What is Machine Availability?
Machine Availability, in the context of the manufacturing industry, is one of three major factors in calculating OEE (overall equipment effectiveness). It takes into consideration all of the events that could have interrupted planned production time, whenever it has been stopped for a significant period of time.
What is the Machine Availability calculation?
Along with the performance and quality rates that are taken into account to measure OEE, the Machine Availability Rate is calculated first in this equation, and should not be confused with Overall Availability, which uses total calendar time and not planned production time.
Machine Availability is presented in a percentage form and is measured by analyzing all of the equipment on the factory floor’s uptime, which refers to the amount of time it takes machines to conduct their work (run time), and dividing it by the maximum time it would be available if there were no downtime for repair or unplanned maintenance. And in order to capture the actual availability, it’s important to highlight each instance of downtime, whether planned or unplanned.
Availability = Run Time / Planned Production Time
This is how the complete OEE calculation looks like:
Availability (%) = Run Time / Planned Production Time
Performance (%) = Ideal Cycle Time × Total Count) / Run Time
Quality (%) = Good Count / Total Count
Availability vs. Reliability
As Machine Availability measures time of total function hours, Machine Reliability measures the number of failed events, and then divides it by the total uptime of the operation. In simpler terms, Machine Reliability fixates on the failure rate of production. Machines can be reliable, but not available, and vice versa according to the type of maintenance performed. Or they can be both, with an overall Equipment Reliability and Maintenance (ERM) approach that focuses on both ideas as one concept that should be implemented to improve overall effectiveness of manufacturing operations.
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