Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) has long been the gold standard for measuring operational efficiency in manufacturing. It reflects how productively machines and equipment are used by combining availability, performance, and quality into one value.
However, OEE captures only a segment of a plant’s real potential. It measures how efficiently a machine performs during planned production time, but not how fully it is utilized overall—or how external factors influence performance.
That’s where complementary KPIs come in: TEEP, OAE, and OLE. Together they provide a complete view of efficiency, capacity, and productivity.
TEEP expands OEE by including unplanned time. While OEE measures only planned production, TEEP considers the entire calendar—24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Formula:TEEP = OEE × (Planned Time ÷ Calendar Time)
Example:
A factory with an OEE of 85% running only 16 out of 24 hours per day achieves:TEEP = 0.85 × (16 ÷ 24) = 0.57 → 57%
This means the machine is effectively utilized only 57% of total available time.
Why it matters:
TEEP reveals unused capacity. A company with high OEE but low TEEP has no efficiency issue—it has a capacity utilization problem. This insight is key for investment planning and shift optimization.
OAE broadens the focus from individual machines to the entire production system. While OEE ends at machine level, OAE includes material flow, logistics, changeovers, energy usage, and data losses between assets.
Simplified:OAE = OEE – organizational losses outside the machine.
Example:
A line might achieve 90% OEE, but delayed material deliveries or overloaded buffers reduce real productive output. OAE closes this gap and measures the performance of all assets—machines, materials, and infrastructure.
Why it matters:
OAE serves management and plant leadership by quantifying system-level efficiency and aligning operational improvements with business objectives.
Machines don’t operate alone. OLE introduces the human factor—how effectively people perform their work.
It uses the same three dimensions as OEE: availability, performance, and quality—applied to labor.
Formula:OLE = Availability × Performance × Quality
Example:
Availability (attendance): 95%
Performance (work speed): 90%
Quality (error-free work): 98%OLE = 0.95 × 0.90 × 0.98 = 0.84 → 84%
Why it matters:
OLE highlights how training, experience, communication, and motivation affect productivity. In modern smart factories, where humans and machines operate in sync, OLE is critical for operational excellence.
| KPI | Scope | Focus | Key Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| OEE | Machine / Line | Efficiency during planned time | How well does the machine run? |
| TEEP | Plant | Utilization of total calendar time | How fully is capacity used? |
| OAE | Factory / Network | Systemic losses and flows | How efficient is the production system? |
| OLE | Workforce | Human performance | How effectively does the team work? |
Practical hierarchy:
OEE → operational machine analysis
TEEP → capacity and shift utilization
OAE → plant-level performance
OLE → workforce optimization
Combined, these metrics deliver a 360° view of performance and reveal root causes behind inefficiency.
Historically, OEE, TEEP, OAE, and OLE were tracked separately. Cloud-based MES solutions like SYMESTIC now merge them into one unified KPI system.
A modern MES consolidates:
Machine and process data → OEE & TEEP
Material and logistics data → OAE
Labor and shift data → OLE
This creates a single source of truth for both operational and strategic decisions—from the shop floor to management dashboards.
OEE remains the cornerstone of operational efficiency. Yet only by combining it with TEEP, OAE, and OLE can manufacturers see the full picture:
OEE shows how efficiently machines perform.
TEEP shows how fully capacity is used.
OAE shows how effectively the production system functions.
OLE shows how people contribute to total performance.
Together, they form a comprehensive framework for measuring, comparing, and improving productivity in modern manufacturing.