Twelve maintenance and reliability KPIs every industrial site should track — with formulae, healthy ranges, and the trap to avoid for each one.
This is a free extract from the Engineering KPIs Reference Guide. It covers the twelve KPIs we believe every industrial maintenance organisation should be tracking — beyond the headline PM compliance number that most plants report.
For the full reference (35+ KPIs, role-by-role guidance, world-class benchmarks, and the data architecture that makes them work), see the KPI Reference Guide.
The single most-quoted maturity indicator. Below 30% suggests Stage 3+. Above 60% means you're in Stage 1.
World-class: <15% · Stage 3 target: 25–40% · Watch out: misclassified work orders can fake this number.
How much of next week's work is genuinely planned (with parts, instructions, time estimates) vs. just listed.
World-class: >90% · Watch out: counting reactive work as "planned" because it has a work order number.
Always disaggregate. The headline plant number hides the truth. See: Why your PM compliance number lies.
Class A target: >95% · Class B target: >90% · Class C: >85%.
Stricter than compliance. Catches the "TECO it before it goes red" gaming behaviour.
World-class: >85% · Watch out: this requires a CMMS that records actual execution date, not just due date.
The most under-used KPI in maintenance. Tells you whether your PM tactics are catching the right things.
Healthy: 15–25% · Below 5%: over-maintaining · Above 40%: degradation outpacing PM frequency.
Measure for individual Class A assets, not plant-wide. Use as a leading indicator of tactic effectiveness.
Track per asset · trend matters more than absolute value.
A pure execution metric. Trend it down by improving spares availability, planning quality, and artisan skill.
Watch out: MTTR can drop because failures are getting smaller, not because repair is faster. Always pair with MTBF.
For production assets. Always show all three components separately — the headline number hides which one is broken.
World-class: >85% · Industry average: 60% · Always disaggregate.
Not just total backlog — age of backlog. Old work orders never get done; they just hide the real problem.
Healthy: 3–5 weeks · Aging discipline: <5% over 12 weeks old.
The honesty metric. Most plants think they're at 50%. Stopwatch studies usually find 25–35%.
Stage 3: 35–45% · Stage 4: >50% · World-class: >60%.
If your PMs and DE program are working, this trends down over time.
Trend direction matters more than absolute number.
The acid test of whether your DE program actually eliminates defects or just temporarily suppresses them.
Acceptable: <15% · Stage 4: <10% · World-class: <5%.
The Engineering KPIs Reference Guide covers 35+ KPIs with role-by-role guidance, world-class benchmarks, and the data architecture that makes them work.
See the KPI Reference Guide →