Translating KPIs
for Operations

How to make maintenance metrics
meaningful to your stakeholders

The Translation Problem

❌ You say:
"MTBF increased by 15%"
→
✅ They hear:
"Technical noise"

Every maintenance metric has a business equivalent

MTBF
Mean Time Between Failures
❌ Don't say:
"MTBF is 120 hours"
→
✅ Do say:
"We went from one breakdown per week to one every two weeks.
26 fewer emergencies per year."
MTTR
Mean Time To Repair
❌ Don't say:
"MTTR is 1.5 hours"
→
✅ Do say:
"When something breaks, you lose 1.5 hours, not 4.
That saves €4,500 per incident."
OEE
Overall Equipment Effectiveness

The one metric that bridges both worlds

65%
Before
→
72%
After

+4 pts maintenance | +2 pts changeovers | +1 pt quality
We're winning together.

PM Compliance
Planned vs Unplanned Work Ratio
❌ Don't say:
"PM compliance is 92%"
→
✅ Do say:
"Two years ago: 40% planned, 60% reactive.
Today: 70% planned, 30% reactive.
Planned work costs half as much."

The One-Page Dashboard

🔧 Reliability
3.2 failures/week
↓ 18% vs last month
⚡ Response
1.5h avg repair
✓ Under 2h target
📊 Efficiency
72% OEE
↑ 7 pts this quarter
📋 Prevention
70/30 ratio
→ Target: 80/20

One page. Four numbers. No jargon.

Benchmark Your KPIs

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