OEE of a black currant picking machine

OK, OEE for dummies (most likely the mayority of the readers of this blog but certainly NOT Odd and Jason). OEE is a formula that explains for consultants and their customers how efficient machinery is actually used. It is calculated by multiplying rate, quality and availability and the outcome is a percentage. The higher the OEE (100 pct is max) the lower the production costs are and the higher the profit consequently is.

Last Monday, we were invited for a lunch to a (hobby) farmer via a couple that we met at our first wwoofing experience. They were there to support the farmer with harvesting black currants. It had rained for some days and no berries (let's call them that for now) had been picked yet but next day would be D-day. Generous as we are, because we have time available and because we had some deja vu feelings from Orsa, we offered our support. The next day, we would start at 09:30. When we arrived at 11:00 (lets blame the wee worker) no berries had been picked yet. Before we had even started, OEE had decreased by 15 pct due to the 90 minutes downtime. When the machine had finally been started, some maintenance needed to be done as well. The machine was from 1973 so really old. While waiting, I tried to explain the OEE, NVA and waste concept to my fellow pickers. 'oh, you are such a type' was one of the comments. I tried again by telling them that if they would listen to me, they would need 25 pct less pickers next year, but no, the tone for the day was set. It was going to be a long day...

When we finally got started, the farmer was not satisfied with the quality of the berries as the machine was not shaking hard enough to also loosen the top berries. Again some machine adjustments and 4 pickers waiting. The final conclusion to also harvest the top berries was to put the shakers higher, negatively affecting rate (read, less shaking). Pavel and Svata would never had accepted such a solution! It also resulted in more leaves in the baskets, lowering the quality again. Catch-22? Anyway, picking had started and we had lots of fun. Although being doubtful about the quality, the farmer was also enjoying himself. Some more downtime during the day, usually the result of waiting for new boxes (supply chain was hampered by the driver of the tractot being focused more on the dog than on supplying crates) and some more machine adjustements. Lunch was great and coffee delicious.

By the end of the day, we had picked over 1000 kilos of berries. I estimate OEE to be as low as 30 pct though. Just imagine if we would have doubled OEE.... how many berries could we have picked and how many more liters delicious saft the farmer could have made? Satisfaction and happiness were skyhigh though. It felt wonderful to lend a helping hand to a kind farmer and his wife who really appreciated our support. The fine cookies and saft we got was almost as good as the warm smiles and hugs. We will be enjoyong the saft for quite some time but the memory will stay even longer. Kristina, when you are down here in NZ, let me suggest how we pick berries in Orsa this season!