Improving OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) by eliminating the six big losses is the focus of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance). Just as most industrial machinery is only 13% to 40% effective prior to TPM implementation, the same is true for personal computers running Microsoft Windows.

The six big losses of TPM are, with some examples:

1) Unplanned breakdowns = overheating, crashes, electrical failures, etc.
2) Machine set up, changeover = tool changes between models
3) Idling and minor stops = jammed conveyor belts
4) Reduced speed = deterioration, or willful reduction of speed to be "safe"
5) Defects and scrap = damage
6) Start up and yield losses = "warming up" machines or getting settings just right

The first two are categorized as downtime losses, the second two as speed losses, and the third two as quality losses. These fit perfectly to the reduced OEE of personal computers.

1) Unplanned breakdowns = crashing applications
2) Machine set up = time it takes to run or switch between applications
3) Idling and minor stops = Windows Update reminder
4) Reduced speed = fragmented files
5) Defects = blue screen of death
6) Start up and yield loss = waiting while the machine boots up

Taking the example of 3 in bold, above, I lost some work on Friday thanks to Microsoft Windows' kind reminder to restart after it had installed some updates. The reminder looks like this:

The best advice is to comply immediately, save your work and restart. I didn't and kept putting off the reminder, finishing things up on a busy day. A question took me away from my laptop for five minutes, and I returned to find a start up screen welcoming me.

Well, no more. Life Hacker teaches how to Get rid of Windows Update restart nag.

And good riddance.

This reminds me that there was a question posted some time ago on Autonomous Maintenance for the office. We'll get to that one soon.