(Ultriva: Cupertino, CA) -- The calculation of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) plays a big role in determining the efficiency of plant operations. It reflects how well the investments in machine and people resources are being utilized. It measures the quantity and quality of output. It gives one number that can be measured and compared at the individual machine level.

In the past, businesses operated more on functional responsibilities—the plant manager was responsible for plant operations, the material managers were responsible for inventory, purchasing was responsible for getting the best prices from suppliers and the distribution center managers were responsible for holding inventory for sales. This worked well when companies were producing to stock and using marketing to drive sales for what they produced.

In today’s environment of ever changing demand patterns, complex supply chains, distributed production capabilities, and a global marketplace, it is not optimal to view these metrics individually and in different systems. By adding an OEE calculation, Ultriva now provides all the key continuous improvement factors in real-time from single data source.

Ultriva is successfully deploying OEE at a leading customer, Trane, across all five plants. Trane has been using Ultriva’s internal kanban at more than fifty work centers across these plants. Now they intend to use this module at the individual machine level by sequencing the operations and facilitating OEE calculations at the machine level.

According to Narayan Laksham, CEO of Ultriva, “Ultriva continues to add modules that drive lean methodologies across manufacturing companies. By enabling manufacturing cells to optimally sequence productions based on actual demands, Ultriva is now providing powerful metrics for continuous improvement through its Overall Equipment Effectiveness module. Over the years Ultriva optimized the material flow using electronic kanban for just-in-time replenishment and is now delivering solutions to migrate the factory floor to a demand-driven manufacturing model.”