Intrinsic Availability of a Critical Productive Equipment

The current context of the world economy represents a significant challenge for industries. The prevailing process of globalization, constant technological evolution, and increased market competitiveness are forcing companies to act and adapt. Continuous improvement actions are needed to reduce waste; increase productivity, quality, and delivery levels; and simultaneously reduce the costs associated with production processes. The main objective of this research was to increase the Intrinsic Availability of assembly line production equipment to achieve and guarantee a world-class goal of 90%. This work was developed in partnership with a company dedicated to manufacturing and assembling metallic structures for the aeronautic industry. The methodology applied in this research is based on TPM and Lean tools. Positive results were achieved since, at the end of the method used, it was possible to reach 91.80% Intrinsic Availability of the equipment, exceeding the objective of 90%, and an average OEE value of 66.7% compared to the initial 58.1%, associated with a 170.9% increase in MTBF and a 48.4% reduction in the total downtime of the machine, compared to the initial situation.