Improving the waste to energy supply chain through increased overall equipment effectiveness

Purpose The purpose of this study was to improve the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of the production process of the shredder operation of ABC company, an industrial waste management company which supplies pre-processed industrial waste as alternative fuel to a cement plant. Design/methodology/approach This case study investigated all possible availability and performance losses that caused the shredder system’s OEE and various problem-solving techniques, such as root cause analysis and Pareto analysis, were used to find the root cause of the reduced OEE. Findings After analysing this case study, three significant loss factors were identified from all the availability and performance losses, which caused the shredder system’s OEE losses. Practical solutions were found for the effect of those loss factors to improve the machine’s OEE and productivity. Research limitations/implications This case study has been concentrated on only analysing of losses and improvement of OEE in the production process and not about cost analysis between loss and improvements. Originality/value This paper shows how to improve the OEE of a production process through various problem-solving techniques by identifying its losses and how to achieve the best solutions for those losses in a practical manner.