Machine Utilization Calculator
Machine utilization is run time divided by available time. Enter the hours in your period, the hours the machine was scheduled and the hours it really ran, and see utilization against both, plus where the idle hours went. Updates as you type.
Your machine
Use the same period for all three numbers, for example one week.
The three formulas
Utilization against calendar time = run time ÷ calendar time. Utilization against scheduled time = run time ÷ scheduled time (OEE calls this ratio availability). Loading = scheduled time ÷ calendar time (the factor TEEP calls utilization). Plants use the word utilization for more than one of these, so always say which base you mean.
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Utilization is only as good as the run time behind it.
Run times written down at the end of a shift miss the short stops and the machine that is switched on but not producing. Fabrico, a light MES with computer vision, records run and stop from a PLC, a Fabrico IoT device or an AI camera, and its camera-based OEE software syncs camera video with machine data, so you can replay the moment a machine stopped and see why.
Book a Fabrico demoThe machine utilization formula
Machine utilization = run time ÷ available time × 100. The whole question is what you count as available time. Against calendar time (all 168 hours of a week) utilization shows how much of the clock the machine works, which is the number to use when you decide whether you need another machine. Against scheduled time it shows how much of the planned time the machine really ran, which is the number to use when you chase stops. The ratio of scheduled time to calendar time is often called loading; the TEEP calculator uses it as its utilization factor.
Worked example (the numbers in the calculator)
A CNC lathe runs two 8-hour shifts, five days a week, so it is scheduled for 80 of the 168 hours in a week. The machine signal shows it produced for 62 hours. Utilization against calendar time is 62 / 168 = 36.9%. Utilization against scheduled time is 62 / 80 = 77.5%. Loading is 80 / 168 = 47.6%, and 36.9% is the same as 77.5% x 47.6%.
The two gaps call for different actions. The 18 hours the lathe stood still while scheduled are stops: waiting for material, changeovers, breakdowns, and the availability calculator splits them out. The 88 hours it was not scheduled are capacity you could add with another shift, if demand is there. Fix the 18 first: they cost no extra labour.
Machine utilization vs OEE
Utilization only asks whether the machine is running. OEE also asks how fast it runs and how many good parts it makes, so a machine can be busy all day and still have a low OEE. fabrico.io explains the difference in machine utilization vs OEE.
Common mistakes
- Mixing bases. Comparing one machine's utilization against calendar time with another's against scheduled time makes the second look twice as busy. Write the base next to the number.
- Counting "switched on" as running. A machine waiting for material or an operator is idle. If the run time comes from the main switch, utilization is too high.
- Hand-logged run time. Short stops rarely make it onto a paper log; the hidden factory calculator shows what they add up to.
What is machine utilization?
Machine utilization is the share of the available time in which a machine actually runs. If a machine runs 62 hours in a 168-hour week, its utilization against calendar time is 62 / 168 = 36.9%.
How do you calculate machine utilization?
Divide run time by available time and multiply by 100. Decide first which available time you mean: all calendar hours (168 a week) or only the hours the machine is scheduled. With 62 run hours, 80 scheduled hours and a 168-hour week, utilization is 36.9% against calendar time and 77.5% against scheduled time.
What is the difference between machine utilization and OEE?
Utilization only asks whether the machine is running. OEE also asks how fast it runs and how many good parts it makes. A machine can be running every scheduled hour and still have a low OEE because it runs slowly or makes scrap.
Should warm-up and idling count as run time?
Count as run time only the time the machine is producing or cycling. A machine that is switched on but waiting for material, an operator or a changeover is idle, and counting it as run time makes utilization look better than the line really is.
How do I get an accurate run time?
Take it from the machine itself, a PLC signal, a sensor or a camera, rather than from estimates written at the end of the shift. Hand logs usually miss short stops, so the run time they give is too high.
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