Is your maintenance backlog healthy?
Backlog is the maintenance you have identified but not yet done, measured against how fast your crew can clear it. Too little means you are firefighting and not capturing work, too much means you are falling behind. Enter your numbers and see your backlog in weeks against the healthy band. Numbers update as you type.
Your maintenance load
Count only ready, approved work in the backlog, and use wrench-time hours, not clock hours.
Where you stand
Your numbers appear here.
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A backlog you cannot see is not under control.
If work lives in heads and paper, the backlog number is a guess. The free OEE Tracker captures stops and the work they generate, so the backlog is real and you can tell firefighting from a planned queue.
Open the free OEE TrackerCut the inflow, not just the queue.
Adding hours rarely fixes a growing backlog if breakdowns keep feeding it. Fabrico reduces the unplanned inflow with condition-based triggers and a closed loop from a detected fault to an auto-routed work order, and it captures and prioritises the queue so planned work stops losing to emergencies.
Book a Fabrico demoWhy backlog is a health check, not just a number
Maintenance backlog is one of the clearest signals of whether a maintenance operation is in control. A healthy, visible backlog of ready work lets a planner schedule the crew efficiently a week or two ahead. A backlog that is near zero usually means work is not being captured and the team reacts to whatever breaks next. A backlog that keeps growing means capacity is losing to inflow, and every week more planned work gets bumped by emergencies. The number in weeks matters more than the number in hours, because it accounts for the size of your crew.
The math
Weekly capacity = technicians times wrench-time hours per technician per week. Backlog in weeks = outstanding work hours divided by weekly capacity. Using wrench time rather than clock hours is what makes the result honest, since a large share of a paid hour is not spent on tools.
Should I count all work orders in the backlog?
Count only ready backlog: approved work that could be scheduled now. Work waiting on parts, access or a shutdown is a separate queue and should not inflate the number you plan against.
What wrench time should I assume?
Actual time on tools is often 25 to 35 hours of a 40 hour week once meetings, travel, waiting and breaks are removed. Use your own measured figure if you have it, because assuming a full 40 hides a real capacity gap.
How do we bring a high backlog down?
Reduce the inflow of unplanned work with preventive and condition-based maintenance, and raise effective capacity through better planning and kitting. The preventive maintenance ROI calculator shows the value of cutting breakdowns, and Fabrico is how the queue and the inflow get managed together.
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