Facilitator guide
Case objectives, demonstration plans, debriefs, common mistakes and application checks across all 81 workplace cases and method lessons.
Download Facilitator guide PDF · 166 pages · 65.1 MBGive the press area a clear reset
Preparation readiness + TPM/OEE. Follow the visual, practise a decision, then check your thinking.
Fictional teaching examples and AI-generated illustrations. Proposed changes and goals are not achieved results. Use the written instructions and check local conditions before applying a method.
Separate searching from a ready change kit
The existing measure is preparation search: ten observations, 9-minute median, 4-minute goal. Make required die-change equipment and identities visible before the authorized handover. Record missing or unverified items and assign a response. The organization trial does not change press settings or prove a faster technical changeover. Keep the boundary between external preparation and work requiring a controlled machine state explicit.
Follow the method
- Confirm next job + identity
- Stage the required items
- Check ready/hold status
- Resolve missing items
- Approved handover
Read the example carefully
Retained preparation-search sample: 10 observations, median 9 minutes; proposed goal 4 minutes. It measures approved-list opening to verified-item readiness in the authorized staging area.
Keep required checks, die identity and authorized handling complete. Search time is separate from technical changeover, cycle time and equipment performance.
Try it before revealing the answer
Does meeting the 4-minute search goal prove a 4-minute changeover?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
No. Search is only one component; technical changeover has a different start/finish and controls.
Read equipment losses without hiding them
OEE combines availability, performance and quality within a declared boundary. In the new teaching exercise, A=360/450, P=(600 x 0.5)/360 and Q=570/600; OEE=63.33%. This is not the press case's measured OEE. Inspect the loss components before choosing a response. A high OEE alone does not prove customer flow, safety or equipment health, and changing the denominator does not remove a loss.
Follow the method
- Planned production time
- Availability losses
- Performance losses
- Quality losses
- Choose response + verify
Read the example carefully
New fictional OEE exercise: 450 planned production minutes, 360 running minutes, ideal cycle 0.5 minutes/unit, 600 total units and 570 first-pass good units.
Availability 360 / 450 = 80%; performance (600 × 0.5) / 360 = 83.33%; quality 570 / 600 = 95%; OEE = 63.33% (rounded).
Equivalent-time waterfall: 450 → 360 → 300 → 285 minutes. Losses: 90 downtime, 60 speed and 15 quality minutes. These are time equivalents, not three independent stopwatch readings.
Try it before revealing the answer
If the team removes planned downtime from the denominator after the event, is that improvement?
Reveal the answer and reasoning
No. Definitions must remain consistent; investigate the underlying loss and report boundary changes transparently.
Sources and further reading
- Lean Enterprise Institute — Total Productive Maintenance ↗
TPM engages operators, maintenance, engineering and management in preventing equipment losses across the equipment life cycle; routine care supports reliable operation.
- NIST — Asset Condition Management: A Framework for Smart, Health-Ready Manufacturing Systems ↗
Asset-condition management assesses current and future equipment health and connects that knowledge to operations. A photograph alone cannot establish reliability or predict remaining useful life.
- Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership — OEE Implementation Guide ↗
OEE multiplies availability, performance and quality. Define planned production time, ideal cycle time, downtime and first-pass good output consistently before calculating or comparing results.
- NIST — Research Suggests Significant Benefits to Investing in Advanced Machinery Maintenance ↗
Reactive maintenance follows breakdown; preventive maintenance is scheduled by time or cycles; predictive maintenance uses observations and data. These approaches are distinct and can complement one another.
- ASQ — Quality Glossary: Overall Equipment Effectiveness ↗
ASQ defines OEE as the product of operational availability, performance efficiency and first-pass yield during scheduled operation. Reworked units are not first-pass good output.
Take the lesson into your team.
Read the lessons online or use these PDFs to prepare, practise and review with your team. No sign-in needed.
Learner workbook
Printable case worksheets, blank observation records and five calculation exercises; answers are separate.
Download Learner workbook PDF · 169 pages · 10.7 MBAnswer key and coaching notes
Reasoned sample responses, worked calculations and coaching guidance; fictional examples are clearly labelled.
Download Answer key and coaching notes PDF · 105 pages · 8.5 MBMethod and application reference
The native method mechanisms and worked applications for all 68 detailed lessons, in a separate bookmarked portrait reference.
Download Method and application reference PDF · 141 pages · 10.2 MBIllustrated systems atlas
Five illustrated system chapters: 15 Flare concept maps and 26 original workplace teaching cards, with links to all 81 supporting cases and method lessons.
Download Illustrated systems atlas PDF · 69 pages · 55.8 MBUse the next tool for the next question.
- CNC basic care
- SMED setup preparation
- Daily management of losses
A tool room ready for the next job
Operator observations and qualified maintenance response supply evidence about an equipment loss.
Explore the connected method →A clearer start for every cut order
If changeover is a significant loss, SMED examines approved preparation and controlled stopped-equipment work.
Explore the connected method →