Step 4:- Critical Assessment

The aim is to assess the equipment in the production process and to agree the relative criticality of
each item. Undertaking the Critical Assessment will enable the team to priorities the equipment for
“Conditional Appraisal, Refurbishment, Future Asset Care and Improvement of those elements
likely to have an effect on the OEE.

The approach is to review each process so that all the team understands how each process/item of
equipment actually works, the controls in place, the material being processed at each process step
and the operating methods for each process step.

It is important that the team is a cross functional team consisting of operators, engineers and
technical and as a team they can develop the understanding as well as identify the most critical
parts of the process.

So what are the important components and elements of the process, equipment or machine.
Typically this can be;
• Electrics
• Hydraulics
• Pneumatics,
• Cooling Systems
• Control Systems
Each of these elements are assessed in terms of the following criteria

Safety:- If this component was in poor condition or failed, what would be the impact on safety due
to an increased risk of injury?

Availability:- If the component was in a poor condition or failed, what would be the impact on the
availability of the equipment, including set up and the adjustment of the equipment.

Performance:- What impact does this component have on the cycle time or processing capacity of
the equipment when it is available to run.

Quality:- If the component was in a poor condition or failed, what impact would it have on product
quality at start-up and during normal production.

Reliability:- What impact does the frequency with which this component fails have on the overall
criticality of the equipment?

Maintainability:- What impact does the component have on the ease of maintaining or repairing
the equipment?

Environmental:- If the component was in a poor condition or failed, what would be the impact on
the environment due to emissions, noise, fluid spills, dust, dirt, etc?

Cost:- If the component was in a poor condition or failed, what would be the impact on the total
cost, including repair and lost production?

Using a the following scoring for each of the elements above:

No Impact = 1
Some Impact = 2
Significant Impact = 3

The above information is placed into a matrix (as shown below)

Page 1 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

Critical Assessment Matrix:-
Note to help define the elements and components of any equipment, follow this basic flow process
to breakdown the equipment.

Description of machine

List all Sub assemblies

of the machine

List all elements of the

machine

Rank each element

against S,A,P,Q,R,M,E,C

1 = No Impact, 2 = Some Impact, 3 = Significant Impact

Equipment Description (Line C Filler) example only S A P Q R M E C Total

In-feed Conveyor 1 3 3 1 2 1 1 2 14

Filling Nozzles 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 2 16

Pressurised tank 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 2 20

Lift and Lower mechanism 1 3 3 1 3 1 1 3 16

Filling control valves 1 3 3 1 3 2 2 3 18

Main Control Panel HMI 1 3 3 1 3 1 1 3 16

PLC 1 3 3 1 3 2 1 3 17

Control Circuit and sensors 3 3 3 1 3 3 1 2 19

The critical assessment matrix provides the basis for understanding that understanding not just the
most critical components but also those that contribute to specific loss. It also provides the agreed
priorities based on the ranking totals.

(S) Safety:-
(A) Availability:-
(P) Performance:-
(Q) Quality:-
(R) Reliability:-
(M) Maintainability:-
(E) Environmental:-
(C) Cost:-

Page 2 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

Step 5: Condition Appraisal
The objective in this step is to utilise the critical assessment data relating to the elements and
components in order to assess the condition of the equipment and from this identify the appropriate
programme necessary to restore the equipment to its maximum effectiveness.

This is where the team draw up a sheet for each item of equipment and subdivide the equipment
up so that each section can be assesses for condition. Under each section of the equipment you
assess the equipment and components as:-
Satisfactory
Broken Down
Needs Attention Now
Needs Attention Later

An example of the sheet can be found below.

Needs Needs
Filler Line C Condition Appraisal Not Broken
Satisfactory Attention Attention
(example only) Applicable Down
Now Later

Electrical System

Power Supply to filler x

Control Panel x

Controls x

Motors x

Trunking x

Sensors x

Mechanical

Lift /Lower cylinder x

Slat Conveyor x

Nozzles x

Flow valves x

Pressurised Tank x

Page 3 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

Step 7:- Asset Care (Autonomous Maintenance)
Once the refurbishment of an item of equipment has been carried out, it is now necessary to
develop an Asset Care Programme for the equipment to ensure the machine conditions are
maintained.

Page 4 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

Blank Critical Assessment Matrix

EQUIPMENT CRITICAL ASSESSMENT MATRIX 1 = No Impact, 2 = Some Impact,

3 = Significant Impact
Equipment Description (_________________________) S A P Q R M E C Total

(S) Safety:-
(A) Availability:-
(P) Performance:-
(Q) Quality:-
(R) Reliability:-
(M) Maintainability:-
(E) Environmental:-
(C) Cost:-

Page 5 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

Line C (Operator Asset Care)

EQUIPMENT CRITICAL ASSESSMENT MATRIX 1 = No Impact, 2 = Some Impact,

3 = Significant Impact
Equipment Description (_________________________) S A P Q R M E C Total

(S) Safety:-
(A) Availability:-
(P) Performance:-
(Q) Quality:-
(R) Reliability:-
(M) Maintainability:-
(E) Environmental:-
(C) Cost:-

Page 6 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

 EQUIPMENT CRITICAL ASSESSMENT MATRIX 1 = No Impact, 2 = Some Impact,
3 = Significant Impact
Equipment Description (_________________________) S A P Q R M E C Total

(S) Safety:-
(A) Availability:-
(P) Performance:-
(Q) Quality:-
(R) Reliability:-
(M) Maintainability:-
(E) Environmental:-
(C) Cost:-

Page 7 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

 EQUIPMENT CRITICAL ASSESSMENT MATRIX 1 = No Impact, 2 = Some Impact,
3 = Significant Impact
Equipment Description (_________________________) S A P Q R M E C Total

(S) Safety:-
(A) Availability:-
(P) Performance:-
(Q) Quality:-
(R) Reliability:-
(M) Maintainability:-
(E) Environmental:-
(C) Cost:-

Page 8 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

 EQUIPMENT CRITICAL ASSESSMENT MATRIX 1 = No Impact, 2 = Some Impact,
3 = Significant Impact
Equipment Description (_________________________) S A P Q R M E C Total

(S) Safety:-
(A) Availability:-
(P) Performance:-
(Q) Quality:-
(R) Reliability:-
(M) Maintainability:-
(E) Environmental:-
(C) Cost:-

Page 9 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

 EQUIPMENT CRITICAL ASSESSMENT MATRIX 1 = No Impact, 2 = Some Impact,
3 = Significant Impact
Equipment Description (_________________________) S A P Q R M E C Total

(S) Safety:-
(A) Availability:-
(P) Performance:-
(Q) Quality:-
(R) Reliability:-
(M) Maintainability:-
(E) Environmental:-
(C) Cost:-

Page 10 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

 EQUIPMENT CRITICAL ASSESSMENT MATRIX 1 = No Impact, 2 = Some Impact,
3 = Significant Impact
Equipment Description (_________________________) S A P Q R M E C Total

(S) Safety:-
(A) Availability:-
(P) Performance:-
(Q) Quality:-
(R) Reliability:-
(M) Maintainability:-
(E) Environmental:-
(C) Cost:-

Page 11 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015

For each sub assembly/element of the equipment, evaluate against the following:

Safety:- If this component was in poor condition or failed, what would be the impact on safety due
to an increased risk of injury?

Availability:- If the component was in a poor condition or failed, what would be the impact on the
availability of the equipment, including set up and the adjustment of the equipment.

Performance:- What impact does this component have on the cycle time or processing capacity of
the equipment when it is available to run.

Quality:- If the component was in a poor condition or failed, what impact would it have on product
quality at start-up and during normal production.

Reliability:- What impact does the frequency with which this component fails have on the overall
criticality of the equipment?

Maintainability:- What impact does the component have on the ease of maintaining or repairing
the equipment?

Environmental:- If the component was in a poor condition or failed, what would be the impact on
the environment due to emissions, noise, fluid spills, dust, dirt, etc?

Cost:- If the component was in a poor condition or failed, what would be the impact on the total
cost, including repair and lost production?

Using a the following scoring for each of the elements above:

No Impact = 1
Some Impact = 2
Significant Impact = 3

Page 12 of 12 D R Mclaren Oct 2015