The Storeroom and Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)

Companies think they are tracking equipment reliability by measuring maintenance performance, but these are two very different activities.  Almost all the maintenance metrics that an organization tracks and stews over are maintenance administrative measures and not a measurement of the asset reliability.

Aside from Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), it is important that companies track the Mean Time to Repair (MTTR). This measure starts when an asset is taken out of service by emergency work or planned and scheduled work.  The measure stops when the asset is back up and running.

MTTR is synonymous with maintainability. An asset’s availability is increased when we improve the asset’s maintainability. We improve maintainability by decreasing the MTTR.

The storeroom plays a significant role in decreasing MTTR (which is actually improving maintainability) by first having the right part, at the right time, and in the right quantity.

The formula for MTTR includes a period of time necessary to obtain parts. Sometimes obtaining parts turns into attaining parts, as in finding, sourcing, and transporting. A really good storeroom helps the maintenance department shorten the MTTR by being on top of the parts element in this calculation.

Martin Inc. and Maintenance Innovators are partners in creating custom-tailored solutions to solve your storeroom or tool crib challenges. Contact Martin today to begin the process of creating a world-class storeroom that gives you ready access to all your supplies, parts and tools and helps you operate more efficiently and cost effectively.

John Ross
MaintenanceInnovators.com