Overall material usage effectiveness (OME): a structured indicator to measure the effective material usage within manufacturing processes

A rational use of production resources has been catalysing the attention of researchers and practitioners for several years. A number of indicators have been proposed to assess the effective and efficient use of the various production factors. A widely known example of these metrics is the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which applies to machines and equipment. This paper proposes a novel methodology that seizes upon OEE’s straight forward and easy-to-use structure to address the problem of measuring the effective use of materials within a factory. An inclusive structure of material loss and a methodology to calculate a novel performance indicator called overall material usage effectiveness (OME) is given. The proposed set of KPIs not only permits the comprehension of material-related issues but also the identification of viable countermeasures. A real-life application to demonstrate the practical usefulness of the methodology and illustrate the capability of its KPIs is described.