The Real Cost of Downtime: An Overview
In any manufacturing environment, downtime is never something you can fully eliminate – regardless of how hard you try. But so long as these downtime incidents are planned – meaning that you can take proactive steps to mitigate as much risk as possible during these periods – it really isn’t anything to stress out about.
It’s when downtime incidents are unplanned (and worse, unexplained), that those costs really begin to add up.
Breaking Down the Costs of Downtime
According to one recent study, the average cost of unplanned downtime across all businesses came in at a massive $260,000 per hour in 2016 alone. While that number is harrowing in and of itself, when you also consider that it represented a 60% jump from just a few years earlier in 2014, it’s easy to see why this is an issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.
But it’s also important to keep in mind that in some sectors of the manufacturing industry, those costs are even higher. Another study indicated that in the automotive industry in particular, the average cost of unplanned downtime can quickly add up to approximately $50,000 per minute. That adds up to roughly $3 million per hour.
Maybe the most unfortunate statistic of all is the following: manufacturers on average experience about 800 hours of downtime every single year.
Are these the types of costs your business can afford to bear right now? Of course not – but thankfully, with the right approach, you don’t have to.
The Solution: Downtime Tracking
With a downtime tracking solution like Thrive by your side, you can make sure that your business isn’t anywhere near statistics like those outlined above. Because of its plug and play nature, you can begin tracking machine downtime literally minutes after your activation. Not only will you be able to see the overall efficiency of every piece of equipment across your production line, but you’ll also be in a position to define a reason for ANY stoppage taking place on your shop floor.
Think about it like this: downtime tracking is about more than just knowing whether or not your lines are running. You’ll know both how efficiently individual pieces of equipment are operating and exactly why they’ve gone offline at a moment’s notice. You’ll be able to track your production line efficiency in real-time and analyze trends according to shift, line or even SKU depending on your preferences.
What you’re left with is an opportunity to know not only WHY a piece of equipment is offline, but WHAT you have to do to fix the problem and HOW you can prevent it from happening again in the future. At that point, the average cost of downtime simply isn’t something you’ll have to spend much time worrying about any longer.
If you’d like to find out more information about the real cost of downtime and why this is such an important issue that needs to be addressed across your business, or if you’d just like to talk about your own needs with someone in a bit more detail, please don’t delay - contact Thrive today.