Total Effective Equipment Performance
In 2022, as we move forward into a turbulent Q3 summer with energy costs spiking and demand for aggregates and essential “battery metals” surging to unprecedented global levels, reaching maximum potential production capacity is of the highest priority.
For mining, manufacturing, aggregates, construction materials, and just about every other facet of heavy industry that we support here at Resource Erectors, OEE and TEEP are integral parts of the philosophy of continuous improvement. And that LEAN mean production attitude is the universal requirement we see in nearly every position offered by our leading company clients on the Resource Erectors professional level job board.
Here are the typical priorities expected for an Operations Manager in Industrial Minerals,(silica sand in this case) right from our client company’s job description, Job #521 with a compensation range of $150,000 to $175,000.
- Optimize plant activities in order to meet or exceed actual objectives in terms of efficiency, profitability, and quality.
- Contribute to continuous improvement efforts by making recommendations to improve productivity and efficiencies.
- Manage all technical components of the mine, including extraction, storage, wet/dry processing, and shipment/logistics.
Under-utilized equipment has a significant impact on an operation’s bottom line. OEE and TEEP have been around and developed for indoor factory production for quite a while. Now, with the ubiquitous IoT, and the digital advancements of Industry 4.0, those principles are being expanded to other production industries including the mining and quarrying sectors.
For mine managers proper deployment of OEE and TEEP solutions may just make the old miner’s adage obsolete; the one that claims, “When it’s you against the rock, the rock always wins”.
WHAT are OEE and TEEP?
“TEEP (Total Effective Equipment Performance) is a performance metric that provides insights as to the true capacity of your manufacturing operation. It takes [into] account both Equipment Losses (as measured by OEE) and Schedule Losses (as measured by Utilization).”– OEE.com (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
OEE measures the percentage of planned production time that is fully productive in a 24 hour period.
TEEP measures the percentage of total calendar hours (24/365) that are fully productive. In the article “Total Effective Equipment Performance and Why Does it Matter?” by digital transformation company PTC, these calculated OEE percentages are put into context.
Availability X Performance X Quality = Overall OEE
- 60% to 65% is a typical OEE.
- 85% is considered a “world class” operation
- 100% is production perfection where there is no downtime, no quality control rejects, all produced at the highest optimal speed.
OEE From Manufacturing Models to Mining Solutions
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) was first developed in the 1960s specifically for measuring performance within the manufacturing industry. There is clearly value to be gained in implementing OEE correctly in any industry, according to mining performance consultant Nathan Elphick of MPPIGlobal, a leading mining software company.
For the mining sector, there have always been challenges in adapting these key performance indicator techniques to unlock maximum production capacity. In the manufacturing sector, OEEand TEEP programs are highly touted as, “finding and releasing the production capacity of “the factory inside”. But the transition from factory to mine or quarry is most certainly not a case of one size fits all industrial sectors.
Elphick’s informative 2017 article at LinkedIn focuses on some of the common problems he’s seen over his 17 years (at the time of his writing) as a Technical Systems Delivery Manager.
Production OEE for Mine Managers: Trusted Information
“Process Plants are typically the most expensive capital asset you will find on a mine site, and industry data tells most run at less than 70% of their actual capacity. Production OEE has the capability to change this overnight.”
When mining managers adapt OEE from the standard factory manufacturing models TMI, or “too much information” from every step of the production process and every major equipment asset can generate what Senior Solutions Architect Nathan Elphick describes in his article as “unranked decision data”.
Tailored for mining, Production OEE can discover the highly valued hidden production capacity in operations including:
- Crushing plant
- Fixed plant
- Process plant
- Hoist and more
MPPIglobal’s proprietary solutions combine the OEE principles, with LEAN, and the Theory of Constraints . Eliminating the ever-present bottlenecks in any production process is key, and mining OEE solutions need to account for variables such as:
- Incorporating grade
- Rate
- Downtime
- Moisture
- Reprocessing
- Constraints (bottlenecks in production)
- Recovery into an advanced calculation model for maximum effectiveness.
“What can I do today that will directly improve production tomorrow in order to generate more cash flow?”
Rather than providing the crucial insight required to answer that question, many existing OEE setups are poorly implemented. Some OEE setups are more oriented to improved equipment maintenance rather than toward increased production.
Elphick goes so far as to say that in mining operations some OEE setups are often more the result of aggressive software vendors racking up license sales. What data ends up being racked up is “unactionable noise”, information of little or no help for the mining manager who needs to justify OPEX and CAPEX to the board.
The ability to report ONLY the losses that impact production means all losses are directly related to revenue and profit, and optimizing decisions are much more informed and justifiable.
About Resource Erectors
Mining, manufacturing, minerals, metals, materials, and management.
These are the essentials at the core of the Resource Erectors heavy industry human resources mission. We bring decades of recruiting and placement experience to the diverse sectors of heavy industry including mining, minerals processing, engineering, civil construction, concrete, aggregates, construction materials, and engineering in every field.
Compensation and bonus packages offered by our industry-leading client companies are now ranging well above six figures, with some of the most competitive benefits for attracting the best professionals in engineering, sales, management, and logistics.
When you’re ready to move your company up the charts or advance your professional career to the top of the career ladder you’re ready for Resource Erectors so don’t hesitate to contact us today.
