Capacity Utilization in Manufacturing: Adding a Second Shift vs. Buying Another Machine
Compare a second shift with another machine: define capacity utilization, examine production losses, and prepare the staffing, maintenance and capital questions.
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Questions to write down before keeping a machine or replacing it.
Guides in this section:Capacity Utilization in Manufacturing: Adding a Second Shift vs. Buying Another Machine; Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Records Required Before an Automation CapEx Request; PLC Retrofit vs New Machine: Legacy Control System Upgrade and Capital Expenditure Approval; Questions that differ when you retrofit or replace a station.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Records Required Before an Automation CapEx Request
Collect overall equipment effectiveness records for availability, performance, and quality, log the six big losses, and locate the packaging line bottleneck before an automation CapEx request.
PLC Retrofit vs New Machine: Legacy Control System Upgrade and Capital Expenditure Approval
Evaluate a legacy control system upgrade vs new packaging machine for capital expenditure approval: mechanical runout gates, PLC retrofit vs new machine 30%–45% math, and UL 508A safety rules.
Questions that differ when you retrofit or replace a station
Interface, validation and downtime, written once for keeping a machine and once for replacing it.