Understanding KPIs 

Understanding KPIs: The Key to Achieving Your Maintenance and Reliability Goals

Within our maintenance and reliability program and work management process, we generate a large amount of work. Sometimes, unexpected failures occur. While we generally hope these are minor, there are occasions when failures are major or even catastrophic, leading to prolonged production, shutdowns or, worse, injuries to our workforce.

1. Differentiating Between Leading and Lagging Indicators

When it comes to KPIs, it’s crucial to understand the difference between leading and lagging indicators. Both types provide valuable insights, but they serve different purposes.

Lagging Indicators: These are indicators that measure past performance. They tell you how well you’ve done over a specific period. For instance, the availability of your assets is typically a lagging indicator because it reflects how much availability you had in the past week, month, or year. 

Leading Indicators: On the other hand, leading indicators provide foresight into future performance. They help predict how well you will perform moving forward. A prime example of a leading indicator in the maintenance world is Preventive Maintenance (PM) compliance. How well you’ve adhered to your preventive maintenance schedule will likely indicate how smoothly your operations will run in the future. 

2. Selecting the Right KPIs for Your Objectives  

Choosing the right KPIs is essential for staying on track with your goals. It’s not just about measuring anything and everything; it’s about selecting the indicators that truly align with your vision and objectives. The right KPIs will reveal whether you’re on the path to achieving your goals or if adjustments are needed. 

For maintenance and reliability professionals, this means carefully considering which leading and lagging indicators will give you the most accurate picture of your progress. By focusing on the KPIs that matter most to your operations, you can ensure that your efforts are not just effective but also efficient in driving you toward your ultimate vision. 

Here are some commonly used KPIs in the maintenance and reliability field: 

• Asset Availability: Measures the percentage of time assets are available for use compared to the total possible time. 
• MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures): The average time between failures of an asset. A higher MTBF indicates good equipment reliability. 
• MTTR (Mean Time to Repair): The average time required to repair a failed asset. A lower MTTR indicates high efficiency in the repair process. 
• Preventive Maintenance Compliance (PM Compliance): The percentage of preventive maintenance tasks completed according to the established schedule. 
• Failure Rate: The number of asset failures per unit of time. A lower failure rate often indicates good asset management. 
• Reactive Maintenance Rate: The percentage of reactive maintenance tasks compared to planned maintenance. A high rate may indicate an over-reliance on emergency repairs. 
• Maintenance Cost per Asset: Tracks maintenance costs for each asset, helping to understand the efficiency of maintenance spending. 
• Spare Parts Availability Rate: Measures the availability of spare parts needed for repairs. A high rate minimizes downtime. 

3. Moving Towards Continuous Reliability Improvement

These KPIs are valuable for improving your maintenance and reliability program in the long term. By focusing on the indicators most relevant to your operations, you can ensure that your efforts are both effective and geared towards achieving your vision.

Conclusion

Defect elimination should not be seen as a one-time task but as a continuous process of improving your maintenance and reliability program. By not only identifying the root causes of failures but also implementing sustainable solutions and using data intelligently, you can strengthen the resilience of your operations and minimize the risk of major breakdowns.