Your machines stop regularly, whether due to breakdowns, maintenance, or other causes... Not sure what solutions to adopt to reduce this downtime? Don't panic, we'll give you some tips to start addressing this issue!
Machine downtimes refer to the periods when a machine or production equipment stops working or is taken offline. It's one of the key performance indicators used to assess the efficiency of a production line. These downtimes can be planned, such as regular preventive maintenance periods, or unplanned due to breakdowns, technical failures, operational issues, or other unforeseen reasons. Machine downtimes can significantly impact your business's productivity, leading to lost time, resources, and potentially revenue. Managing these downtimes effectively, whether planned or unplanned, is crucial for maintaining optimal production and minimizing disruptions.
Reducing machine downtime is essential for enhancing your business's productivity. When machines are down, it means production is halted, and every minute counts! By reducing your machines' downtime, you can increase your production capacity and respond more quickly to your customers' demands.
Before you can think about reducing these downtimes, you need to identify them!
It can be challenging to be constantly present in the workshop to monitor the machines, but don’t worry, there are solutions:
1. Human Intervention: Encourage your operators to report any issues or anomalies observed on the machines. Open communication contributes to quick problem detection.
2.Real-time Monitoring Systems: Use sensors and control systems to track the condition of your machines in real-time. Sensors can detect anomalies, performance variations, or signs of malfunction.
3. Production Tracking Software: Adopt production tracking software that records operation times and downtimes. These tools allow for generating detailed reports on machine performance.
4. Visual Dashboards: Use visual dashboards that display key production indicators. These dashboards can quickly signal downtime periods and help identify trends over time.
5. Maintenance Scheduling: Establish a schedule for regular preventive maintenance to inspect machines and prevent breakdowns. Recording these interventions in a tracking system will provide a clear view of maintenance operations performed.
6. Historical Data Analysis: Analyze historical downtime data to identify recurring patterns. This can help anticipate and resolve potential problems.
7. Dedicated Maintenance Teams: If necessary, dedicate a team to maintenance that actively monitors machine performance and reacts quickly when needed.
8. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Define key performance indicators to assess the productivity and efficiency of your machines. Any deviation from the norms may signal a potential downtime issue.
By combining these approaches, you can establish a robust system to identify the most frequent causes of downtime and manage them effectively, all while minimizing the impact on your production.
These solutions are great, but how can you easily and quickly implement them in your workshop?
Did you know that there are technologies that integrate all the previously mentioned solutions? Stay tuned, we're going to explain everything!
Optimizing Productivity by Reducing Downtime is the mantra at KEYPROD. Indeed, we have developed IoT production monitoring solutions capable of identifying machine stops in real-time.
KEYPROD is a non-intrusive 4.0 production monitoring solution (requiring no complex connections). Simply by magnetizing our devices to your machines, you can manage your workshop. Thanks to our technology, we are able to detect production interruptions as they happen. By analyzing the vibrations of the equipment, our IoT devices can quickly identify stops and alert operators in real-time, allowing you to react immediately and take steps to solve the problem.
Our intuitive interface allows you to monitor your machines from anywhere. Whether you're using a desktop, tablet, or smartphone, you can easily access your production data to keep track of your operations. You can quickly categorize your stops, and our dashboards compile all relevant data. The history of events, the Pareto of losses, and the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) are presented clearly and concisely, simplifying the analysis of your machines' performance.
KEYPROD is an industrial digitization solution, allowing you to monitor your workshop and detect your downtime. The data collected in your factory are a treasure trove of valuable information to improve your machines' performance while eliminating unplanned downtime. With this data, you can generate detailed reports on the condition of your machines. Using this consolidated information, you can implement an effective strategy (such as preventive maintenance) to enhance your production capacity and your company's performance.
A concrete example of KEYPROD's effectiveness is the experience of a production manager at a large industrial group. Using the information provided by the event timeline on his KEYPROD interface, he identified that machine setup times were both lengthy and significantly impacting production. Thanks to this analysis, he was able to quantify time losses and justify hiring a full-time employee dedicated to machine setups. This decision proved to be more cost-effective than continuing to suffer the time losses caused by frequent stops. This hire allowed for gaining up to 5 hours of production per week per machine. It is therefore essential not to ignore machine downtime and to take measures to optimize production and maximize results.
Too often overlooked, machine downtime actually represents a phenomenal amount of productivity loss for industrial companies. Each stop, however brief, impacts the production capacity, deadlines, and profits. By identifying the main causes of machine stops, it is then conceivable to take corrective measures to gradually eliminate them.
Industrials must be aware of the impact of these downtimes, to transform these weaknesses into real assets.
Don't let downtime slow down your business, act now to optimize your production and maximize your results!