OEE and CO2 reductions in the same package; how important is reducing CO2 emissions in the future?

Published November 1st, 2021.

In today’s manufacturing world, decision-makers closely follow certain standards, so they stay up to date with important figures related to their operations. One of the key standards in modern manufacturing world is measuring OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness). So, what is this OEE all about and why are decision-makers so interested in it?

OEE is used to measure the productivity rate of manufacturing operations. It considers the overall manufacturing time and how large portion of it has been truly productive. OEE score is calculated from 0% to 100% with the latter obviously meaning the best possible result. OEE is separated into three key factors: Availability, Performance and Quality.

What about reducing CO2 emissions and at the same time improving OEE score?

Climate change caused by greenhouse gases is major environmental threat we are facing now, and its effects have started to show already and will most likely impact the future generations. CO2 is primarily generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas.

Availability, Performance and Quality are key factors of OEE and can be tied to reducing CO2 emissions of manufacturing companies.

Real world – optimizing CO2 -emissions vs. OEE score

Vice President of APL Systems, Tapio Rintala points out scenarios where OEE enables companies to reduce CO2 emissions: “Let’s take an example and look at the availability score. If you get an unscheduled production stoppage at production site, there may be a need to switch to other sources of fuels that are not as environmentally friendly. Performance score may or may not be seen as an equivalent to CO2 emission levels depending on the case. For example, if machines are on running smoothly because neglecting predicative maintenance might be using more power to try to run, thus using more energy which has direct impact on CO2 emissions.“

About AuresSound™

AuresSound™ is proprietary technology that uses customized acoustic algorithms to detect industrial operational excellence. It reinforces OEE standards by giving visibility, utilizing real-time information about optimal operation of business-critical machinery, thus improving availability score, and reducing CO2 emissions.