Increasing OEE with technical audits

Questioning the status quo is worth it – even if machines are supposedly functioning perfectly. Syntegon worked with a German manufacturer of liquid pharmaceuticals to determine improvements with the help of a highly successful technical audit.

Where machine after machine is lined up, bottlenecks and coordination problems can occur from time to time. A wide variety of factors can prevent packaging materials from moving smoothly through production lines. Manufacturing companies and patients are at a disadvantage here, as stagnating processes lead to reduced market supply of vital medicines.

Detailed technical audits of processes and machine functions help to identify weaknesses, develop countermeasures, and implement them promptly. The goal: higher overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and output.

An interdisciplinary team from Syntegon examines the machines on site. The result consists of data-based recommendations to target both easy-to-solve and more challenging issues. Solutions include determining optimal setup parameters, technical retrofits, and operator training.

In this case, the experts identified bottlenecks on the filling machine, as well as undesirable tilts and rotations of the primary packaging. The control software of many machines included functions that were not needed during operation but occasionally led to error messages – another reason to make program changes to the respective systems.

Thanks to the technical audit, the pharmaceutical manufacturer significantly exceeded its own ambitions: the company increased its output by an impressive ten percent on the three lines that were already running well. The successful collaboration with Syntegon has become “best practice” within the company, which would also like to standardize close agreements with its equipment suppliers outside Germany.

 Would you also like to increase the performance of your systems? Our service experts are happy to help you.