What is Equipment Downtime?
Equipment downtime is very essential in both manufacturing and operations because it directly refers to any amount of time where the equipment is idle or stopped. Downtime occurs either from a sudden part failure or through scheduled maintenance activities, such as PPMs. Planned downtime may occur with scheduled maintenance and PPM, but unplanned downtime can be quite costly and inconvenient. The majority contributing causes are faulty equipment, poor maintenance, and the absence of the trained workforce to operate the equipment effectively.
Types of Downtime Equipment
Planned Downtime:
If production is stopped intentionally to allow for preventive maintenance, the manufacturing does not leave the outage. Planned downtime is usually scheduled and expected to provide for regular servicing of machines so that there are fewer odds of failure. Factored into the manufacturing plan, it causes minimal impact on the productivity level.
Unplanned Downtime:
This type of downtime happens when equipment breaks down unexpectedly often due to equipment failure, malfunctions or some other unexpected cause. It is much more shocking as it is a surprise, and usually production stops abruptly. Such shock stops can result in losses due to delay, increased inefficiency in operations, and financial losses.
Why Equipment Downtime Is a Significant Source of Loss
One of the major sources of loss in manufacturing and other industrial operations is due to downtime. When machines go down, a virtual standstill takes place in the entire production process. Lost productivity, missed deadlines, and reduced throughput are some of the natural outcomes of such an event. A breakdown that results through some unforeseen mechanism will cause a stoppage in the production flow, and this can be very costly in terms of repair labor or in the extra labor over time that it takes to recover lost time.
Beyond these direct costs, the expense of downtime also spills into much higher losses indirectly. These include resources, such as raw materials or energy, not being put to use during downtime and the depreciation of equipment when these are idle. Sometimes, downtime may even damage other running equipment that incurs additional costs.
Companies that do not track downtime well usually are unaware of the cost of downtime. Most businesses do not calculate the total cost of lost time, including secondary impacts like reduced product quality, missing delivery deadlines, or supply chain disruptions. This usually leads to missed improvements and increased operational inefficiency.
How to Track Equipment Downtime
More than merely keeping track of when equipment stops working, tracking downtime requires precision recording of the detailed and accurate data that identifies the root causes of and impacts of the downtime.
Traditional methods, including manual logging of downtime, are often inaccurate and incomplete. Typically, the people on the shop floor can be said to provide the best visibility into the status of the machines, while other stakeholders often do not have access to this information. Luckily, with asset management and maintenance software, such as Faciliteasy, businesses can automate tracking downtime, thereby having a centralized platform that collects real-time data about equipment performance.
Data points for Calculating Downtime
Failure reasons, in fact, and proper time logging are essential for good downtime management. The values recorded should not only show the amount of time a machine spends idle but must also capture how or why it was idle; this may be because of a mechanical failure, it has to have its tooling changed, or it lacks skilled operators. From here, it can lead businesses into categorizing causes for such downtimes and thus be informed on what factors most cause inefficiency in using equipment.
A quality tracking system should, therefore, track also the indirect losses that are incurred in case downtime. These include the idle time, which occurs either due to waiting for spare parts or for lacking proper maintenance procedures. The fact that most of the inefficiency associated with equipment arises from downtime as well as secondary costs makes it imperative for businesses to acquire complete information on the performance of their equipments as a basis of making data-driven decisions aimed at reducing these inefficiencies.
What are the Advantages of Tracking Equipment Downtime?
Thus, tracking downtime is highly significant for identifying causes that result in inefficiency and for taking corrective actions that can form part of a strategy. Organizations can know where the most frequent and costly downtime events are occurring by using software that tracks the activities in this respect and ensure proper maintenance efforts are made on those critical areas.
Downtime tracking, therefore, ensures that preventive maintenance activities are placed in priority. Thus, the equipment will be serviced before breakdown. Based on the analysis of the downtime data, businesses will know which equipment has a tendency to fail frequently and subsequently apply maintenance needs on it in advance to minimize unplanned downtime.
It also identifies patterns in downtime for businesses, enabling them to create and implement targeted strategies to reduce the amount of machine failure and increase uptime. The resulting resource is greater utility on the equipment, better production output, and higher returns on investment.
Better Resource Allocation:
The detailed downtime report facilitates justifications of maintenance resource allocation regarding labor, spare parts, and time. Having identified critical areas requiring immediate attention, a company can shape its maintenance strategy to allow for better use of its resources in those areas with the maximum impact.
Cost Savings:
Another means by which downtime tracking could relate to cost savings is through unnecessary overtime reduction, optimum usage of maintenance personnel, and avoidance of high repair costs. Generally, businesses minimize costs related to idle equipment and lost production by reducing the frequency and duration of downtime events.
Enhanced Asset Health:
Increased tracking goes directly to ensuring timely repairs and part replacements, therefore boosting asset health. An asset that is well-maintained is reliable, functions better, and lasts longer-this directly impacts the bottom line.
Track Downtime for Optimal Equipment Performance
And at Faciliteasy, we believe in
real-time monitoring and data-driven insights when it comes to the management of equipment downtime. In fact, our Computerized Maintenance Management System allows full tracking of downtime, detailed reporting, and actionable insights. Essentially, our facility can help organizations improve equipment reliability, reduce unplanned downtime, and make more informed decisions on asset management and maintenance.
With effective tracking of equipment downtime, businesses will be able to achieve even higher uptimes, improved operational efficiency, and better asset health. Our software can easily integrate with workflows that already exist, offering an easy-to-use interface and the robust reporting tools that
help businesses track and manage equipment more effectively.
Business operations are inevitable downtime, but it can be reduced by proper tools and process arrangements. Downtime tracking software can be introduced to facilitate better maintenance practices and thereby extend asset life toward improved business outcomes.