Machine Downtime and Fault Log

Who this is for

Every stoppage on one line, with the arithmetic done. Write the time the machine stopped and the time it ran again and the hours lost are worked out, so the pattern behind a month of small stoppages is visible instead of anecdotal.

Workshops, factories, packhouses, print rooms, bakeries and maintenance teams who need to show where production time is going and which machine is eating it.

What this helps you track

• Each stoppage dated, timed and attached to a named machine
• Hours lost per stoppage and across the whole sheet
• The fault as the operator described it, and the cause as it turned out
• What was done to get running again, and by whom
• The longest stoppage and the total, so a case for repair or replacement has figures behind it

How to use it

1. Write the site, the line or department and the period the sheet covers at the top.
2. Log the stoppage as it happens: the machine, what it did, and the clock time it stopped.
3. Write clock times as decimals — 14.5 for half past two — so the hours lost can be subtracted.
4. Fill in the time it ran again as soon as it does. The hours lost column works itself out on screen and in the workbook.
5. Record the cause once it is known, even if that is days later, and what was done about it.
6. Total the hours at the end of the week or month and compare machines against each other.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why decimal times rather than the clock?

Because 16.25 minus 14.5 is arithmetic a spreadsheet can do and 16:15 minus 14:30 is not, at least not without date formatting that breaks when printed. Write 14.5 for 14:30 and 14.25 for 14:15.

What about a stoppage that runs past midnight?

Split it into two lines, one ending at 24 and one starting at 0 on the next date. The total is the same and the dates stay honest.

Do short stoppages matter?

They are usually the reason the sheet exists. A five minute clear-out four times a shift disappears from memory entirely and shows up plainly in a column of totals.

Where does the repair itself go?

On a work order or the equipment's own service record. This log is about lost time; the repair paperwork is about the machine.