What is Down Time?
When a manufacturing process stops for an unplanned event (e.g., a motor failure) it accumulates down time. While down time is most often associated with equipment failures (breakdowns), it actually encompasses any unplanned event that causes your manufacturing process to stop. For example down time can be triggered by material issues, a shortage of operators, or unscheduled maintenance. The unifying element is that although production is scheduled, the process is not running due to an unplanned stop.
By way of contrast, a planned stop is any event where the process is unavailable to run due to a preplanned activity, such as a changeover or scheduled maintenance.