Leak zone
Downtime: where it leaks and how to measure it
Quick answer
Unplanned downtime is production time lost to failures the plant did not schedule. It is the most expensive form of lost capacity because it pairs lost output with emergency labour, expedited parts, and collateral damage.
What it looks like on site
The same assets fail, and crews react instead of plan.
What we measure
Unplanned breakdown hours and the reactive share of total maintenance.
Key metrics
- unplanned downtime hours.
- reactive maintenance percentage.
- mean time between failures (MTBF).
- mean time to repair (MTTR).
What drives it
- A high reactive maintenance share that crowds out planned work.
- Weak defect elimination, so the same failures repeat.
- Deferred preventive maintenance that quietly raises failure risk.
- No criticality ranking, so attention is spread evenly instead of where it pays.
How to fix it
- Measure the reactive share honestly, then ring-fence planned-work time.
- Run defect elimination on the top repeat offenders by cost.
- Rank assets by criticality and concentrate reliability effort there.
Frequently asked questions
How do you measure the downtime leak zone?
By measuring unplanned breakdown hours and the reactive share of total maintenance. The Diagnostic quantifies it against your own CMMS and downtime data and translates it into annual dollars.
What does downtime leak look like on a plant floor?
The same assets fail, and crews react instead of plan.
See where your plant is leaking profit.
Score your operation across five leak zones in 3 minutes, or book a free 30-minute Fit Call to confirm whether a Diagnostic is the right next step.
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