How To Get 90%+ Uptime On Your Production Line

Posted on 12/1/2025, 3:19:07 PM

Getting more than 90% uptime on your production line is the gold standard for many businesses. It’s the threshold that differentiates between a professional operation and a business that will struggle to keep the lights on. 

But how are you supposed to actually exceed this mythic number? What’s really going to make a difference for you?

Stop Using Calendar Hours

First, you’ll want to stop using calendar hours (a habit a lot of production line workers fall into). You’ll need True “only planned production time” and use that in the denominator. Obviously, if you use the wrong metric in the denominator, your performance will seem lower than it actually is and you’ll be chasing a mirage. 

Also, you need to ensure you’re measuring “micro losses.” For example, if your production line takes five minutes to warm up in the morning but you want to be using it the whole time, then that’s a sign you’re measuring the wrong metrics. You could be blind to a significant chunk of your losses. 

Keep On Top Of Total Productive Maintenance

Another thing you want to do is keep on top of total productive maintenance. You want to make sure you’re doing all the little things that keep the big things going. 

This might sound like a chore, and frankly, it is. But once you automate it, you can make a lot of progress. 

Also, putting a tagging system in place can help. If you can tag all your lines, prep them for lube and provide tightening or inspection instructions, that can make the process more fluid. Often, it’s better for workers to do a lot of small things than a handful of big and complicated things. 

Make Your Maintenance Predictive

Another big shift you can make to get over the 90% threshold is to move from a breakdown mindset to a maintenance one. The idea here is to fix things before they go wrong, which is easier said than done. 

This process starts with going to manufacturers and asking them how long their devices are going to run for realistically. They should be able to provide you with a parts replacement schedule based on their internal evaluations at the firm. 

Once you have this list, you’re ready to rock and roll. All you need to do is put it into a spreadsheet and follow the instructions. 

You could also use various sensors to tell you if you have problems in real time. These are great when it’s expensive to open up equipment and look inside. 

For example, a lot of companies with production lines use vibration sensors. These are good for detecting when parts might be out of alignment and at risk of causing catastrophic damage. Sometimes, shared data from other users can refine the diagnosis even more and help you understand what’s going wrong, where the failure is likely to occur, and how long you have left before you need to shut down the line. 

Many production lines also use thermography. Again, this is a high-value technique that’s great for catching electrical issues. It can nip these in the bud early. 

You also want to ensure that the components you’re using in the first place optimise value. Donaldson Torit recommends parts that maximise longevity while minimizing overall lifecycle costs, an important metric to bear in mind. 

Reduce Or Eliminate Changeover Times

Another high-value move is to reduce or eliminate changeover times. Stopping entire lines just because of a shift change is expensive and risky. Plus, even if you get it down to 10 minutes, that’s still 30 minutes lost per day if you run three 8-hour shifts, which is already eating 3% into your total downtime figure. 

You can reduce changeover times by literally filming them to see how long they take. You can also do things like separate internal and external tasks and move to quick clamps. It’ll all depend on your operation and the type of company you have. 

Make Your Maintenance Schedule Iron-Clad

You also want to make your maintenance schedule iron-clad if possible. The more you can get this working like clockwork, the more predictable your uptime will be. 

A lot of companies are quick to relax about maintenance schedules. But you can never take that approach if you have an active production line. Something is always waiting to go wrong, and it’s your job to be on top of it. 

If you can use daily PB boards and checklists, that’s ideal. These publicly show what’s been done, and what’s still to go. Such tools motivate those who are responsible and get them to constantly work on lines and maintain them. 

Ranking equipment criticality is also useful when it comes to maintenance. Some machines will continue to function without much servicing and with minimal internal damage. However, others might only be able to survive a few minutes without oil. 

Get Rid Of Micro-Stops

As mentioned earlier, it’s a good policy to focus on reducing micro-stops in your enterprise. These stops usually happen because of human error, but cutting back on them and ensuring they only occur during scheduled intervals is critical. They can really add up over the course of a day or even a couple of weeks, and you can lose a lot of money fast. 

Therefore, take a week off from production to evaluate all micro-stops at your production line and why they occurred. Then practice strategies to fix them with the staff you have at your facility. Make sure they understand what they need to do to prevent these stops from occurring, especially if they are their fault. 

Standardize Everything

Finally, you want to standardize everything in your factory. Make sure that it all makes sense for what you want to produce and that cross-departmental learning is easy. 

For example, you could institute one-point lessons for every task. You can also include things like centerline settings with optimal positions and color coding. Simply following best practices in your niche can help as well and make a significant difference.