Can the cost of an OEE solution be minimized?

 Last week in Machine Automation Insights I mentioned Stone Technologies' Kirk Weis and his work as project manager of the MES (OEE, Reliability) Definition Team. That group is seeking ways to define MES functions in a standard way.

"Much of what we're trying to do is reduce the cost associated with putting an OEE system or solution in place," says Weiss. "What's interesting is that a big part of the effort is not the configuration of the OEE application itself. The effort is in configuring the control layer needed to acquire information that describes machine conditions. You need it in a form that you can then exchange with a higher-level application.

"In some ways it's not that big a deal. But depending on the design of the architecture in place, there may be considerable effort involved. You may have one system with a GE PLC on it. On another you have Omron or Rockwell Automation. It's disparate technologies within an organization that has grown over time. As you go to integrate these systems, you encounter one that's missing an Ethernet card. So you purchase an Ethernet card. You then encounter a machine that is still relay based, which means you have to put in some specialized IO to even be able to capture information. You may have to re-engineer this machine to some extent because it's not PLC-based."

The reality is that equipment installed in the 70s is still running in so many plants today, says Weiss. That equipment is not going to be ripped out because it makes an OEE implementation difficult. But engineering and operations managers are still being asked to improve the efficiency of the lines on which these machines are running.

"It's always tempting to say, 'Let's just get rid of the controls and put new controls in place," says Weiss. "But that carries a cost, too. These are the issues we're wrestling with."