Hidden OEE treasure: Why quality is the biggest profit booster
OEE & Quality:
More efficiency. More output. More profit.
Your production is under intense pressure every day: ever shorter product cycles, more spontaneous delivery dates, and increasing quality demands characterize the business.
At the same time, cost pressures (e.g., skilled labor, energy) and sustainability requirements are constantly increasing. Production managers thus find themselves in the notorious “Bermuda Triangle” of quality, deadline pressure, and costs—sometimes conflicting requirements that nevertheless must be balanced on a daily basis.
Continuous improvement has become a matter of survival. But where exactly is the greatest leverage for improvement?
OEE as a key performance indicator:
This is where Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) comes into play. This key performance indicator has proven itself in practice for over 30 years and remains one of the most important KPIs in manufacturing for evaluating plant productivity, even in the age of Industry 4.0.
OEE shows at a glance how efficiently a plant is producing – based on availability, performance, and quality. This creates transparency: companies can immediately identify bottlenecks, downtime, and inefficient processes – and take data-based countermeasures.
OEE serves as the basis for continuous improvement – OEE data can be used to identify specific areas where hidden losses occur.
Quality – the decisive factor in OEE
Quality is not just a component of OEE—it is the critical point where efficiency, customer satisfaction, and profitability converge. In practice, poor quality has multiple negative effects:
- Rejects and rework not only cost time and materials—they also tie up capacity and distort the actual performance of your production.
- Undetected quality problems lead to defective products, customer complaints, or recalls—with a direct impact on brand image and delivery reliability.
- Quality defects extend inspection times, increase documentation efforts, and have a negative impact on OEE and compliance.
In other words, a single faulty component can devalue an entire shift’s output. Those who systematically measure quality and evaluate it in real time can intervene early, eliminate causes, and build process stability. And this is exactly where OEE comes in: it links quality losses directly to production output and availability, thus creating a complete picture of actual efficiency.
With Germanedge solutions, quality can be measured (e.g., via quality rates in the OEE context), traced (via documentation, workflows, and traceability), and improved in a targeted manner (through integrated action control and checklists).
The result: fewer errors, more stable processes, more satisfied customers—and higher OEE.
Bermuda Triangle. Bermuda Triangle. Bermuda Triangle. Bermuda Triangle. Bermuda Triangle. Bermuda Triangle. Bermuda Triangle. Bermuda Triangle.
Costs. Deadline pressure. Quality. Costs. Deadline pressure. Quality. Costs. Deadline pressure. Quality. Costs. Deadline pressure. Quality. Costs. Deadline pressure. Quality. Costs. Deadline pressure. Quality. Costs. Deadline pressure. Quality. Costs. Deadline pressure. Quality.
Why OEE pays off – the step towards ROI:
When it comes to investments or optimization projects, OEE provides the business case right away.
This is because the key figure allows the benefits of planned measures to be quantified in hard numbers—e.g., through reduced downtime costs, less scrap, lower material consumption, or improved plant utilization.
Even a small increase in OEE can have a big impact: Experience shows that a 5% increase in efficiency means ~3% more output – an improvement that often pays for itself in less than 1.5 years.
Quality is the silent winner here: reducing scrap and minimizing rework not only increases OEE, but also strengthens customer confidence.
In short: OEE + quality = transparency, impact, and economic advantage.
Turn OEE into ROI – discover the hidden profits in your production!
The Germanedge ROI Calculator
This is exactly where our ROI calculator comes in. This tool translates your individual OEE data into concrete figures: What financial advantage does increasing your plant availability by 5% bring? How quickly does a 2% improvement in quality pay off in dollars and cents? The ROI calculator provides the answers. This allows you to see at a glance what potential has remained hidden in your production to date.
We have prepared a sample calculation for you, in which you can see the benefits and improvements in the figures at a glance:
The benefits of the ROI calculator at a glance:
- Customized ROI analysis: You enter a few key figures from your production—e.g., current OEE values, planned optimizations, or investment costs—and immediately receive a clear calculation of the expected return on investment.
- Clear decision-making aid: You can see in black and white the potential for increasing the efficiency of your production. This gives you a sound basis for investment decisions and prioritizing improvement projects.
- Personal expert contact: Instead of an anonymous download, you receive the ROI calculator exclusively upon request. Michael Stöger, PreSales expert for OEE at Germanedge, will personally provide you with the tool. Upon request, Michael will explain your results in a short conversation and answer questions – in a practical and non-binding manner. So you not only get numbers, but also expert assessment for your situation.
Calculate your potential – live and with an expert at your side!
Book an appointment for your personal ROI workshop with our expert Michael Stöger!
Your data, our calculator – get answers right away. Don’t miss the chance to visualize your production potential and uncover concrete profits.
Get in touch!
Would you like to know more about our solutions? Then please write us using the contact form. My colleagues and I look forward to exchanging ideas with you.
Dominik Weggler
Head of Sales Germanedge