Downtime, both planned and unplanned, can severely impact business operations. However, with the right tools, you can track downtime and gather insights to pinpoint actionable strategies and make more informed decisions about maintenance and operations.
This article will focus on planned downtime, why it is an important metric to report on regularly, how to calculate it, and tips and best practices for tracking production downtime.
What is a production downtime report?
A production downtime report is a detailed analysis of an organization’s planned downtime, capturing critical information that can help enhance operational efficiency. Production downtime reports generally include:
- When the downtime took place
- Cause for the downtime
- Duration of the downtime
- Any affected equipment
- Personnel involved
- Steps taken to resolve unexpected issues
- Any deviations from the planned downtime
Equipment downtime is another term often used interchangeably with production downtime. For the purpose of this article, however, production downtime will refer to planned stoppages – while equipment or machine downtime will refer to unplanned downtime.
Why track and report production downtime?
Tracking production downtime and reporting on it accurately helps organizations understand the impact of downtime on their productivity. Analyzing this information according to activity, location, asset, and more helps teams identify ways to improve scheduling.
This process can produce actionable initiatives that result in broad benefits.
Operational efficiency
Detailed tracking helps identify patterns in the reasons for downtime, allowing organizations to find ways to consolidate or shorten the activities that happen during work stoppages. By being more efficient during work stoppages, organizations can experience fewer and shorter downtimes overall, minimizing disruptions and increasing production time.
Financial implications
Downtime, even when planned, incurs costs. These costs can include lost production time, labor costs, and potential delays in order fulfillment and meeting consumer demand. Accurate reporting helps organizations quantify these downtime costs and develop strategies to minimize them.
Improved maintenance scheduling
Accurate production downtime data helps maintenance teams plan their activities more effectively. Knowing when and why machines are taken offline allows companies to better allocate resources, schedule work more effectively, and reduce the likelihood of breakdowns.
Enhanced decision-making
Production downtime reports provide valuable insights for upper management. Understanding the root causes and impacts of downtime allows decision-makers to make more informed choices about investments in new technology, process improvements, and staff training.
Regulatory compliance
Many industries are mandated to perform downtime reporting for regulatory purposes. Accurate reporting ensures compliance and contributes to a safe workplace and production operation, helping organizations avoid corrective action and demonstrating their commitment to quality and reliability during audits.
Continuous improvement
Tracking downtime is a key component of any continuous improvement process in a production environment. Regularly analyzing downtime reports helps organizations identify actionable improvements, measure their effectiveness, and foster a culture of enhancement and innovation.
How to calculate production downtime
You can measure production downtime in various ways, but let’s start with a simple calculation. Take the total amount of scheduled or planned downtime your organization had during a set period of time, and divide that by the total run time in the same time period. Then, multiply it by 100 to get a percentage.
Production Downtime = (Total Hours of Planned Downtime / Total Hours of Run Time) x 100
This will tell you what percent of your total run time was actually used for downtime. Depending on the size and type of operation, you may run this calculation for each machine, an entire production line, or your entire operation or fleet as a whole.
Understanding the percentage of production downtime your organization has can help you quantify how much productivity (and therefore, revenue) your company is missing out on, and strategize ways to minimize it. By identifying areas with the highest downtime, you can target specific issues and develop more effective maintenance strategies.
Steps to track and report production downtime
The following steps will help you start production downtime reporting within your organization and use it to its fullest potential.
Step 1: Identify downtime events
First, define what constitutes a planned downtime event and determine the different types of downtime categories within your organization. Every operation is different and your business may be interested in a very specific kind of downtime. Use your organization’s high-level business goals to help you determine what to include.
Step 2: Collect data
If manually tracking data, use logbooks and spreadsheets to record downtime events, including start and end times, the cause of the downtime, and any equipment affected. Consider using automated methods like sensors and monitoring systems that automatically track downtime.
Step 3: Analyze data
Compile any data you’ve collected into a central database. Downtime tracking software such as a Computerized Maintenance Management System or CMMS can help aggregate machine data from various sources. Analyze that data to determine if there are any recurring issues, such as planned events that take longer than they should or other anomalies in scheduled downtime.
Step 4: Generate reports
Create a standardized report format that you can update any time a downtime report is needed. Reports frequently include not only the downtime rates, but additional context and observations like duration, causes, impact on production, and further recommendations.
Step 5: Implement findings
Use any actionable insights from your report analysis to develop strategies for reducing downtime. This may involve adjusting maintenance schedules, training staff on new maintenance procedures, or investing in new equipment.
Continue to monitor the effectiveness of your strategies and adjust as needed based on ongoing data and feedback.
How to create a useful production downtime report for your organization
A useful production downtime report requires comprehensive data. It also requires a knowledgeable staff member to analyze it, provide context and recommendations, and present it to other internal stakeholders who may not have an in-depth understanding of the information it contains. Sharing it in a format that is easy to understand, and makes actionable improvements clear for everyone involved.
Here’s how to craft an insightful and valuable downtime report:
Include the essential components
Effective production downtime reports should include the following components:
- Downtime duration: Record the start and end times of each downtime event to determine its duration.
- Causes and reasons for downtime: Document the root causes of each downtime event, like the planned maintenance activity and why it was needed.
- Impact on production and financial losses: Quantify the effects of downtime on output and calculate the associated financial losses. This may include lost production time, delayed orders, and increased labor costs.
- Outliers and analysis: Numbers only tell part of the story so include any details on outliers or anecdotes that help explain or encapsulate the findings in your report.
- Corrective actions and future prevention strategies: Outline recommendations your organization can make to reduce or prevent the impact of similar scenarios in the future. This could involve maintenance actions, process changes, or staff training.
Customize your report to meet organizational needs
Consider creating different versions of your report for different audiences. For instance, operational teams may need more detailed, technical data, while management teams may require a higher-level summary that outlines strategic insights and recommendations.
Present data effectively
Beyond the crucial components of a production downtime report, you must effectively present the data to ensure stakeholders understand and find value in it. Here are a few tips for presenting and formatting your reports:
- Use visual representations: Charts, graphs, and tables can help present downtime data visually, making it easier to quickly identify trends and patterns.
- Use clear and concise summaries: Summarize key findings within the report clearly and concisely. Highlight the most critical points to make sure all stakeholders understand them.
- Provide a detailed analysis: Provide in-depth explanations where necessary to help stakeholders understand the implications of the data and offer actionable recommendations to assist with informed decision-making.
Provide regular updates and reviews
Generate downtime reports on a regular basis to help track the effectiveness of corrective actions, progress toward goals, and new patterns. Regular review meetings with relevant teams and members of leadership are a great place to discuss the findings, brainstorm solutions, plan resources, and prioritize actions.
Effective tools for tracking production downtime
Spreadsheets and manual data tracking methods are common for small businesses in industrial settings, but the data in them can quickly become overwhelming as your business grows, and they often leave room for human error. Here are some tools that can help your organization track production downtime more effectively:
- Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS): A CMMS is a comprehensive maintenance management software that can automate production downtime tracking. It also offers solutions to help manage workflows that impact production downtime like scheduled maintenance management, asset management, work order management, real-time monitoring, and reporting and analysis tools.
- Manufacturing execution system (MES): An MES monitors and controls manufacturing processes on the shop floor. Key features include real-time data, production scheduling, quality management, and traceability of production activities.
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems: These systems integrate various business processes into a single, unified system. ERP systems can help with downtime tracking by integrating data, allocating resources more effectively, providing advanced analytics, and scaling with your business.
Strategies for improving & reducing production downtime
Implementing initiatives to reduce downtime is a crucial part of an organization’s maintenance strategy. Monitoring and analyzing production downtime provides the insights you need to give these initiatives direction. Here are some of the most effective ways to improve production and reduce downtime.
Proactive maintenance strategies
Proactive maintenance strategies like predictive maintenance and preventive maintenance can reduce the need for production downtime. Production downtime typically stems from repairs and maintenance that assets need, but when these assets are managed effectively through proactive maintenance strategies, they don’t require as much planned – or unplanned – downtime.
Training and development for staff
Train staff on production downtime tracking strategies as you implement them. If the team is more aware of efforts to reduce downtime, they will be more prepared to enable reporting and implement improvements based on report findings.
In addition, training of staff should be a standard part of any improvement initiatives you take to reduce downtime. Initiatives will only be successful if the team is prepared and on board with implementing them.
Lean manufacturing principles
Lean manufacturing principles, like keeping work spaces organized and improving process flows, can help reduce production downtime. Specific lean manufacturing ideals are designed to solve issues of inefficiency. You may find that recurring issues that bubble up in your downtime reports are addressed by adopting a more lean approach.
Investment in reliable and efficient equipment
Equipment inevitably becomes outdated and inefficient at a certain point. One strategy to help reduce production downtime is to get ahead of aging equipment by planning early for replacements to ensure you have reliable equipment. Equipment that doesn’t require constant repairs will vastly improve your organization’s downtime and likely eliminate a lot of unscheduled downtime as well.
Improve production downtime tracking with Limble CMMS
Production downtime reporting is a core part of any successful maintenance strategy. It helps organizations stay aware of where their greatest losses are occurring and uncovers methods for reducing downtime and minimizing its negative impact. Limble CMMS provides a comprehensive solution for automating downtime tracking, collecting real-time data, and generating insightful reports. By leveraging Limble CMMS, organizations can accurately monitor downtime, identify root causes, and implement targeted strategies to minimize disruptions.
Learn more today by scheduling a free demo!
