Asset maintenance is an inherently challenging component of operational management. Effective asset maintenance and management requires a great deal of planning, organization, and documentation. In order to succeed, an asset maintenance program must also include continuous monitoring, evaluation, and data-driven decision-making. This is why asset management key performance indicators (KPIs) are so important.
Why asset maintenance KPIs are important
Asset maintenance KPIs can provide valuable insights into how well your equipment is running, how efficient your maintenance team is when performing repairs, how much you’re spending to keep your critical assets in full working condition, and much more.
These insights are vital for maintenance teams that must overcome an array of daily challenges. It falls upon maintenance personnel to ensure that equipment is working properly, that safety regulations are adhered to, that repair procedures are followed, that repair costs are kept at a minimum, and much more.
In addition, maintenance teams must provide care for increasingly sophisticated equipment while navigating rapidly advancing organizational technology, ever-evolving compliance requirements, and routinely high work volume. KPIs are essential not just for navigating all of these challenges, but for helping to reduce their potentially negative impact on daily operations. KPIs can be used to identify areas of operation that can be refined, improved, or overhauled altogether in favor of more effective, efficient, and cost-conscious strategies. Below, we’ll spotlight 8 commonly used asset maintenance metrics and explain the unique value of each KPI.
8 important asset maintenance KPIs
One of your maintenance department’s most important functions is to track and measure its own performance as well as the performance of the assets for which it is responsible. KPIs help establish frameworks and formulas for managing these responsibilities
1. Mean Time Between Failures
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) is a measure of the average time that elapses between asset failures. The purpose of this KPI is to help you better understand the reliability of your assets.
What it tells maintenance teams
MTBF tells your maintenance team how long, on average, your equipment runs before experiencing a failure event. A higher MTBF indicates greater equipment reliability, which may point to a strong overall maintenance program. A lower MTBF is typically an indication that equipment is failing too frequently and that improvements are needed.
Formula
- MTBF = Total Operational Time / Total Number of Failures
- For example, if a piece of manufacturing equipment is operational for 500 hours and fails 5 times
- 500 hours/5 failures = 100 hours
- MTBF = 100 hours
Insights
A consistently low MTBF is generally an indicator that your equipment is not reliable. This outcome could lend itself to a few possible conclusions. The frequency of failure events may suggest that proactive maintenance and preventive upkeep are necessary. Alternatively, frequent failures could also be an indication that the asset in question is nearing the end of its useful life and that replacement could soon be needed.
2. Mean Time to Repair
Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) is a calculation of the average time required to restore a failed asset to full working order. The purpose of this KPI is to provide insight into the effectiveness and efficiency of your maintenance processes. It can also provide insight into the health and condition of your equipment.
What it tells maintenance teams
MTTR tells your maintenance team how many hours typically pass between equipment failures and successful repairs. This measure offers insight into both your team’s response times and the repair time required for servicing a given asset. A lower MTTR indicates faster response and repair times, whereas a higher MTTR indicates slower response and repair times.
Formula
- MTTR=Total repair time / Total number of repairs
- For example, if a work vehicle undergoes 5 repairs with a total downtime of 20 hours
- 20 hours / 5 repairs = 4 hours
- MTTR = 4 hours
Insights
The primary takeaway from a higher MTTR is that your response and repair times are too long. This suggests that your business has sustained a high level of unplanned downtime and lost productivity. Causes for this high MTTR may be the need for better training, more effective tools, or a more streamlined approach to handling unplanned maintenance tasks.
The Total Cost of Maintenance (TCM) measures the total sum spent for the various resources used to complete maintenance tasks over a given period of time. The purpose of this metric is to gain a better understanding of exactly how much your maintenance team is spending on the tasks assigned to it.
What it tells maintenance teams
This KPI tells your maintenance team what its total spend is over a given period of time for a combination of maintenance costs. These costs may include resources like labor, raw materials, tools, outsourced services, spare parts, and more. Evaluating your total spend on these resources can help you monitor your maintenance budget, identify cost-saving opportunities, and ensure that resources are being allocated efficiently.
Formula
- Total Cost of Maintenance = Labor + Materials + Tools + Outsourced Services + Spare Parts et al.
- For example:
- Labor: $40,000
- Materials: $10,000
- Tools: $5,000
- Outsourced Services: $20,000
- Spare Parts: $8,000
- $40,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $20,000 + $8,000 = $83,000
- Total Cost of Maintenance = $83,000
Insights
Calculating TCM provides a starting point for identifying the main drivers of your maintenance costs and areas for potential improvement. This measure can provide a benchmark that you can use to measure your maintenance spend against industry standards. It can also be used as a basis for launching targeted cost-saving initiatives such as a transition from reactive maintenance to preventive maintenance strategies.
4. Total Unplanned Downtime
Total Unplanned Downtime (TUD) is the amount of time that an asset is out of commission due to unexpected malfunctions, breakdowns, failures, or accidents in a given period of time. The purpose of this KPI is to provide a raw figure to represent the exact amount of productivity lost to failure incidents and unplanned downtime.
What it tells maintenance teams
Total Unplanned Downtime tells maintenance teams how reliable a given asset is as well as how effectively the maintenance team has performed in keeping this asset in proper working order. A lower figure indicates less downtime.
Formula
- For example, if there are three unplanned downtime events in a single month with the following durations:
- Event 1: 3 hours
- Event 2: 2 hours
- Event 3: 5 hours
- 3 hours + 2 hours + 5 hours = 10 hours
- Total Unplanned Downtime = 10 hours
Insights
Calculating TUD can help maintenance teams identify specific assets with high rates of failure as well as their impact on production and operational efficiency. These insights can serve as the starting point for implementing preventive maintenance strategies, predictive maintenance techniques, and other proven strategies for improving equipment uptime.
5. Overall Equipment Effectiveness
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a KPI that combines equipment availability, asset performance, and quality of output to deliver a quantifiable measure of how effectively your assets are being utilized.
What it tells maintenance teams
By combining several different indicators, this KPI provides maintenance teams with a comprehensive way of looking at the effectiveness of assets and equipment. OEE is expressed as a percentage, and is expressed with a scale of 1% to 100%. A higher OEE percentage indicates that your equipment is operating effectively. A a lower OEE percentage may signal the need for improvement.
Formula
- OEE = Availability × Performance × Quality
- For example, if a piece of manufacturing equipment has:
- 95% availability
- 88% performance efficiency
- produces quality products 94% of the time
- (0.95 × 0.88 × 0.94)x 100 = 78.58%
- OEE = 78.58%
- For example, if a piece of manufacturing equipment has:
Insights
A low OEE is an indication that your equipment may be falling short of availability, performance, and/or quality expectations. Falling short of OEE expectations should trigger a Root Cause Analysis (RCA), an investigation into the exact origin of your equipment’s diminished effectiveness. This may yield evidence of flaws in maintenance procedures, insufficient upkeep of equipment, improper operating procedures, and more.
6. Planned Maintenance Percentage (PMP)
Planned Maintenance Percentage (PMP) measures the proportion of your maintenance activities that are planned ahead of time compared to those that are unplanned. The purpose of this KPI is to determine what percentage of your total maintenance time is spent on proactive maintenance activities and assess the quality of your maintenance schedules.
What it tells maintenance teams
PMP is expressed as a percentage of time, between 1% and 100%. A higher PMP indicates a more proactive maintenance approach. In addition to implicating preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, a higher PMP score suggests that these strategies have been effective in promoting greater asset reliability and reducing the need for unplanned or emergency repairs.
Formula
- PMP = (Planned maintenance hours / Total maintenance hours) × 100
- For example, if your maintenance team is spending 300 hours on planned maintenance and 60 hours on unplanned maintenance in a month:
- (300 hours / 360 hours) × 100 = 83.33%
- PMP = 83.33%
- For example, if your maintenance team is spending 300 hours on planned maintenance and 60 hours on unplanned maintenance in a month:
Insights
A higher PMP can validate your organization’s investment in proactive maintenance strategies. This is usually an indication that you are experiencing fewer unexpected breakdowns and reduced downtime. On the other hand, a low PMP is an indication that too much of your maintenance team’s time is spent managing emergency maintenance, corrective maintenance tasks and other unplanned maintenance activities. Because emergency repairs and unplanned downtime can significantly inflate maintenance costs, a low PMP can serve as both a prompt and a baseline for more proactive maintenance planning.
7. Maintenance Backlog
Your organization’s maintenance backlog is essentially an estimate of the amount of hours of maintenance work that has been scheduled but which has not yet been completed. The purpose of this KPI is to provide a measurement of your organization’s impending workload and how this compares to the availability of resources and the timeline for completing the required work.
What it tells maintenance teams
This metric tells your maintenance team roughly how many hours of uncompleted work remain on the schedule for a given period of time. A higher backlog figure, relative to historical measures, may indicate issues such as understaffing, process inefficiencies, or poor maintenance planning.
Formula
- Maintenance Backlog = Total hours of backlogged work / Total available maintenance hours
- For example:
- If there are 100 hours of backlogged work and your maintenance team has 800 hours of available labor power in a month
- (100 / 800) x 100 = 12.5%
- Maintenance Backlog = 12.5%
- If there are 100 hours of backlogged work and your maintenance team has 800 hours of available labor power in a month
Insights
A growing or consistently large backlog may be an indication that your maintenance operations are not sufficiently meeting your organization’s needs. Your backlog can be a warning of increased downtime, production delays, and higher repair costs ahead. Your maintenance team can use this information to evaluate and improve its preparedness, inventory management, and staffing requirements for its pending workload.
8. Asset Utilization
Asset utilization measures how effectively your organization is utilizing its assets. The purpose of this KPI is to provide insight into the output of your equipment relative to its total potential output.
What it tells maintenance teams
Asset utilization tells your maintenance team how effectively your critical assets are performing, whether they are achieving their maximum potential, and whether or not there is room for improvement. Asset utilization is expressed as a percentage, based on a scale from 1% to 100%. A higher asset utilization score is an indication that your assets are being used optimally and effectively. A lower score may be an indication that your equipment is underperforming, not being used to its fullest potential, or reaching the end of its useful life cycle.
Formula
- Asset Utilization = (Actual output / Potential output) × 100
- For example:
- If a piece of equipment has a potential output of 10,000 units per month, but only produces 7,500 units
- (7,500 / 10,000) × 100 = 75%
- Asset Utilization = 75%
- If a piece of equipment has a potential output of 10,000 units per month, but only produces 7,500 units
Insights
Low asset utilization is usually an indication that your organization is falling short of its production potential. This finding should trigger a Root Cause Analysis (RCA), which may yield evidence of process inefficiencies, excessive unplanned downtime, underuse as a consequence of less-than-optimal scheduling, etc. Evidence of low asset utilization should ultimately lead to initiatives to bring actual output in line with potential output.
Benefits of tracking asset maintenance KPIs
The asset management metrics listed above are generally meant to be used in coordination with one another. Most organizations will deploy a full set of metrics to gain a more holistic view of their critical assets. This view includes measures of equipment reliability, maintenance performance, process efficiency, and more.
This makes the asset maintenance KPIs highlighted above particularly valuable to maintenance teams. Facilities managers, asset managers, and maintenance technicians use these metrics to identify areas for improvement, optimize maintenance strategies, and ensure that assets are running at peak efficiency.
To dig a little deeper on KPIs, and to find out how these performance metrics can benefit your organization, check out our Ultimate Guide to Maintenance KPIs.
5 reasons to choose Limble for tracking asset maintenance KPIs
Tracking and monitoring these important metrics requires a powerful, versatile, and easily-implemented asset management platform. Limble’s Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) provides an accessible interface, user-friendly dashboards, and customizable reports for tracking all the KPIs that matter to your organization.
With Limble’s CMMS software, you can:
- Improve your Planned Maintenance Percentage (PMP), like Aztec Construction, a family-owned business that lowered its unplanned maintenance workload by 40% with Limble.
- Lower your Total Unplanned Downtime, like Rimex, a leading manufacturer of tires and rims that saw a 30% reduction in downtime thanks to Limble’s powerful CMMS.
- Lower your Mean time to Repair, like nationwide drugstore chain Rite Aid, which reported that its maintenance team is seeing a dramatically improved 90% on-time work order completion rate with Limble.
- Reduce your Total Cost of Maintenance, like the owners of Sanctuary at False Cape condominiums, who reported saving over $100,000 in maintenance costs after implementing Limble’s advanced preventive maintenance tools.
- Shrink your maintenance backlog, like MidWest Materials, an ISO 9001:2015 certified steel service center that saw its overtime labor needs fall by 80% with Limble’s automated Preventive Maintenance (PM) scheduling.
To find out what else Limble can do to enhance your asset management strategy, streamline your maintenance program, and improve your bottom line, check out our leading-edge Asset Maintenance Management software solutions.
