The MTBF concept is a term introduced as the abbreviation mean time between failure. MTBF measurements cover unplanned inspections and maintenance.
Planned maintenance operations are not included in MTBF measurements.
MTBF measurements are important for all sectors operating with equipment that can fail. It is especially beneficial for banks, factories, technology companies, and similar businesses in terms of predicting failures. Therefore, the mean time between failure measurements performed by expert personnel directly contributes to areas such as business planning and production efficiency.
MTBF Formula
The universal formula used to calculate M-T-B-F is called the MTBF formula. You need to determine how many times the determined asset has failed in total and how many hours it has been working to analyze the mean time value between two failures and achieve the result. Later, the number of failures is divided by the operating hours. The resulting value is the M.T.B.F. measurement result.
How to Calculate MTBF?
There are some considerations to pay attention to achieve the most accurate results while calculating MTBF. These considerations can be summarized as follows:
- Parameter Determination for Data Recording: It is necessary to determine the parameters of the data to be recorded to calculate the time between failures. Thus, it is possible to achieve clear results such as elapsed runtime and number of failures.
- Data Recording: Calculating MTBF with asset guidelines often leads to misleading results. It is because these guidelines do not include human factors and business-specific conditions in the calculation. Therefore, businesses need to collect and record their own data to achieve the most accurate results.
- Calculating Operation Time: The total operations hours of the asset are needed to calculate M-T-B-F. Therefore, how many hours the equipment operates should be checked from the records and used in the formula correctly.
- Identifying the Number of Failures: The number of failures is one of the most important data for calculating M.T.B.F. How many times the assets have failed in total within the time should be included in the calculation correctly.
- Applying the Formula: After all, data is identified, the MTBF formula must be filled in properly. It is possible to achieve the mean time value between failures after providing the values corresponding to the parameters specified in the formula.
Thanks to MTBF calculation, it is possible to determine how long it takes for assets to fail. In this way, advantages such as implementing the required solution suggestions and increasing efficiency can be achieved.
M.T.B.F. Improvement Stages
There are three main steps to follow for MTBF improvement stages. These steps can be summarized as follows:
- Structuring the Maintenance and Repair Processes: Knowing how long it takes for assets to fail allows predictive maintenance to be carried out when the time of failure approaches. It becomes possible to take precautions and not disrupt the business plan without experiencing a breakdown with process optimization. In this way, businesses enjoy advantages such as using resources most efficiently and reducing waste costs.
- Performing Failure Analysis: Examining and analyzing the data of failed assets will significantly contribute to developing a solution. Therefore, businesses should determine the frequency and cause of the failure and make the required analyzes. In this way, it is possible to take the necessary precautions and prevent failures.
- Creating an Early Warning System: Analyzing the data of the failed assets based on the situation is an important factor for businesses to create an early warning system. In this way, failed assets can be maintained separately and differently from other assets. Thus, there will be no disruptions or delays in business planning.
Monitoring the improvement stages of the mean repair time between two assets is important for less frequent failures. Therefore, businesses must record all necessary data and implement the necessary actions to calculate the mean time between two failures.
What Is the Difference Between MTBF and MTTR?
The M.T.B.F. concept refers to a metric measure used when business planning is interrupted 2 times in an unplanned manner. The time elapsed between two interruptions provide the MTBF value. On the other hand, the MTTR concept refers to the metric measure, which calculates the time between the unexpected interruption of business planning and the time it takes to become active again. So, the measurements represented by both concepts are completely different from each other.
