PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND LOSS ANALYSIS OF A SEMI-AUTOMATIC HOT PRESS MACHINE USING OVERALL EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN THE FIBERBOARD INDUSTRY

Abstract

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is an important performance measurement tool for identifying equipment-related losses and evaluating manufacturing productivity through Availability, Performance, and Quality. This study evaluates the operational effectiveness of a semi-automatic hot press machine used in the lamination sector of Al-Noor MDF, Shahpurjahania, Pakistan. A case study approach was adopted using quantitative production and downtime records supported by direct observation, time and motion analysis, and discussions with operators and maintenance personnel. Data were collected over a 60-day study period and analyzed using OEE, Pareto analysis, and the Six Big Losses framework. The results indicate that the machine produced 23,765 boards against an ideal production capacity of 72,000 boards, while 300 boards were classified as rejected/B-grade. The calculated Availability, Performance, and Quality were 40.08%, 70.17%, and 98.74%, respectively, resulting in an overall OEE of 27.79%. Pareto analysis identified production stoppages (45.42%), preventive maintenance (18.35%), and unavailability of labor (14.13%) as the major downtime contributors, collectively accounting for 77.90% of the identified causes. The Six Big Losses analysis recorded 49,670 minutes of classified losses, with planned stops representing the largest contribution (39.94%), followed by production rejects (23.49%) and startup rejects (17.32%). Comparison with world-class benchmarks revealed substantial gaps in Availability (49.92 percentage points), Performance (24.83 percentage points), and overall OEE (57.21 percentage points), while Quality was close to the benchmark with a gap of only 0.26 percentage points. The findings demonstrate that machine availability and operating performance are the primary areas requiring improvement. The study recommends strengthening preventive maintenance, reducing production stoppages, improving labor availability and operator practices, optimizing setup activities, and applying continuous improvement techniques to enhance the OEE of the hot press machine.