Improving the Overall Equipment Effectiveness of a Hemostatic Products Production Line in a Medical Devices Company

Abstract

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a performance indicator highly used in the Medical Devices industry. By analyzing the results of this indicator, the organization can reduce losses in the manufacturing process and increase productivity. Due to a demand increase of hemostatic products in a medical device company, a productivity and efficiency increase of 5% in Line C is needed. The Multivac Packager was identified as the bottleneck step in the manufacturing process of the hemostatic products. This project aims to determine the baseline OEE value for this equipment and identify the root cause of the most influential losses. The calculated OEE for the Multivac Packager of 27% is under the standard world-class of 85-90%. Results show that the components of Availability and Performance should be improved to increase the productivity and efficiency of Line C. There were three very influential losses that were identified: operator lunchbreak, changeover, and setup processes. Key Terms ⎯ Overall Equipment Effectiveness, OEE, losses, productivity.