No manufacturer wants downtime. The costs of downtime are significant and recent research shows that the average manufacturer deals with 800 hours of downtime per year – or more than 15 hours per week. The average automotive manufacturer loses $22,000 per minute of downtime. Aberdeen Research reported that 82 percent of companies have experienced unplanned downtime over the past three years and that unplanned downtime can cost a company as much as $260,000 an hour.
To calculate downtime, divide the total number of units produced by the actual operating time to get the average production rate for the equipment. Multiply the total downtime by the average production rate to find the total number of units failed to produce during planned production hours. Lost production is the most direct impact of downtime, and therefore is a loss of production capacity.
Downtime is anytime a machine is not in production and can be categorized to help identify patterns in machine performance. It receives a high level of attention since equipment failures and breakdowns are highly visible. However, as visible as downtime often is, most companies significantly underestimate true downtime, and over 80 percent of companies are unable to calculate their true downtime costs correctly.
Wasted labor
When equipment goes down, the employees being paid to operate the equipment essentially become useless. This results in wasted labor costs. The most obvious low hanging fruit can be found in readily available replacement parts. When a certain amount of product in the warehouse keeps operations running smoothly, downtime is avoided.
When a machine stops working properly, it puts a strain on other parts of the system. Material flow is interrupted and completely interferes with the direct and obvious benefits of fork truck free cart delivery solutions.
The Topper Predictive Maintenance and Downtime Avoidance Plan
The solution to reduce downtime is through preventive and predictive maintenance programs. Topper helps customers identify replacement and maintenance key metrics. These data points help increase uptime by 20 percent or more, improving labor and machinery utilization. Backlogged work orders decrease dramatically when replacement parts are readily available.
There are two metrics that should be obvious. The first one is the loss of production and the second would be the loss of opportunity to produce.
Losing capacity for a period of time does not necessarily mean a manufacturer has lost money. Downtime costs will not show a negative on the books if there was additional equipment in place to counter the downed machine. Even with no or low costs associated with a particular downtime event, the data collected is a gold mine of opportunities to analyze the failure to the resolution.
Losing production, on the other hand, is expensive training. The Topper plan helps customers focus on both scenarios measuring OEE, TAKT time, and speed loss. Together these metrics will give manufacturers a better understanding of a production line’s true losses.
About Topper Industrial
For more than twenty years, Topper Industrial, (www.TopperIndustrial.com) based just outside of Milwaukee, WI, has been a leader in the material handling equipment industry. The company’s product roster features industrial carts, conveyors, lifts, lifts & tilts, shipping racks, containers, casters, and cart components. From mother-daughter carts to quad steer carts to tilt carts and rotate carts, Topper’s material handling solutions make delivering material line side more effective through more efficient practices. Topper Industrial has a team of experienced professional experts able to assess and provide the right product for all material handling equipment requirements.
Topper Industrial is a proud member of MHI. The Topper Industrial client roster includes Anderson Windows, Detroit Diesel, Honda, Kia Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Aramark, Johnson Controls, Whirlpool, and Caterpillar. Follow on Twitter @TopperInd. Call 800-529-0909.
Media Contact: Jillian Burrow / pr@topperindustrial.com / 1-800-529-0909