When Maintenance Isn’t the Problem: Using Data to Challenge Assumptions
- Matt Ulepic
- Nov 25
- 3 min read
Most people assume machine monitoring is only for high-production environments or continuous improvement teams obsessed with OEE and throughput.
But sometimes, the most important role of machine data is much simpler: proving or disproving the assumptions everyone holds.
This is exactly what happened with one of our long-standing customers — a well-known equipment manufacturer that’s been in business for over 100 years.
A Maintenance Manager Under Pressure
Their Facilities Maintenance Manager (we’ll call him Jim) was under constant pressure.
Machines were down.
Production leaders were frustrated.
And the default assumption was clear:
“Maintenance is the bottleneck. If the machines aren’t running, it must be a maintenance issue.”
Jim wasn’t so sure.
He was responsible for a lot of equipment — over 200 pieces spread across the plant.
That included:
New, sophisticated laser systems
40-year-old presses and resistance welders
Stamping equipment
A long tail of legacy machines still critical to production
He knew some downtime was maintenance-related. That’s reality in any shop.
But he also knew it couldn’t all be on his team.
Jim didn’t want a massive, complex, expensive system to “transform maintenance.
”He just needed a simple way to see the truth:
When are machines actually down?
How often?
And why?
That’s when he turned to Machine Tracking.
A Simple Way to Capture Downtime and “Why”
Tom deployed Machine Tracking devices across his diverse mix of equipment.
Because the system doesn’t require deep integrations or complex configurations, he was able to:
Install devices easily on a wide range of machines
Start collecting real uptime and downtime data quickly
Capture the reasons for downtime, not just the fact that it occurred
This gave him what he’d been missing:
an objective, time-stamped record of what was really happening.
What the Data Revealed
Once the data started coming in, the picture changed.
Yes, there was downtime linked to maintenance.
That’s normal. Every facility has planned and unplanned maintenance that takes machines offline.
But that wasn’t the main story.
The bulk of unexpected downtime was coming from:
Lengthy setups
Operators being spread too thin
Waiting on material
In other words, the majority of lost time had very little to do with maintenance—and everything to do with how work and resources were being managed.
For the first time, Operations had something more than gut feel and frustration.
They had real, quantified data that showed where the true problems were.
And equally important:
Jim and his maintenance team finally had evidence that they weren’t the root cause of every issue.
From Finger-Pointing to Problem-Solving
This is where simple, reliable machine data makes a huge difference.
Instead of arguing about who’s at fault, the team can:
See how much downtime is maintenance vs. other causes
Prioritize improvements based on actual impact
Focus on setups, staffing, and material flow — not just wrench time
For this customer, machine tracking didn’t just improve visibility.
It changed the conversation.
Maintenance went from being the scapegoat…to being a partner in solving the real constraints in the system.
You Don’t Have to Be Head of CI to Start
One of the most important lessons from this story:
You don’t need to be the head of CI or a data scientist to start using machine data.
You just need:
A simple way to capture uptime and downtime
A clear record of why machines are down
The willingness to challenge long-held assumptions
Because without data, you’re just guessing.
And we all know where that leads:
finger-pointing, frustration, and expensive decisions based on incomplete information.
📈 Ready to See What’s Really Causing Downtime?
If your maintenance team is getting all the blame — or if you suspect the real issues might be elsewhere — it’s time to get the facts.
Machine Tracking gives you a simple way to capture uptime, downtime, utilization, and downtime reasons across all kinds of equipment: new, old, complex, and everything in between.
No massive implementation.
No overly complicated system.
Just clear visibility into what’s happening on your floor.