Imagine all the machines on your shop floor can talk, and tell you when they need repairs, maintenance or attention. With a machine uptime monitoring software, they can. Whether you have 20 machines or more than a 100, this guide gives you insights into how uptime monitoring can:
– Help optimize performance of machines
– Take timely decisions to fix production bottlenecks
– Gain real-time visibility
– Machine uptime monitoring measures the operational time of a machine
– An uptime monitoring software gives you real-time updates about machine performance
– Machine uptime monitoring enables you to identify production bottlenecks and respond to them quickly
– Data needed to track uptime: Machine start and stop time, reasons for downtime, sensor data and much more
– The formula to calculate machine uptime in %: (Total Uptime/Total Scheduled Time) × 100
– Things you need to look for in an uptime monitoring software: real-time insights and historical data, visual dashboards, seamless integration with machines – all of which is offered by Leanworx
What you’ll learn:
- What is machine uptime monitoring and why it matters
- How is machine uptime monitoring helpful for shop floors?
- How to track machine uptime effectively
- Data required for uptime monitoring
- What is the formula to calculate machine uptime?
- Machine uptime vs availability: what’s the difference?
- How to choose the right machine uptime monitoring software
What is machine uptime monitoring and why it matters
As a manufacturer, you may have several machines running on the factory floor. Wouldn’t it be useful to know for how long each machine is functioning versus sitting idle? This is precisely what machine uptime monitoring delivers.
It is the process of tracking and measuring the operational time of a machine or an equipment, without any unexpected stops or breakdowns. Why is it crucial? Every minute a machine doesn’t function, production suffers, which means delays, losses and dissatisfied customers.
Machine uptime monitoring softwares such as Leanworx, track important parameters to give real-time insights and historical data that can help you identify bottlenecks, minimize downtime, plan maintenance better and take timely decisions.
How is machine uptime monitoring helpful for shop floors?
Whether you have 20 machines or more than 100, production uptime tracking software gives you real-time updates, transparency and control over performance of machines.
Some of the most significant advantages are:
Increase in productivity
A machine uptime monitoring software provides instant updates on machine performance. Operators on the shop floor receive alerts when downtime or failures take place. This allows them to respond and take action (optimize machine settings or resource allocation) swiftly, thereby increasing productivity plus output.
Cut down on operational costs
When a machine breakdown or downtime is identified promptly, it translates to less idle time which equals low labor and energy cost. A machine uptime monitoring software can help avoid sudden breakdowns and costly repairs. As per Forbes, unplanned downtime costs manufacturers an estimated $50 billion annually.
Improved efficiency and profitability
The software provides specific insights on the machines in your shop floor. Based on these you can shift workloads, balance lines or refurbish equipment to maximize performance. When a machine is up and running for a longer duration, it leads to increased output, customer satisfaction and subsequently profitability.
Preventive maintenance
Uptime monitoring doubles up as preventive maintenance software which gives you relevant data that enables you to spot potential issues and address them before they cause full blown disruptions. You don’t need to log issues manually and guess what went wrong.
Efficient resource allocation
Machine monitoring systems aid you in understanding machine usage patterns, and this sequentially equips you to manage resources efficiently. It’s like having eyes on all the machines 24/7.
Visibility and transparency
With a machine uptime monitoring software, operators, maintenance staff to plant managers can gain clarity on machine performance and operational time. Since everyone has visibility, it boosts accountability, collaboration and decision-making.
How to track machine uptime effectively
– First and foremost, you need to get machine uptime monitoring software and IoT sensors installed for the machines. Look for a software that provides both historical plus real-time data, delivers alerts, custom dashboards and API support.
– Reliable uptime softwares like Leanworx, lay out visual dashboards that show the real-time status of all machines. You can also set up automated alerts to inform personnel on the factory floor when a machine is not functioning at full capacity.
– Keep a close eye on weekly or monthly reports. They can help you spot drops in uptime, recurring issues, performance dips and machines that need maintenance.
– Integrate all the uptime data with maintenance schedules and production planning tools. This makes it simpler to plan preventive maintenance during off-peak hours and avoid breakdowns.
– Train all the operators and shop floor managers to understand and interpret uptime data.
Data required for uptime monitoring
In order to track uptime successfully, the uptime monitoring software has to gather these data points:
- Machine start and stop time – This helps you calculate the exact uptime and downtime periods. This is crucial to pin down on productivity losses.
- Total scheduled time – This is the time the machine is expected to be operational excluding maintenance.
- Reasons for downtime – It’s easier to figure out the root cause of production bottlenecks and fix it, if you note down the reasons for downtime. The top three causes of downtime are equipment failure (42%), operator error (19%), and material shortages (15%), according to the Plant Engineering Annual Maintenance Survey.
- Machine cycle time – This refers to the time taken to complete one production cycle, and it’s significant to assess machine speed and efficiency.
- Output quantity – This is the number of units produced during uptime and it enables you to understand uptime in connection with actual productivity.
- Idle time – You need to include the time when the machine is on but not functioning. This aids you to distinguish between operational and non-productive time.
- Maintenance logs – This consists of a record of planned and unplanned maintenance, and is useful to forecast downtime and plan preventive maintenance.
- Sensor data – The sensors installed on the machines usually churn out real time inputs from vibration, temperature, pressure and other parameters, that in turn can be used to find defects or inefficiencies.
- Historical uptime logs – This gives you a peek into past production data for comparison, trend analysis and benchmarking.
What is the formula to calculate machine uptime? (With example)
Now that you know the significance of machine uptime monitoring, let’s see how you can calculate it. The formula is as follows:
Machine uptime (%) = (Total Uptime/Total Scheduled Time) × 100
Now that you know the significance of machine uptime monitoring, let’s see how you can calculate it. The formula is as follows:
Total uptime here is the duration for which the machine was actually functioning and producing, and total scheduled time is the time the machine was supposed to be running (excluding planned breaks or maintenance).
Here’s an example: If a CNC machine is scheduled to run for 8 hours in a shift, but functions only for 6 hours due to a small breakdown, what will be the uptime? Let’s fill in the data in the formula and calculate.
Plug the numbers into the formula:
6/8 × 100 = 75%
Hence, the uptime is 75 % which means the machine was productive for 75% of its scheduled shift.
Uptime calculator
Machine Uptime Calculator
Enter Uptime and Scheduled Time to visualize uptime performance.
Machine uptime vs availability: what’s the difference?
Machine uptime and availability are both metrics used to evaluate a machine’s performance, but they assess different aspects. Here’s a comparison:
| Machine uptime | Machine availability |
|---|---|
| Time a machine is actually in operation | The duration for which machine is scheduled to be in operation |
| Focuses on the operational state of the machine | It accounts for both uptime and downtime (planned and unplanned) |
| Generally used for performance reporting | Used in OEE calculation, broader efficiency metrics |
| Expressed as a percentage of total time | Calculated by dividing the uptime by planned production time |
How to choose the right machine uptime monitoring software
Picking the right machine uptime monitoring software can feel overwhelming, but it isn’t. All you have to do is look for certain pivotal features. Most of these features are offered by Leanworx, a cloud-based shop-floor monitoring system designed for manufacturing companies.
Let’s dive deeper into how it can assist you with machine uptime monitoring.
Leanworx connects directly to your machines (via sensors, PLC or digital signals) and gives real-time updates on uptime across devices, reasons for downtime, idle and cycle time, etc.
If a machine stops functioning unexpectedly, Leanworx sends real-time alerts to floor managers and maintenance staff. This helps make prompt decisions, reducing downtime and losses.
The software also dishes out dashboards that display current and historical uptime trends across shifts, machines and operators.
Add to that, Leanworx works on the cloud, so you don’t need to get any expensive IT infrastructure and can be monitored remotely. It integrates seamlessly with 20 machines or 100 and upwards.
The interface is operator-friendly which means downtime reasons can be keyed in easily through tablets or kiosks on the shop floor.
Leanworx directly contributes to better OEE measurement and resource utilization.
