Illustrative scenario on fictitious data; the companies and figures are not real.
Production downtime analysis
Type of business: Packaging plant (fictitious)
Actual output keeps falling behind plan and the causes of downtime are unclear in the reports.
1Problem
The plant manager knows the lines stop often, but the maintenance budget is allocated without cost-based priorities.
2Data
- Daily downtime log by line and cause
- Planned and actual output per shift
- Cost of spare parts and maintenance labour hours
3Analysis
- Pareto analysis of downtime causes by hours and cost
- Calculating the effect of each hour of downtime on profit margin
- Comparing the efficiency of shifts and lines
4Finding
In the sample data, a large share of downtime hours came from a few recurring causes on one line that did not show up in the summary reports.
5Action
- A preventive maintenance plan for the main causes
- Standardised recording of downtime causes
- A daily downtime dashboard for supervisors
6Result
In this scenario, focusing maintenance resources on the costliest causes increases the usable capacity of the lines.