Employers are starting to see less downtime than 2023, marking an improvement maintenance, asset reliability and operational processes. Despite this, companies are still paying more for these types of disruptions, a report from MaintainX found.
Around 85 percent of facilities reported a stabilization or even a decrease in incidents of unplanned downtime over the last year, but 30 percent of respondents reported higher downtime costs. According to the report, the average cost of an hour of unplanned downtime can cost organizations upward of $25,000, with the figure reaching as high as $500,000.
Downtime on jobs has largely been attributed to aging equipment and delays in shipping parts. According to the report, 29 percent of respondents believe that aging equipment will contribute to unplanned downtime over the next year, while 72 percent of facilities believe that the rising cost of parts and shipping is what is making this time so expensive.
Meanwhile, the report found that a majority of respondents agreed that proactive maintenance can reduce unplanned downtime incidents. Replacing aging equipment and improvements in the quality and frequency of training can help prevent downtime, according to the report. However, 57 percent of facilities still rely on some form of run-to-failure maintenance to best maintain their assets.
Progress of maintenance programs are also causing downtime. According to the report, 60 percent of respondents believe the ongoing skilled labor shortage continues to be their number one challenge. More elderly technicians are beginning to retire, taking critical knowledge along with them. Instead of succession planning and training employees, more companies have relied on incoming technology to navigate this challenge. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence or computerized maintenance management systems can provide employees with critical information, thus reducing the need for downtime on jobs.
Mackenna Moralez is the associate editor of the facilities market.
