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Quality & sustainability

Downtime

Downtime is the time a machine or production line is not producing, whether because of breakdowns, changeovers, waiting for material or planned maintenance.

Also known as machine downtime, unplanned downtime, stoppage, OEE, availability

Downtime is usually split into planned (maintenance, changeovers) and unplanned (breakdowns, missing material, data errors). Together with speed and quality losses it makes up OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), the standard measure of how well a line is used.

The first step in reducing downtime is knowing its real causes. Stoppages recorded by hand after the shift tend to be incomplete, so reliable figures come from the machines themselves.

Related terms
BottleneckA bottleneck is the step in a production process with the least capacity, which limits the output of the whole line. Production planningProduction planning decides what a factory produces, in what order and on which line, to meet delivery dates with the capacity available.
From term to production line

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