Downtime is any period when an asset cannot do its job. Planned downtime is scheduled — a PM service, a calibration, an upgrade. Unplanned downtime is caused by failures and is the expensive kind: lost output, idle staff, missed deadlines, sometimes safety risk.
Measuring it
Availability
Availability = (planned operating time − downtime) ÷ planned operating time
Example: 160 h planned, 6 h unplanned downtime → (160 − 6) ÷ 160 = 96.25%.
Reducing downtime
- Move work from unplanned to planned through preventive maintenance
- Cut MTTR: spares on hand, clear procedures, assets easy to locate
- Learn from failure history to improve MTBF
Beyond production equipment
Downtime also includes "can't find it" time: a shared device that exists but cannot be located is, in practice, unavailable. Good tracking reduces that too.
Record the cause of each downtime event — breakdown, waiting for parts, waiting for a technician, planned service — so you can see which lever will make the biggest difference.
In Asetavo
Work orders and their timings build each asset's service history; location tracking and tags reduce search time.