ABSTRACT
Waste — and the opportunity to eliminate it — can be identified through a variety of methods, such as mapping value streams or calculating overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Hercules, a Delaware-based manufacturer of specialty chemicals, tracks down areas for improvement by calculating asset utilization (AU). That’s a metric that tells the company the extent to which its manufacturing processes fall short of their capabilities. More importantly, calculation of AU tells Hercules where production losses are occurring, so managers know where to target improvements.
