Title: Downtime analysis of a vegetable oil manufacturing company: a case study

Authors: Faria Aktar Tonny; Mahedi Islam Chayan; Ayesha Maliha; Md Doulotuzzaman Xames

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh ' Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh ' Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh ' Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh

Abstract: This research paper aims to boost overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) by identifying production line inefficiencies in automated vegetable oil production. Over 22 months, we analysed downtime data from five machines, revealing that 83.7% of failures occurred during filling, capping, and unscrambling. The filling machine caused 50.7% of downtime, primarily due to synching and worm adjustment issues. The capping machine had 21 breakdown types, with nine being common, and the unscrambler had 13 types, with seven common ones. Downtime resulted from setup-adjustment and machine failure issues. Recommendations include preventive maintenance like adjustment, lubrication, cleaning, inspection, and faster response to failures. Our research emphasises the importance of competent operation management, effective maintenance scheduling, and continuous improvement for enhanced OEE and achieving company objectives. It provides valuable insights for production professionals to enhance automated production systems and reduce costs, applicable to similar equipment and processes for improved manufacturing efficiency and loss reduction.

Keywords: case study; downtime; overall equipment effectiveness; OEE; productivity; root causes; total productive maintenance; TPM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2025.149939

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2025 Vol.46 No.3, pp.287 - 309

Received: 23 Apr 2023
Accepted: 07 May 2023
Published online: 19 Nov 2025 *

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