What is a maintenance backlog?
A maintenance backlog is all identified work that has been raised but not yet completed, usually expressed in crew-weeks: the total backlog hours divided by available weekly maintenance hours. A healthy ready backlog is around 4 to 6 crew-weeks; a growing total backlog signals the plant cannot keep up.
Benchmark
| Benchmark | |
|---|---|
| Good | About 4 to 6 crew-weeks of ready, planned backlog is healthy and keeps crews productive. |
| Warning sign | A backlog that grows without bound, or many crew-months of work, signals the plant is falling behind. |
Why it matters
Backlog is the early-warning gauge for reliability and labour cost. Too little and crews wait between jobs. Too much, or growing, and the plant is deferring work that will return as failures. Critically, an unmanaged backlog is where deferred risk hides, often without a dollar figure attached.
How to improve it
Separate ready backlog from total backlog, keep 4 to 6 weeks of planned, ready work, and burn down the total backlog with dedicated effort rather than letting it grow.
Frequently asked questions
What is a healthy maintenance backlog?
Is a maintenance backlog bad?
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