In manufacturing, it’s tempting to assume that more machines mean more parts and higher throughput. When demand increases or bottlenecks appear, the instinct is to consider buying another machine to boost capacity. But how can you be sure a new machine will actually improve overall throughput?
Before signing off on a six-figure capital expense, it’s critical to understand how efficiently your existing machines are performing. Minitab’s newest offering, DataXchange, collects real-time utilization and performance data from your current equipment, revealing how much capacity you already have available.
Instead of asking, “Can we afford another machine?” you should be asking “Are we fully using the machines we already have?”
DataXchange continuously tracks machine run time, idle time, and downtime reasons across your entire shop. By visualizing this in easy-to-read dashboards, you can quickly see:
If a machine’s utilization is only 60–70%, adding another one won’t solve the problem—it will simply multiply inefficiencies.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) gives you a clear picture of whether production losses come from availability, performance, or quality. DataXchange calculates OEE automatically, highlighting the true root cause of throughput issues.
For example:
Armed with data from DataXchange, utilize Minitab Statistical Software to identify patterns and locate areas of improvement. Use Minitab Brainstorm to figure out issues and root causes of the problem(s).
Once you’ve identified an improvement opportunity, use Minitab Simul8 to you run “what-if” scenarios before implementation. This way you can see if reducing downtime or improving changeover efficiency will reap true rewards.
If you can’t identify a problem with a machine, use “what-if” analysis to model different operational scenarios like whether or not you achieve throughput gains from adding another shift vs. adding another machine.
Utilize DataXchange to continuously monitor current utilization of machines and OEE data, Harness the power of Minitab Connect to get live control charts of OEE to monitor changes and identify potential changes before they occur.
Manufacturers today face tighter margins, longer lead times, and tougher competition. The winning strategy isn’t always “buy more.” It’s “use what you have, better.”
With Minitab solutions, gain the visibility to make that call confidently, helping you uncover hidden capacity, reduce downtime, and make investments that truly move the needle.