Machine utilisation is the share of planned hours a machine actually spends cutting or producing. Twenty machines planned for two 8-hour shifts that cut 9 hours a day each run at 56.3% utilisation. Reaching a 75% target means 3 more productive hours per machine per day, worth about ₹1.62 crore a year at ₹900 an hour over 300 days. That figure is real money only if you could sell what those hours would make.
How the calculator works
The calculator takes seven inputs:
- Machines. The number of comparable machines: CNCs, presses, moulding machines, looms.
- Planned hours per shift. The hours you intend the machines to work in a shift.
- Shifts a day. How many shifts the machines are planned to run.
- Actual cutting hours per machine per day. The hours a machine is actually producing: spindle cutting, press stroking, mould cycling. Not the hours it is switched on.
- Target utilisation (%). The level you want to reach.
- Machine hour rate (₹/h). What an hour of the machine is worth to you. The machine hour rate calculator shows how to build one.
- Working days a year.
The formulas:
Planned hours per machine per day = planned hours per shift × shifts
Utilisation = actual cutting hours ÷ planned hours
Gap to target = target × planned hours − actual cutting hours (never below zero)
Value of closing the gap a year = machines × gap × hour rate × working days
The denominator is planned time, not the 24-hour day. A machine that cuts 9 hours on a 16-hour plan is at 56.3%; against 24 calendar hours the same machine would read 37.5%. Use the same base every time you compare. If you are already above target, the gap shows zero. The calculator does not cap utilisation at 100%; a figure above that means the cutting hours or the plan are wrong.
Worked example (India)
A machine shop with 20 CNCs on two shifts. All figures are assumptions for illustration; they are the calculator's default inputs.
| Input | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Machines | 20 | assumption |
| Planned hours per shift | 8 | assumption |
| Shifts a day | 2 | assumption |
| Actual cutting hours per machine per day | 9 | assumption |
| Target utilisation | 75% | assumption |
| Machine hour rate | ₹900/h | assumption |
| Working days a year | 300 | assumption |
| Planned hours per machine per day | 16 h | 8 × 2 |
| Utilisation | 56.3% | 9 ÷ 16 = 56.25% |
| Gap to target per machine per day | 3.0 h | 75% × 16 = 12 h, − 9 h |
| Value of closing the gap a year | ₹1.62 crore | 20 × 3 h × ₹900 × 300 |
On a 16-hour plan, 9 cutting hours means about 7 hours a machine a day go somewhere else: setups, waiting for material or a setter, first-piece approval, tool changes, breakdowns, loading and unloading. Closing 3 of those 7 hours on 20 machines is 60 machine-hours a day, the equivalent of nearly four more machines at 16 hours each, without buying any. Before you add a machine, see before you buy another CNC.
What typical numbers look like
- A US vendor benchmark runs low. MachineMetrics, a US machine-monitoring vendor, which collects data directly from machine controls, reports average utilisation of 25.9% in 2022 across the machines it monitors, with monthly averages between 22% and 30% (MachineMetrics, State of the Industry). Its denominator is the full 24-hour day and "utilization" means the machine reporting an active state, which can include pauses and setup. Converted to a 16-hour plan, 25.9% of 24 hours is about 6.2 hours, or 39% of planned time. The source is a monitoring vendor and the data is mostly US, so read it as indicative.
- India. We found no credible published survey of machine utilisation in Indian factories. Our guide to spindle utilisation explains what different bands usually mean on an Indian floor.
- Check what your logbook counts. If it records the hours a machine was manned or switched on, rather than the hours it cut, it will read high. Measure before you set a target.
What this number does not tell you
- Whether the gap hours could be sold. The ₹ figure values every recovered hour at the full hour rate, as if each became a sold part. That is right only for constraint machines, the ones that set your output, or when you are sold out. On a machine that waits for a bottleneck anyway, more utilisation adds no output. Run the calculator on the constraint machines first.
- Whether the hour rate is cash. Depreciation and rent are paid whether the machine cuts or not. The figure is the value of capacity, not cash you lose today.
- Why the machine is not cutting. The calculator shows how many hours are missing, not whether they went to setups, waiting for material, first-piece approval or breakdowns. Each needs a different fix. OEE splits the loss further into availability, performance and quality.
- Whether 75% is the right target. A job shop with many short runs spends more time on setups than a plant running long batches. The right target depends on your mix.
- Where the cutting-hours figure came from. If it came from a logbook, it is probably too high. The comparison of monitoring options sets out logs, current sensors, controller data and cameras by cost.
- What a camera cannot see. A camera can show whether a machine is cutting, standing or being set up, hour by hour. It cannot read the cycle program, the part's tolerance or why a setter was late. Those still come from the machine, inspection and the people on the shift.
Related guides
- Machine Utilisation Monitoring in India: Logs vs Sensors vs Controller Data vs Cameras (₹)
- Spindle Utilisation: What 25%, 45% and 70% Mean on an Indian Floor
- Before You Buy Another CNC: Prove the Capacity You Already Have
- Tracking Old CNCs Without a PLC: Logs vs Current Sensors vs Cameras (₹)
- OEE calculator (₹)
FAQ
How do you calculate machine utilisation? Divide the hours a machine actually produced by the hours it was planned to run. 9 cutting hours on a two-shift, 16-hour plan is 9 ÷ 16 = 56.3%.
What is a good machine utilisation? It depends on your mix and on the denominator. MachineMetrics, a US machine-monitoring vendor, reports its monitored machines averaging about 26% active time in 2022, measured against the 24-hour day. We found no credible Indian benchmark. Against planned hours, the right target is the one your setups and batch sizes allow; the calculator's 75% is an assumption.
What is the difference between machine utilisation and OEE? Utilisation counts the hours a machine produced. OEE also checks whether it ran at full speed and made good parts: availability × performance × quality.
How much is a 3-hour utilisation gap worth? At 20 machines, ₹900 an hour and 300 days, 3 hours a machine a day is worth about ₹1.62 crore a year. It becomes money only if the extra output can be sold.
Should utilisation be measured against 24 hours or planned hours? Planned hours tell you how well you use the shifts you run. 24 hours tells you how much capacity is left if you add shifts. Pick one and keep it.
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