What is Wrench Time? (And How to Calculate)
Maintenance technicians are busy individuals. They’re constantly assigned tasks, traveling around, procuring equipment, asking for permissions, and waiting for access to particular machines. So many tasks, yet none of them actually constitute Wrench Time, also known as Tool Time. That is perhaps the biggest hurdle in studying Wrench Time: the inability to clearly define it and, from there, analyze it. In this blog post, we’ll clarify what it really is and its relevance.
What is Wrench Time?
In the clearest of terms, Wrench Time refers to the amount of time a technician actually spends performing maintenance tasks on a specific machine. While tasks like walking to fetch tools, waiting for instructions, waiting for the machine to become available for maintenance, paperwork, breaks, and idle time are all part of the overall process, when we’re trying to calculate wrench time, we need solid numbers.
To determine those numbers, we need to exclude all supplementary tasks and focus solely on activities that directly contribute to the job at hand. This includes the physical, hands-on work of turning wrenches, repairing machinery, or performing inspections.
Let’s break it down further using an example:
We have a technician working at a garage, servicing a motorcycle. Activities that are considered wrench time would be:
- Cleaning the air filter and carburetor
- Adding fresh engine oil
- Replacing brake pads
Now, what isn’t considered wrench time would be:
- Breaks taken between activities
- Procuring tools and items, like engine oil
- Documenting the changes made
What is a Good Wrench Time?
Technicians, despite their primary job being fixing or maintaining machinery, spend most of their time on other tasks that cannot be considered wrench time. So, in a real-world setting, it’s unrealistic to expect 100% wrench time. Some time will always be spent on these support activities.
A good wrench time benchmark for most industries is considered to be between 25% to 35% range. In 10 hours, that translates to 2.5 to 3.5 hours of actual work. Reaching 50% and 60% is excellent. The numbers do, however, vary from one industry to another, so it’s best to check what’s the industry standard for your niche.
Why is Wrench Time Important?
Unlike most other key performance metrics, wrench time has some fog surrounding it. Maintenance technicians often believe it is not a valid measure of productivity, while maintenance managers consider it the only real measure of productivity.
While it’s understandable why there are opposing views regarding it, wrench time is indeed a simple but powerful way to understand how much time your team spends actually fixing or maintaining things versus how much time gets lost in the shuffle.
Think of it this way: the more time technicians spend doing hands-on work, the smoother and faster things get done. If wrench time is low, it means a lot of time is being wasted on things like searching for parts, waiting for instructions, or walking between job sites. On the other hand, if it’s high, it means things are actively getting done. It has a direct correlation with operational efficiency.
Here are some of the many benefits of improving wrench time:
- Financial Benefits: Every second that a maintenance technician is not actively performing their primary task, resources are being wasted. Improving wrench time means more productivity and getting more value out of your team’s working hours.
- Worker Satisfaction: This may not seem obvious, but nobody likes being unproductive. When the maintenance team is equipped with the tools, parts, and information they need to do their jobs efficiently, they feel more accomplished and less frustrated.
- Increased Productivity: Higher wrench time is a direct indication of improved productivity. When technicians spend more time working with their tools and less time on distractions, they can complete more jobs in a day, leading to fewer delays, faster turnaround times for repairs, and more uptime for machines.
- Task Allocation: No two people are alike. Some excel at certain tasks, while others shine in different areas. Calculating average wrench time helps identify whether an employee is underperforming or excelling at specific tasks. This insight makes it easier to assess their aptitude and reassign tasks accordingly. With this knowledge gap covered, better training can be provided.
- Uncovering Inefficiencies: Similarly, if a particular task consistently takes most employees a long time to complete, it signals the need for better tools or improved techniques unless the task, in general, requires more time. This data also helps in planning and allocating resources more effectively for such tasks.
Internal vs External Wrench Time
There are two categories of wrench time: internal and external. The difference between the two is pretty straightforward:
Internal Wrench Time refers to the time spent by in-house maintenance technicians, such as actual employees of an organization on performing maintenance work. Routine inspections or servicing of equipment, such as changing oil in machinery, are primary examples of Internal Wrench Time.
External Wrench Time, on the other hand, occurs when you hire a contractor or third-party service provider to perform maintenance tasks. This often includes specialized services that in-house staff may not be equipped to handle due to a lack of experience, time, tools, or manpower. Common examples of External Wrench Time include hiring external services for urgent repairs when internal resources are unavailable or meeting regulatory requirements, such as safety inspections and certifications.
Here is a table for easier comparison:
Aspect | Internal Wrench Time | External Wrench Time |
Personnel Involved | Internal team | Third-party, external service providers, and contractors |
Tasks Performed | Regular maintenance and inspections | Specialized tasks, like compliance work or dealing with emergencies |
Scheduling | Higher control over time and schedules | It depends upon contractor availability |
Control | High level of control, managed directly by the company | Managed externally with limited control |
Cost Implications | Comparatively low. Fixed to internal salaries | Relatively higher in comparison, based on contractor fees or agreements |
There should be an ideal balance between the ratio of external and internal wrench time because both can be valuable for your company. To create the desired ratio, follow the tips below:
- Invest in equipment and training for employees. Equip your internal team with the skills they need to handle more complex repairs, reducing reliance on external contractors.
- Don’t shy away from using external contractors for emergencies. When an advanced piece of equipment needs immediate attention, outsource this highly specialized task to get the workflow back on track ASAP.
- Analyze the amount of time and money spent on both categories and make adjustments accordingly.
Common Causes of Low Wrench Time
Before we get into how to accurately measure this metric, let’s look at the common reasons behind low wrench time.
- Poor Scheduling or Planning
Poor planning is the source of many issues within a manufacturing plant, and unsurprisingly, it negatively impacts wrench time as well. If technicians are at the job site but the machinery isn’t ready for maintenance, they’re left waiting, and precious time is being wasted. For example, if the cleaning crew or safety inspector hasn’t completed their tasks yet, the maintenance technicians won’t get access to the machine until they’re done. Poor coordination leads to inefficiencies.
Be sure to learn how industrial manufacturing solutions align with wrench time optimization.
- Over-Reliance on Reactive Maintenance
When a company overly depends on reactive maintenance, it results in machines breaking down more often than they should, as well as them not performing at their optimal capability. And when a machine breaks down, a frenzy is created. Technicians rush around to get approvals, the right tools, and employees for the job and come up with a poorly planned course of action due to the limited time.
It also contributes to hiring external contractors for assistance, which can often charge a premium for last-minute services.
- Delays in Getting Spare Parts and Tools
If a machine goes down, technicians rush to the inventory room only to find out the parts aren’t available.
Think about the time wasted in this hypothetical scenario: inspecting what’s wrong with the machine, walking to the inventory room, realizing the required parts aren’t available (since it’s not always possible for an in-house team to be well-equipped with all the right tools and parts), then waiting for the procurement team to place the order for required items and waiting for them to reach the technicians. Only then could any actual work be performed.
In a scenario like this, even a minor issue can cause a delay of hours, if not days.
- Waiting for Approvals and Paperwork
Bureaucracy doesn’t have a great rep for a reason. Maintenance tasks often require sign-offs or authorizations, especially in highly regulated industries. Even if the technicians are ready for action, they have no choice but to sit around and wait for approvals.
Also, paperwork (everybody’s favorite pastime). While it’s undeniable that paperwork is important, if technicians are stuck doing administrative tasks like filling out data entries, and creating reports, it means they spend less hands-on time on actual maintenance work.
- Over-dependence on External Contractors
Circling back to the point we made above about finding the ideal ratio between external and internal wrench time. Smaller companies often don’t have the resources to have a strong internal maintenance team, leading to them being heavily reliant upon third-party contractors. This ends up being a rather expensive affair in the long run but also further delays maintenance work, as the schedule for the hired contractor must be accommodated.
How to Measure Wrench Time
Wrench time analysis has been a matter that is highly contested, with industries coming up with newer ways of measuring it, some of which are arguably more effective than others. However, four methods have stood the test of time and are the primary ways:
- Self-Reporting
Self-reporting should be quite self-explanatory. It is the simplest, cheapest, and easiest method to calculate wrench time. However, it’s not a perfect method by any means and has some major issues.
What self-reporting has going for it:
- Easy to implement and quite cost-effective
- Requires no fancy tools or equipment, so its implementation time is almost nil
- It creates a sense of personal accountability, so technicians are more mindful of being productive
Now, let’s take a look at the major flaws we spoke of:
- The problem of subjectivity is ever-present. Technicians may classify activities differently, leading to inconsistencies in the data.
- A fear of being reprimanded or judged is instilled within them, invoking a sense of worry that actual reporting would result in a loss of job or paycheck.
- Human error is always present, and technicians don’t always have the time to invest in self-tracking.
However, these issues can be largely addressed by simply informing the employees that these numbers are not meant to judge them, nor would they affect their job safety or paycheck, and informing them about what constitutes wrench time and what doesn’t.
- Day in the Life of (DILO) Study
The Day in the Life of (DILO) study is quite detailed and is a structured approach to measuring wrench time. In DILO, an observer is in charge of tracking the activities a technician performs throughout their entire workday. The observer becomes a shadow, following every move a technician makes, from their breaks, waiting time, and administrative tasks, essentially tracking both wrench time and non-wrench time.
Once all the observations are completed, the collected data is classified and analyzed to determine how much of the technician’s day is spent on actual wrench time and what factors are causing delays or distractions.
DILO offers several benefits, thanks to being structured approach, such as the data being unbiased, objective, and detailed. However, it’s not without its flaws.
When an employee knows they are being observed, there is a sense of tension between the observer and the technician. This is known as the Hawthorne Effect, where individuals change their behavior because they are being watched. So, it’s important to inform the crew that the observer isn’t here to spy on anyone but rather is assigned the sole task of finding issues within the workflow.
Moreover, an observer can practically only analyze a single employee on a particular day. Some days aren’t as good as others, so discrepancies in data can occur.
- Work Sampling
Work Sampling is a statistical method that involves visiting the plant floor at various intervals, observing a sample of technicians, and recording their activities throughout the workday.
Here’s a step-by-step explanation of how it works:
Step 1: Define the Activities
Identify the activities that will be observed and considered as Wrench Time. For example, in a fleet maintenance context, this could include tasks like changing engine oil.
Step 2: Determine the Sample Size
Your sample size should be representative of your workforce. The larger the sample size, the more reliable the results will be, but at a minimum, it must adequately represent your team.
Step 3: Conduct Random Observations
At random times throughout the workday, observe technicians’ activities. For instance, you might monitor an hour of activity both before and after breaks, depending on what is deemed necessary.
Step 4: Categorize the Activities
During each observation, classify the technician’s activities, such as wrench time, downtime, administrative tasks, waiting, or travel time.
Step 5: Analyze the Results
Once enough data has been collected, calculate the percentage of time technicians spend on each activity.
While Work Sampling is a statistically sound method, less time-consuming than a full DILO study, and easier to scale, it is also not without flaws. It’s important to note that it doesn’t capture every detail of a technician’s day. To achieve accurate results, careful attention must be paid to selecting the right sample size and observation intervals.
- Statistical Analysis
Statistical analysis is arguably the best approach among the methods mentioned above, as it is the most accurate. It ensures that every technician has an equal opportunity to be observed, and the sample size is typically large enough to provide a fair representation of how much actual work is being performed over time.
However, since it involves a large sample size with complex and extensive data, it’s best to use a CMMS program to handle and present the data in a more digestible manner.
Statistical analysis is particularly suited for:
- Large-scale Operations: When multiple technicians are involved, you need to identify trends across the entire workforce.
- Long-term Tracking: When you want to monitor wrench time over several months or years to uncover long-term trends and make predictions about future performance.
How to Improve Wrench Time
Improving wrench time isn’t overly complicated. Often, words and definitions make tasks sound like an endeavor, but improving wrench time is simply about finding ways to help technicians spend more of their day on actual hands-on work and less on activities like waiting, walking, or figuring out what to do next.
Here are some straightforward tips to boost wrench time and make your maintenance team that much more efficient:
- Keep Inventory Stocked
Since most companies rely on reactive maintenance, technicians waste a lot of time hunting for tools and parts at the last moment. Having a well-organized storage system where everything is labeled makes a huge difference.
Preparing an emergency kit for major machinery and actively tracking inventory to restock items as and when needed greatly prevents frustrating delays. When everything is ready and easy to find, technicians can get right to business.
- Train Your Team Regularly and Get the Right Equipment
Technicians can always improve. Task times may be longer for employees due to a lack of necessary equipment or underconfidence in their skills. Regular training can address this by building expertise and ensuring access to the right tools. Training programs for skill upgrades are essential, as the latest tools, techniques, and software are always emerging. Staying up to date is crucial. When technicians feel confident and skilled, they work faster, make fewer mistakes, and achieve more.
- Communicate Clearly
Clear communication can make a huge difference in improving wrench time. First, inform employees about the agenda. Technicians can often feel like they are being put on the spot when observed, so addressing their concerns about the practice for improving wrench time is crucial and must not be underestimated.
Secondly, due to a lack of a clear communication channel, required personnel may not stay informed in real-time. Establishing such a channel is super important. Plus, detailed and well-documented work orders ensure that technicians understand exactly what needs to be done.
How LLumin Can Help Improve Wrench Time
LLumin’s CMMS can help measure the very important productivity metric of wrench time. By understanding what affects it, accurately measuring it, and taking steps to improve it, your business can greatly improve wrench time and overall operations.
Being AI-powered and one of the few mobile CMMS+ programs out there, LLumin helps your business in various ways:
- Boost maintenance efficiency with LLumin’s work order management solutions. Move from reactive to proactive maintenance by automating work orders and scheduling preventive maintenance.
- Get a centralized channel for all information, with the ability to present data in detailed reports and custom dashboards.
- We make inventory management easy and send out alerts whenever your stock is running low.
- With access via mobile phones, you can stay informed on important updates in real-time.
To learn more about LLumin’s CMMS+ program and how you can track and manage assets efficiently to optimize wrench time with our asset management software, schedule a demo with us today.
FAQs
Why is wrench time important for maintenance efficiency?
Wrench time measures the time spent on actual work, as opposed to support activities. The more time technicians spend working on equipment repairs and maintenance tasks, and less time on distractions, the quicker issues are resolved, and equipment downtime is reduced. This leads to smoother operations and cost savings for the business. This makes it a highly valuable metric for maintenance efficiency.
How can scheduling improve wrench time?
When tasks are scheduled properly, technicians can focus on one area at a time, reducing unnecessary movement between locations and waiting for approvals. Scheduling preventive maintenance during off-peak hours or planned downtime ensures that equipment is repaired before issues arise, preventing disruptions and unplanned repairs.
What is the difference between wrench time and response time?
Wrench time refers specifically to the time a technician spends actively working on fixing or maintaining equipment, affecting maintenance efficiency directly. Response time, on the other hand, focuses on the time taken by a technician to respond to and start a maintenance task after it has been reported, measuring how quickly issues are addressed.
How does wrench time affect asset reliability?
Assets become unreliable when they aren’t maintained in a timely manner. A higher wrench time means equipment gets the attention it needs to stay in shape and perform its tasks as expected. Furthermore, machines that are maintained well last longer, meaning a longer asset lifespan.
How is wrench time different from productivity?
Wrench time assists productivity, but they aren’t the same. It specifically deals with the time spent by technicians on tools, and working on maintenance tasks. Productivity, on the other hand, is a broader measure that includes the amount of work done in a given period, which can encompass both wrench time and other factors like setup time, travel, and planning.
Karen Rossi is a seasoned operations leader with over 30 years of experience empowering software development teams and managing corporate operations. With a track record of developing and maintaining comprehensive products and services, Karen runs company-wide operations and leads large-scale projects as COO of LLumin.