Machine uptime, downtime and OEE
Most factories know a machine stopped; few can say for how long or why. Uptime tracking turns each stoppage into a logged event with a reason, so downtime stops being an unexplained gap. Read those records over time and you have the honest picture that OEE — availability, performance and quality — is meant to describe.
Uptime and OEE at a glance
- What it measures
- Machine uptime and downtime, per machine
- Core idea
- Every stoppage gets a reason
- Shipped rule
- unplanned_downtime
- UI surface
- /m/industrial · machines · downtime
- OEE inputs
- Availability · performance · quality
- Your current OEE
- —† measured from your data
- For inspection
- See industrial / osha
- Per-plant price
- —† scoped per deployment
From a stopped machine to a number you trust
Four steps. The difference between a hunch and a metric is that every stoppage is recorded with a reason, and the number is read from those records rather than estimated at the end of the month.
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Put every machine on the register
Each machine has an identity, a location and its planned running hours. This is the same register the OSHA inspection page describes — one list, used for two jobs.
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Capture the stoppage
When a machine stops, the event is recorded — whether reported by a connected machine or logged by the shift. A stoppage with no record is the problem uptime tracking exists to remove.
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Attach a reason
The stoppage is given a reason — breakdown, changeover, no material, no operator. The unplanned_downtime rule marks the ones that were not planned, so genuine losses stand apart from scheduled stops.
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Read it as a trend
The same records, summed over a week or a shift, show which machine and which reason cost the most hours. That is the input to OEE and to a preventive-maintenance case — evidence, not anecdote.
A machine is down when it should be running
rule: unplanned_downtimeA machine stops inside its planned running hours without a scheduled reason — the stoppages that actually cost you output.
A logged downtime event naming the machine, when it stopped and, once entered, why — sitting on the /m/industrial downtime record.
Assign the reason, restore the machine, and let the record accumulate into the trend you review at shift or week end.
Note: the module also carries an overuse rule, but its behaviour is not confirmed for this deployment and it is not relied on here. This page describes only the downtime record that is proven.
Three honest fractions, not one magic score
OEE — Overall Equipment Effectiveness — is availability × performance × quality. Availability asks how much of the planned time the machine actually ran; performance asks whether it ran at its rated speed; quality asks how much of what it made was good. Multiply the three and you get one figure that is only as honest as the records behind it.
That is exactly why downtime-with-a-reason comes first. If stoppages are not captured, availability is guessed; if it is guessed, OEE is fiction. Trakora does not print a flattering number — it holds the records that let you calculate a real one, and shows where the loss actually sits so you can act on the biggest reason rather than the loudest complaint.
The three components
| Component | The question | Your value |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | Did it run when it was planned to? | — |
| Performance | Did it run at its rated speed? | — |
| Quality | Was what it made good? | — |
| OEE | The three, multiplied | — |
Every value is — because OEE is measured from your machines and your records, not asserted on a marketing page. No number here is invented.
What this cannot do
What to expect
- This is a record, not a control system. It monitors and logs machine state; it does not run a PLC, drive an actuator or stop a line for you.
- OEE is only as good as its inputs. Performance and quality figures depend on the rated speeds and good-count you provide — a machine with no target has no performance number to compute.
- A stoppage with no reason attached counts as downtime but teaches you nothing. The reason has to be entered for the trend to be useful.
- The overuse rule exists in the module but its behaviour is not confirmed and is not relied on here.
- Connectivity is over the site network or GSM; in a coverage gap events buffer and backfill on reconnection with their original timestamp, rather than appearing live.
Facts marked — are not published on this page: your OEE and its components are computed from your own machines and records, and the per-plant price is scoped per deployment in TZS with a VAT invoice. No figure is stated where the data does not define one.
Frequently asked questions
What is machine downtime tracking?
It is recording every time a machine stops, for how long and why. Trakora logs the stoppage and the unplanned_downtime rule separates unplanned losses from scheduled stops, so downtime becomes a record you can act on instead of an unexplained gap.
What is OEE?
OEE, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, is availability multiplied by performance multiplied by quality. It condenses how much good output a machine produced against its potential into one figure — one that is only honest if the downtime behind availability was actually recorded.
Does Trakora control the machines?
No. Trakora is a monitoring and record system, not a control system. It captures machine state and logs downtime; it does not run a PLC or stop a line. The response on the floor stays with your team.
Why do you show OEE as a dash?
Because OEE is measured from your machines and your records, not a number a marketing page can honestly quote. Once your downtime, rated speeds and good-count are being captured, the figure is computed from that data — and no figure is invented before it.
How does this relate to the OSHA page?
They share one machine register. The OSHA page uses it as inspection evidence; this page reads the same running-hours and downtime records as an uptime and OEE story. One register, two jobs.
More on industrial monitoring
Stop guessing your downtime
Tell us how many machines you run and how they stop, and we will scope uptime, downtime-with-a-reason and an OEE view — in TZS with a VAT invoice and Swahili support.