The OEE formula is simple. Deciding the inputs is not.

One shift worked end to end — ISO 22400-2 first, then the same data on the internal variant, then the loss converted to rupees at a real machine-hour rate.

This is the arithmetic, worked end to end with numbers from an Indian machining floor. The formula is simple; the difficulty is entirely in deciding what goes into it, so each input is defined before it is used.

The ISO 22400-2 calculation comes first. The MachineWise variant follows, with the same shift data, so the difference between the two is visible rather than asserted.

Step 1 — establish the time base

QuantityThis exampleHow to determine yours
Shift length480 minActual scheduled shift, not nominal
Scheduled breaks45 minTea, lunch and any planned stoppage you do not intend to produce through
Planned production time435 minShift length less scheduled breaks. This is the ISO denominator for availability.
Unplanned stops94 minEverything that stopped production and was not planned
Actual production time341 minPlanned production time less unplanned stops

Be careful here: whether planned maintenance sits inside or outside planned production time is the single largest source of cross-plant OEE disagreement. Decide, write it down, and apply it consistently.

Step 2 — the three factors, ISO basis

Availability = actual production time ÷ planned production time = 341 ÷ 435 = 78.4%

Effectiveness = (produced quantity × ideal cycle time) ÷ actual production time. With 212 parts at an 88-second ideal cycle: (212 × 88) ÷ (341 × 60) = 18,656 ÷ 20,460 = 91.2%

Quality = good quantity ÷ produced quantity = 206 ÷ 212 = 97.2%

OEE = 0.784 × 0.912 × 0.972 = 69.5%

Step 3 — the same shift, MachineWise variant

Availability = machine on-time ÷ reporting time = 372 ÷ 435 = 85.5%

Performance = productive time ÷ machine on-time = 268 ÷ 372 = 72.0%

Quality = 206 ÷ 212 = 97.2%, identical to ISO

OEE = 0.855 × 0.720 × 0.972 = 59.9%

Availability is higher on the variant because the machine was powered for part of the time it was not producing — setup, for instance. Performance is much lower because a substantial share of powered time involved no cutting. The two figures disagree by nearly ten points and both are correct; they answer different questions.

Step 4 — convert the loss to money

Losses only get fixed when they have a rupee figure attached. Take the machine-hour rate your costing team already uses for quoting — not the electricity cost. At ₹850 per hour, the 94 minutes of unplanned stops in this shift cost roughly ₹1,330.

That is unremarkable until it is annualised. The same loss across 26 shifts a month is about ₹4.2 lakh a year on one machine. On a thirty-machine floor with a comparable loss profile, the figure approaches ₹1.2 crore annually — and the point of the exercise is not the total but that it is now large enough to justify a supervisor spending twenty minutes a week on a Pareto.

The downtime cost calculator does this arithmetic at your rates, and the OEE calculator runs both definitions above with your own shift numbers.

The four mistakes that make a calculation wrong

MISTAKE 01

Counting cycles as parts

A program producing four components per cycle makes output and performance wrong by exactly four, and it looks entirely plausible.

MISTAKE 02

Treating setup as downtime

A machine in setup is not broken. Conflating them produces a figure the shop floor will dispute, correctly.

MISTAKE 03

Using a stale ideal cycle time

The single most common cause of a meaningless Effectiveness figure. See ideal cycle time explained.

MISTAKE 04

Counting produced parts as good parts

The control counts cycles, not acceptable components. Quality then reads 100% and Performance is flattered.

Questions

Straight answers.

What is the OEE formula?
OEE = Availability × Performance × Quality. On the ISO 22400-2 basis: availability is actual production time over planned production time, effectiveness is produced quantity times ideal cycle time over actual production time, and quality is good quantity over produced quantity.
Should planned maintenance be inside or outside planned production time?
Either is defensible, but the choice moves OEE by many points and is the largest single source of cross-plant disagreement. Decide, document it, and apply it consistently.
Why do the ISO and MachineWise figures differ by so much?
Because they ask different questions. The variant counts powered time as available, so its availability is higher; it counts only productive time as performing, so its performance is lower. Both are correct for what they measure.
How do I convert an OEE loss into money?
Use the absorbed machine-hour rate your costing team uses for quoting, not the electricity cost. Multiply by the lost hours and annualise across your shift pattern.
What is the most common calculation error?
Counting cycles as parts. A program producing four components per cycle makes output and performance wrong by exactly four, and the resulting figure looks entirely reasonable.
Do I need an ideal cycle time to calculate OEE?
For the ISO effectiveness figure, yes. The MachineWise variant substitutes a time-in-cut measure precisely because a maintained standard is often unavailable on high-mix floors.
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