Improving the performance measurement using overall equipment effectiveness in an automotive industry

Considering the present business competitive scenario, the automotive industry is under pressure to achieve higher productivity. A high level of performance and quality standard could be achieved through improving the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of the equipment in an automotive industry. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the performance measurement through OEE theory in an Iranian automotive industry. Data and basic information collected from the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) of the production assembly lines. In this case study, two different assembly lines such Peugeot and Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) were studied. The results indicated that the indices such availability rate, performance and quality for Peugeot assembly line obtained an OEE value of 0.99, 0.70 and 0.38, respectively, and, these indices for SUV assembly line obtained as 0.99, 0.39 and 0.53, respectively. Statistical analysis results of net operating time parameter for two assembly lines revealed that there is significant difference in the confidence level of 5% (P-value < 0.05). In addition, the OEE index for Peugeot and SUV assembly lines gained 0.27 and 0.21 over a period of one year. Consequently, to improve the OEE in the automotive assembly lines, managing the time losses by systematic planning of manufacturing and the implementation of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) are suggested.