How to Reduce Machine Downtime: Strategies for Manufacturers
Unplanned machine downtime is one of the costliest challenges in manufacturing. A single hour of production halts can cost tens of thousands in lost revenue, delayed orders, and extra maintenance spend. For OEMs, downtime also means frustrated customers and aftersales backlogs.
Downtime in manufacturing happens when equipment stops producing, whether due to breakdowns, shortages, or operator errors. This kind of equipment downtime not only reduces output but also strains other assets, leading to further failures. Left unchecked, downtime erodes profitability and customer trust.
The good news is that downtime reduction is possible. By combining preventive maintenance, smarter scheduling, and digital tracking tools, manufacturers can reduce equipment downtime, minimise unplanned stoppages, and schedule service during planned windows. In this guide, we’ll explore what machine downtime is, its causes and costs, and proven downtime reduction strategies for manufacturers and OEMs.
What is Machine Downtime?
Machine downtime is any period when equipment cannot produce, either due to planned maintenance or unexpected stoppages. In manufacturing, downtime directly impacts productivity, profitability, and customer commitments. To reduce equipment downtime, manufacturers must understand the difference between planned and unplanned downtime.
Planned Downtime
Planned downtime includes scheduled stoppages such as regular maintenance, equipment upgrades, and production line changeovers. While it temporarily halts output, planned downtime is essential for long-term efficiency and downtime reduction. For example, scheduling preventive maintenance during off-peak hours improves Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and prevents costly breakdowns.
Examples of planned downtime:
- Regular maintenance and inspections
- Equipment upgrades or retrofits
- Production line changes
- Shift or product changeovers
Unplanned Downtime
Unplanned downtime occurs unexpectedly, often due to equipment failure, material shortages, or human error. This type of downtime in manufacturing is far more expensive because it leads to delayed orders, higher labour costs, and emergency repairs.
Common causes of unplanned machine downtime:
- Equipment malfunctions – overheating, wear and tear, or breakdowns in heavy machinery.
- Material shortages – running out of spare parts or raw materials due to poor supply chain planning.
- Human error – mistakes in operation or maintenance, often linked to an untrained workforce.
- Power outages and connectivity issues – especially critical for digital production lines.
To minimise unplanned downtime, manufacturers can use downtime tracking tools, condition monitoring, and data-driven maintenance planning. These approaches make it possible to predict issues and reduce downtime in manufacturing.
Causes of Machine Downtime
Downtime is not just an inconvenience — it’s expensive. Studies estimate that downtime in manufacturing costs nearly $50 billion annually. For a plant producing 300 units per hour at $40 per unit, one hour of downtime equals over $11,000 in lost revenue.
Key causes of machine downtime include:
- Mismanaged supply chain (parts, fuel, or material shortages)
- Lack of preventive maintenance planning
- Equipment failures from stress and poor condition monitoring
- Workforce skill gaps and safety issues
- Utility interruptions (power, network failures)
Understanding these causes is the first step toward effective downtime reduction strategies.
How to Calculate Machine Downtime
To achieve effective downtime reduction, you first need to measure it accurately. Calculating machine downtime helps identify which equipment is most prone to failure and where productivity losses occur. This is a critical step in downtime analysis and improving OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).
Steps to calculate machine downtime:
- Identify Planned Operating Time – Determine the total expected run time over a set period. For example, 8 hours a day × 20 days = 160 hours.
- Track Actual Downtime – Record the number of hours machines are unavailable using downtime tracking software or maintenance logs.
- Calculate Actual Operating Time – Subtract downtime from planned time to see how much production time you actually achieve.
- Convert to Percentage – Express downtime as a percentage of planned time using:
This calculation can be applied to individual machines, shifts, departments, or the entire plant. Using digital downtime tracking tools makes this process faster and more accurate.
Downtime Reduction Strategies for Manufacturers
Once you have carried out a downtime analysis, you can start working toward minimizing it and avoid machine downtime. Reducing downtime is crucial if you want to maintain profitability and consistency in your processes.
Here are some strategies to help you achieve this goal:
Perform a Risk Audit
A risk audit identifies potential issues with your equipment which is a critical marker for reducing downtime. For example, an old machine in your manufacturing plant that's 17 years old is at high risk for failure and may be difficult to find spare parts for.
By auditing your equipment, you can get a better idea about which machines are obsolete and should be replaced at higher priority. Regular audits also help you confirm that your manufacturing equipment meets safety standards, protecting your team and preventing costly disasters.
Here are some tips for a successful risk audit:
- Identify machinery that is nearing the end of its lifecycle.
- Make sure the spare parts and support are available. If they are not, this is hinting toward the obseleteness of the equipment.
- Determine if old equipment poses any safety hazards.
Implement Real-Time Monitoring
Use real-time monitoring systems/downtime tracking software with sensors and data analytics to track equipment performance and reduce downtime. Most of these systems can send alerts to mobile devices and display dashboards in production areas, providing transparency and facilitating immediate intervention.
For example, if a machine's temperature exceeds a certain threshold, an alert can prompt a technician to address the issue before it leads to unplanned downtime events. This can help you identify patterns, and predict equipment failures.
Create a Preventive Maintenance Schedule
Preventive maintenance involves regular checks and servicing of equipment to prevent unexpected breakdowns and reduce equipment downtime. Scheduling maintenance during planned downtime allows you to replace parts and ensure that the right personnel are available. This proactive approach helps catch issues early, order spare parts in advance, and avoid overtime costs.
Key Components of Preventive Maintenance:
- Scheduled Inspections: Regularly check equipment to identify potential issues before they become major problems.
- Part Replacements During Planned Downtime: Replace worn-out parts during scheduled maintenance to prevent unexpected failures.
- Routine Maintenance During Operations: Perform routine tasks like lubrication and cleaning while equipment is in use to extend its lifespan.
Makula’s inventory management feature tracks spare parts and inventory levels, sending alerts when stock is low. This system prevents maintenance delays, maintains accurate stock levels, and helps reduce downtime keeping your operations running.
Develop Disaster Recovery Plans
You can prepare for unexpected downtime by having disaster recovery plans in place. These plans should include backup power solutions, data backup and recovery procedures, alternative production sites, and communication protocols.
Being prepared helps minimize the impact of natural disasters, power outages, or cyberattacks, helping your business quickly resume normal operations reducing downtime in manufacturing.
Invest in Training and Skill Development
Well-trained personnel are very important for reducing downtime and having. This is because skilled staff and operators can detect issues early on, and trigger predictive maintenance processes if need be leading to lean manufacturing downtime. Some of the beneficial training strategies you can implement are:
- Regular Workshops: Keep employees updated on best practices and invest in comprehensive training programs for both operators and maintenance staff.
- Cross-Training: Ensure multiple staff members can perform critical tasks so that continuity is ensured even when someone is unavailable.
- On-the-Job Training: Provide hands-on experience with equipment helping them get familiar with common issues, and standard operation processes.
Automate Your Processes
One of the most effective downtime reduction strategies is to automate repetitive maintenance workflows. Manual processes often lead to errors, delays, and miscommunication, which ultimately increase the risk of unplanned downtime. By contrast, automation keeps operations consistent, transparent, and on schedule.
A Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is the foundation for automation. With the right CMMS software, you can:
- Reduce equipment downtime by automatically triggering preventive maintenance tasks.
- Streamline work order management so tasks are created, assigned, and tracked in real time.
- Enable downtime tracking software that gives you visibility into performance and problem areas.
- Keep stakeholders informed with automated notifications, mobile updates, and digital records.
For manufacturers, automating maintenance processes doesn’t just reduce downtime — it also ensures leaner operations, improved productivity, and better use of resources. With Makula’s CMMS, automation becomes simple and scalable, so you can focus on production instead of firefighting breakdowns.
By combining preventive maintenance, downtime tracking software, and lean manufacturing practices, you can reduce equipment downtime and achieve consistent production. Digital tools like Makula make these strategies easier to implement at scale.
How Makula’s CMMS can help reduce machine downtime
Work Order Management
With Makula, you can easily manage every stage of work orders, from creation to completion. When maintenance is needed, all you have to do is create a service request by selecting the facility and machine, specifying the reporter, and detailing the required work. The work order is then prioritized and added to the top of the list, ready for timely execution.
Furthermore, Makula's tools, including calendars, maps, and Kanban boards, allow you to control maintenance schedules, track progress, and coordinate tasks across stakeholders.
This systematic approach helps reduce machine downtime, ensuring your equipment is serviced promptly, tasks are coordinated and any possibility of an unexpected disruption is minimized.
Automated Preventive Maintenance
Makula automates and tracks maintenance schedules to extend equipment lifespan and minimize unexpected downtime. By monitoring assets through intervals or meter data thresholds, the software triggers maintenance events at the right time, reducing expenses.
For instance, meter-based preventive maintenance uses integrated machine meters and telemetrics data to automatically trigger work orders. Customized reports track tasks, uncover failure patterns and identify root causes.
Preventive maintenance events can be created for machines assigned to a customer or production line. This verifies that the maintenance is proactive and consistent, keeping your equipment in optimal condition and significantly reducing downtime.
Data-driven maintenance decisions
Makula supports preventive maintenance reporting which generates customized reports to measure, track, and improve your maintenance activities. This feature helps uncover failure patterns and main causes, so you can develop data-driven strategies for optimal equipment performance.
For example, you can track assets, analyze downtime incidents and their causes, and refine your maintenance approach to reduce downtime further.
With this feature, you can also customize reports to match your maintenance KPIs. You get real-time data in your preferred formats, such as graphs or charts.
Case Study: How Makula Reduced Downtime for Turmec
Turmec, a leader in advanced waste management systems, faced inefficiencies and frequent errors in their after-sales sector due to outdated manual processes. Partnering with Makula in June 2023, their goal was to achieve improved operations and reduce downtime.
Initial Challenges
Some of the challenges that stimulated Turmec to look for a solution were:
- Manual Processes: Outdated methods led to frequent errors in parts dispatch.
- Operational Disruptions: Incorrect parts and delayed responses caused significant downtime.
- Costly Errors: Mistakes, especially with international shipping, resulted in high costs for Turmec to bear.
Solution with Makula
Here is how Turmec benefitted from Makula’s digital system:
- Reduced Downtime: With real-time monitoring and automated alerts generated by Makula, Turmec can now address issues before they escalate, significantly reducing machine downtime. This proactive approach has kept production lines running smoothly and minimized unexpected disruptions.
- Improved Efficiency: Automation of routine tasks and well-defined workflows have led to faster turnaround times. By eliminating manual errors and reducing the time spent on administrative tasks, Turmec's team is able to focus more on strategic activities, like meeting their production targets.
- Increased Profitability: Turmec's clean monthly sales have increased by $20,000 to $30,000, as a result of more accurate parts dispatch and after-sales services.
- Customer Satisfaction: Customers now enjoy a more professional and organized service. The structured system has improved communication and made after-sales support more reliable. Clients appreciate the ease of accessing services and reports, along with the ability to manage their needs better.
- Scalability and Growth: With Makula, Turmec is better positioned to scale its operations. The system's flexibility allows for improved onboarding of new plants and customers, facilitating Turmec's expansion into new markets, including their targeted entry into the American market.
Future Plans
Turmec has ambitious plans to further fine-tune its operations with Makula. The team envisions a future where clients can go online, scan machines, and place orders with 3D visualization. To facilitate this, Turmec is investing in video tutorials that illustrate the process from scanning a QR code to delivery, so the new system is easily implemented by all customers.
Key Takeaways
- Machine downtime can deplete inventory and significantly impact production capacity, leading to high costs.
- Preventive maintenance and real-time monitoring are essential strategies for reducing unexpected equipment failures.
- Proper planning, regular audits, and comprehensive training can help minimize unplanned downtime.
- Utilizing tools like Makula’s CMMS can automate maintenance processes, manage inventory, and improve operational efficiency.
