Maintenance & Reliability worked example

Maintenance Technician Utilization at 50% utilization target: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop utilization target to 50%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Measure technician utilization from wrench time, available shift hours, and a target utilization level.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Wrench time: 5.5 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Available shift hours: 8 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Utilization target: 50 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 70)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Technician utilization = wrench time ÷ available shift hours × 100.
  • Technician Utilization works out to 68.75 % at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gap to Utilization Target works out to -18.75 points at these inputs.
  • Wrench Time works out to 5.5 value at these inputs.
  • Available Shift Time works out to 8 value at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where utilization target sits at 70% and the headline result is 68.75 %, this scenario lands almost exactly on the baseline at 68.75 %.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to utilization target, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It measures one technician or one shift snapshot; it does not tell you why utilization is low, and high utilization is not automatically good if the work being done is unplanned firefighting rather than scheduled PM.

Results at a glance

  • Technician Utilization: 68.75 % (headline result)
  • Gap to Utilization Target: -18.75 points
  • Wrench Time: 5.5 value
  • Available Shift Time: 8 value

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Maintenance Technician Utilization calculator, set utilization target to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.