Equipment Utilization Calculator
Measure how much of the period a machine spent operating.
What this calculator does
A single division. Which total the user measures against — calendar or scheduled — is their choice and is stated on the page, because the answer depends on it.
Inputs and what they mean
- Hours the equipment was operating
- — number value.
- Total time in the period
- — Calendar time or scheduled time — your own definition, used the same way each time you measure..
- Downtime in the period (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
- Standby time in the period (optional)
- — Optional. Leave at 0 to exclude it from the result..
How to use it
- Enter your own figures — the calculator never fills in a rate, price or benchmark for you.
- Press Calculate to see the result.
- Read the formula, variables, assumptions and source below the result before you rely on it.
Formula
Equipment utilisation = Operating time ÷ Total time in the period × 100
Worked example
A month of calendar time
Utilisation depends entirely on which total you measure against, so the definition is yours and is shown with the result.
Reading the result
The headline figure is the main answer. Any breakdown underneath shows the parts that make it up, so you can check the working and see what changes when you adjust an input.
Limitations and assumptions
Results depend entirely on the figures you enter and are rounded for display. They are for general information and education, not professional advice.
Reference: Massachusetts Institute of Technology — 2.854 Introduction to Manufacturing Systems
Last reviewed:
Common questions
Formula, source and verification
Operating time as a percentage of the total time measured against, whether that is calendar time or scheduled time.
The question it answers: How much of the period was this machine actually available, and how much of it did we use?
The formula
Equipment utilisation = Operating time ÷ Total time in the period × 100
- O — Operating time
- (h). Hours the equipment was operating.
- T — Total time
- (h). Total time in the period, on the user's own definition.
- D — Downtime
- (h). Optional. Shown as a share of the period.
- B — Standby time
- (h). Optional. Shown as a share of the period.
Units: Hours in; percentage out.
What kind of calculation this is
Deterministic formula. The same inputs always give the same answer. The maths is fixed and does not depend on judgement.
Method
A single division. Which total the user measures against — calendar or scheduled — is their choice and is stated on the page, because the answer depends on it.
Assumptions built into the result
- Mathematical: Every quantity, time and rate is the figure the user entered, measured over the period they describe.
- Mathematical: Times and counts refer to the same period and the same resource.
- Mathematical: Operating, downtime and standby hours all fall inside the total time entered.
Figures this calculator will never guess for you
- No industry benchmark, target utilisation or target availability is supplied or applied.
- No shift length, break allowance, downtime allowance or standard rate is assumed.
- Optional components are excluded from the result when left at zero.
Limitations
- Arithmetic over the figures entered — it cannot tell whether the measurements behind them are right.
- A measured result, an industry benchmark and an organisation's target are three different things; only the entered figures are used.
- Utilisation against calendar time and against scheduled time are different numbers; they cannot be compared with each other.
Source and version
- Standard or reference
- Manufacturing systems — throughput, cycle time, work in process and line balancing — MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OpenCourseWare 2.854 Introduction to Manufacturing Systems — throughput is output per unit of time, cycle time is run time divided by the units produced, line capacity is set by the slowest station, and balance efficiency compares total work content with the number of stations multiplied by the longest station time.)
- Published source
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Fall 2016
- Formula version
- Version 1
- Verification
- Reviewed against the cited source on
- How much weight the source carries
- Academic
- Applies to
- Currency
- The result is a ratio or index, so it does not depend on currency.
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