What Is Unplanned Downtime? (Causes, Effects & Examples)

Business is booming. You have a highly functional manufacturing plant, and you’ve consistently hit your production schedules, which means your customers are happy. 

But all of a sudden, an integral piece of equipment breaks down. Your production line comes to a screeching halt, and once happy customers are now wondering when their shipments will be delivered. 

What’s worse is you don’t know how long the equipment downtime will last until the root cause of the problem is fixed. Will it be a day? Weeks? And how much is this going to affect your profitability and business relationships? If you had real-time data to help calculate how long the downtime might last, you might be better prepared to address how any potential lost revenue will affect your bottom line. 

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about tracking unplanned downtime, as well as tips for preventing equipment failures in the first place. Let’s dive in! 

What Is Unplanned Downtime? 

Unplanned downtime is a commonly used maintenance KPI for tracking the amount of time a piece of equipment will be inoperable when it breaks down unexpectedly. This vital metric provides a clear view of the impact that machine downtime events will have on costs, equipment performance and overall operational efficiency.

Unplanned Downtime Example 

Suppose your organization prefers a reactive maintenance approach. Since you haven’t been regularly lubricating the joints of your conveyor belt, it unexpectedly snapped today, and you don’t have the spare parts to fix it. If you have experienced similar unplanned downtime issues in the past, you can use that data to predict how long it will take to replace the belt, giving you a reasonable estimate of its effect on overall production time. 

Unplanned vs. Planned Downtime: What’s the Difference? 

While unplanned downtime occurs when a part of a machine breaks down unexpectedly, some businesses proactively pause the usage of equipment to inspect and maintain it. This is referred to as planned downtime. Here are some examples of the two so that you can better understand their differences:

Types of Unplanned Downtime

Some of the most common reasons that unplanned downtime can occur include:

• Equipment failure: As your machinery experiences wear and tear, major failures can result in extensive downtime. 
• Power outages: If your facility loses power, equipment that relies on electricity will be inoperable.
• Connectivity issues: If automated systems are interrupted, machinery may face shutdowns and data flow, delayed. 

Types of Planned Downtime

Here are some of the common reasons that an organization will intentionally plan downtime for scheduled maintenance:

• Inspection of machinery: Facilities taking a proactive maintenance approach will have technicians regularly inspect their equipment to make sure it is fully functional and no parts need replacement.
• Fixing and replacing broken parts: Not addressing minor issues can lead to more major problems and unscheduled downtime, which is why worn out or broken parts should be fixed or replaced quickly. 
• Lubrication: Moving parts like bearings and gears need to be lubricated frequently to avoid friction damage. 

Common Causes of Unplanned Downtime

Unplanned downtime can disrupt production schedules, impact productivity and lead to costly repairs or upgrades. Here are the most common reasons unplanned downtime occurs:

A Poor (or Nonexistent) Maintenance Strategy

If you’re not frequently checking up on the status of equipment and essential parts using a preventive maintenance approach, you can fail to catch issues that can turn into major failures that result in downtime. 

Aging Equipment

As equipment and its parts age, the likelihood of failure occurring increases drastically. To prevent wear and tear, you should check on your older machinery more frequently or even consider replacing it. 

Lack of Training

Not having training programs for your machine operators and technicians can result in operator errors, improper handling and inefficient troubleshooting when issues arise.

External Events 

External events like natural disasters or power outages can leave an entire facility inoperable until the issue subsides and necessary repairs are made (if needed).

Effects of Unplanned Downtime

Unplanned downtime can result in all kinds of consequences, including:

• Lost production capability: If a major piece of machinery breaks down, it can prevent the entire operation from proceeding until the issue is fixed.
• Increased labor costs with emergency maintenance: Emergency maintenance frequently requires overtime pay, calling in specialized technicians and/or increased work hours to reduce downtime.
• Damaged assets through rushed repairs: An urge to maximize machine uptime as much as possible can lead to a rushed repair, resulting in an incomplete fix and/or even more harm to the equipment. 
• Disruptions in supply chain: Even a short delay can have a major negative chain effect on your organization’s logistics. 
• Customer dissatisfaction: Delays due to downtime will outrage customers that experience delivery delays. Disruptions can erode trust, resulting in worsening customer satisfaction and the potential loss of business. 
• Decrease in staff efficiency and morale: Having a reactive approach to repairing equipment can cause stress and employee frustration, as technicians need to drop their usual procedures to perform difficult and time-consuming repairs. This can lower overall productivity and reduce job satisfaction. 

How to Calculate Unplanned Downtime

Here are simple step-by-step instructions for calculating unplanned downtime: 

1. Determine a planned operating time for a given period — for example, equipment should be operational 10 hours a day for 24 days a month = 240 hours per month
2. Track the amount of unplanned downtime for the month in hours
3. Divide the unplanned downtime from the planned operating time
4. Multiply by 100 to get the percentage

So the equation is as follows: 

[Time Equipment Is Down / Planned Operating Time] * 100 = Unplanned Downtime%

Unplanned Downtime Calculation Example

You have 10 hours of unplanned downtime on a conveyor belt in a manufacturing plant in a given month, and its planned operating time is the above 240 hours a month. No other downtime is recorded for the month. 

The calculation would be: [10 / 240] * 100 = 4.167%

Measuring the Cost of Unplanned Downtime

Unplanned downtime can be highly expensive, between costly repairs, production delays and paying employees for emergency maintenance.

To estimate how much unplanned downtime is going cost you, use the following calculation:

Cost of Unplanned Downtime = Average Hourly Wage x (Time Asset is Down/Total Time) X Number of Employees Affected

Cost of Unplanned Downtime Example

Suppose you have an unplanned downtime of 10 hours on a conveyor belt in a manufacturing plant. The average hourly wage for employees affected is $25, and five employees are directly impacted by the breakdown.

The calculation would be: $25 x (10 / 240) x 5 = $5.21 per employee

How to Reduce Unplanned Downtime

To save time and money, you can take a more proactive approach to maintenance to mitigate unplanned downtime and improve equipment reliability. Here are key ways you can limit unexpected stoppages:

Figure Out Key Metrics to Measure Unplanned Downtime

Beyond the unplanned downtime equation, use vital maintenance metrics like mean time between failure and mean time to repair to understand the frequency of breakdowns and amount of time technicians need to fix failed equipment. 

Automate Equipment Monitoring Using a CMMS

A computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) tracks asset health in real-time, notifying you when machinery shows indications of failure and automates preventive maintenance scheduling. This allows for timely interventions, preventing small issues from turning into failures and extending your assets’ lifespans. 

Document Maintenance & Repairs

Every time a maintenance technician performs a maintenance task, repair or inspection, they need to record a detailed report on the used parts, specific steps taken and so on. A modern approach to maintenance reporting is using a CMMS that allows technicians to record this important data digitally via a tablet or phone. When they hit submit, the cloud automatically stores the data.

Standardize Maintenance Procedures

Your organization needs comprehensive procedural documents that break down the exact steps to be taken when inspecting, maintaining and repairing the essential machines in your facility. These detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) ensure there’s no room for human error when maintaining your machinery and that technicians are all trained on the same steps to be taken. 

Implement a Preventive Maintenance Strategy

Leverage inspections, planned downtime and part replacements to catch and address potential issues with your machinery well before they lead to major equipment failures and unexpected downtime.

Analyze Unplanned Downtime & Re-strategize

In choosing a CMMS like Coast, you will have access to real-time maintenance analytics in the form of an easy-to-understand dashboard. You can assess which equipment or parts are causing unplanned downtime, how frequently breakdowns occur and the amount of time it takes to repair equipment. This will allow you to make informed decisions for continuous improvement to your asset management and maintenance workflows. 

Don’t wait to improve efficiency and minimize downtime. Sign up for Coast for free today!