Knowledge Base

OEE – How Well Things Really Run

3 min read IE validated

In plain English

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is one easy score that tells you how well a machine or station is really doing. It multiplies three things: how often it's available, how fast it runs when it's on, and how many good (non-defective) items it makes.

The parts, simply

Availability
Was it running when it should have been? (breakdowns, changeovers)
Performance
Did it run at full speed? (small stops, slow cycles)
Quality
How much of what it made was good first time?

Why it matters to your business

A machine can look busy but still be losing you a fortune to small stops, slow running and rework. OEE turns that fuzzy feeling into one number you can track and improve. World-class is around 85%; most businesses sit near 40–60% and don't realise it.

Everyday example

A coffee roaster

It's switched on 8 hours but only actually roasting for 6 (Availability 75%), runs a bit slow (Performance 90%), and 1 in 20 batches is off-spec (Quality 95%). OEE = 0.75 × 0.90 × 0.95 = 64%. Now you know exactly where to look.

How SenseFlow does this for you

SenseFlow estimates OEE for each station from your details and shows which of the three — availability, speed or quality — is dragging your numbers down.

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