and dashboard capability while scheduled reports are e-mailed to relevant personnel.
“The OEE analysis dashboard has been kept as simple as possible and lists the equipment as well as the reason for its downtime such as product change or stoppage due to failure or some other cause,” says Schoombie. “One of the features of EES – and something not usually seen in other solutions of this type – is the ability to split downtimes between production and maintenance. Downtime causes can be either entered manually or scanned from barcodes. Insofar as reports are concerned, we used those supplied in EES and we kept them clear, concise and easy to analyse.”
“Since implementing EES at our breakfast cereals plant, we are now able to remotely monitor line performance and provide guidance in order to improve line efficiencies, reduce waste and illustrate the impact of changeovers. The data is available immediately and reports are easy to draw and interpret,” says Jacques Weidemann, unit manager, Atlantis Cereals.
Systems Anywhere monitors all 48 lines at the eight sites on a 24/7 basis. Load shedding, OEE values below par or other alarms are instantly visible on a country map so that appropriate and timely action can be taken. The operational benefits include:
• Improved efficiency.
• Less downtime and better downtime analysis – instant alert of line downtimes and their reasons allows maintenance personnel to act quickly and to address the right problem.
• Faster decision making.
• Improved operator interaction and contribution Drill down capability and Root Cause Analysis – also quick determination of what equipment is responsible for availability losses.
Conclusion
The result has been an overall increase in productivity. Through an improved OEE, more machine time is available for production which not only results in better efficiency, but increased throughput as well.
Even including the tight budget and time constraints, the project has met all of Pioneer Foods, goals and criteria: “We finished within budget and two days ahead of schedule,” concludes Schoombie. “This OEE implementation also provided some unforeseen benefits such as a common reality on OEE and the empowerment of operators to optimise their processes and contribution through real-time knowledge and instant feedback on the effects of their actions.”
For more information contact Wonderware Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 607 8100, contact@wonderware.co.za, www.wonderware.co.za
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