Manufacturing

How to calculate OEE without fooling yourself

The OEE calculation takes thirty seconds. The inputs are where most plants end up with a number better than the shift actually was. Chris Peters · Sep 8, 2026

Three definitions of availability, three different OEE numbers

Overall equipment effectiveness depends on definitions each plant sets locally, and availability is the one they most often define differently. Chris Peters · Sep 5, 2026

Traceability software for manufacturing: what to ask

Every vendor can run a clean mock recall on stage. The question is whether the trace was recorded live or assembled afterward. Rob Ryder · Sep 2, 2026

MES vs ERP: which one knows what happened at 2 a.m.

ERP records the plan and the cost, your MES records the events on the floor, and neither one records why the line stopped. Rob Ryder · Sep 1, 2026

Machine downtime tracking starts with the reason codes

A control system times every stop on its own. The reason is the only field a person fills, and it decides what you can fix. Chris Peters · Aug 29, 2026

How to run root cause analysis from records

Root cause analysis in manufacturing stalls when the only answer is what one person remembers. Here is how to work from records instead. Chris Peters · Aug 26, 2026

Finite capacity scheduling: why Friday’s plan is wrong by Tuesday

Most plants schedule without their real limits, so Friday's plan stops matching the plant by Tuesday. Finite capacity scheduling plans inside those limits. Cameron Bergen · Aug 25, 2026