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The six key time-stealers hurting construction and manufacturing productivity are equipment breakdowns, changeovers, idling and minor stops, reduced running speed, quality loss, and start-up or set-up delays. Marc Roberts, operations director at BBI Services, presents these as recurring sources of lost production time and recommends removing their causes through better maintenance, preparation, training, workflow design and root-cause correction. His article is practical guidance, not a controlled trial, so it does not establish a guaranteed percentage improvement. The useful outcome is a disciplined way to find where time disappears, measure the disruption at the right level and act before it reaches a deadline.
Roberts describes the consequences plainly: Equipment breakdowns cost time and money, stopping the flow of production and creating all sorts of knock-on impacts to lead times, product deadlines and project schedules.
Read the original explanation in Buildingtalk, then use the framework below to turn each loss into an operational question.
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What are the six losses in one view?
Use this table as a first-pass loss register. The categories are Roberts’s terminology; the suggested measures are ways to expose the interruption without assuming that every business records data in the same system.
| Time-stealer | Typical disruption | First management response | Useful evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakdown loss | Unplanned equipment stoppage, missed sequence or emergency repair | Review reliability, servicing and the cost of repeated shutdowns | Failure log, downtime duration, delayed jobs |
| Changeover loss | Time spent reconfiguring equipment, tools, materials or shifts | Measure accumulated changeover time and redesign the handoff | Changeover minutes by product, line or shift |
| Idling and minor stops | Short waits for materials, information, adjustments or help | Stage resources at the station before work begins | Count and duration of small stops |
| Reduced-speed loss | Equipment runs below its intended rate or people work cautiously while learning | Verify settings and provide thorough onboarding | Target rate versus actual rate, training status |
| Quality loss | Defects, rework, scrap or inspection holds | Find and remove the cause in materials, drawings or equipment | Defect type, point of detection, rework time |
| Start-up and set-up loss | A project or shift begins late because prerequisites are missing | Prepare resources before approval or kickoff | Planned start versus ready-to-work time |
How does breakdown loss damage a project?
A failed machine does more than remove its own processing time. It can interrupt the sequence around it, force people to wait, move work to a less suitable station and consume the schedule buffer that protected a delivery date. Roberts specifically links breakdowns with lead times, product deadlines and project schedules.
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Start with a reliability review rather than automatically buying replacement equipment. List the machines whose failures repeatedly stop production, the duration of each interruption and the work that was waiting. Check whether servicing is being completed at the required intervals and whether recurring faults are being repaired at their source. A pattern of short stoppages may indicate a different problem from a rare but lengthy failure, so keep both frequency and duration.
Then compare the likely cost of continued shutdowns with the cost and risk of investing in new equipment. The decision is not simply old machine versus new machine: include lost capacity, rescheduling, overtime, material exposure and the effect on customer commitments. The source article does not provide a payback formula or measured savings, so treat this as a management comparison to build from your own records.
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Changeover loss is the planned or semi-planned pause while a line, workstation or crew moves from one product, specification or shift to another. Each individual change may look harmless; accumulated across a day, week or month, it can remove a substantial part of available production time.
Measure the complete interval, not just the moment someone turns a wrench. Record when the outgoing work ends, when preparation starts, when settings and tools are ready, and when conforming production resumes. Include searches for drawings, materials, approvals and instructions if they delay the restart. Break the total into causes so a long changeover does not remain an unexplained single number.
Roberts’s practical response is to look for workflow changes that reduce disruption. That may mean preparing tools and materials while the previous run is still operating, clarifying who owns each handoff, or standardising the information the next shift receives. Do not assume that making every changeover faster is the right goal: an unsafe or rushed setup can create quality loss immediately afterward. The improvement target is a shorter, repeatable transition that starts with the correct conditions.
What causes idling and minor stops?
Idling and minor stops are the small interruptions that rarely trigger a formal breakdown report: a worker walks to fetch fasteners, a component is missing, a label cannot be found, or someone waits for a quick answer. Their invisibility makes them easy to underestimate. Repeated dozens of times, they interrupt rhythm and reduce the time that equipment and people spend producing good work.
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Observe the station at the start of a shift and before a known busy period. Are the required materials, documents, consumables and personal protective equipment present? Is there a clear location for each item, and can replenishment happen without taking the operator away from the work? Roberts’s recommendation is straightforward: prepare the materials and resources needed at the station before work begins.
Use a simple stop log at first. A short description, start time, end time and cause category are enough to reveal whether the biggest issue is shortages, information, access, adjustment or assistance. Avoid blaming the person who records the stop; the purpose is to redesign the system that makes the interruption likely.
Why does reduced speed occur even when equipment is running?
A running machine is not necessarily producing at its intended rate. Reduced-speed loss occurs when settings are conservative or incorrect, tooling is unsuitable, the process is difficult to control, or workers with different levels of experience operate at different rates. A line can therefore show high running time while still missing its planned output.
First verify that the equipment settings match the intended performance for the product and material. Confirm that the target itself is realistic for the specified configuration; do not turn an unverified figure into a quota. Compare the intended rate with actual output by job or shift, and investigate large differences instead of treating them as an individual performance problem.
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Roberts also stresses thorough onboarding for new recruits. Training should cover safe operation, the correct settings, quality checks and what to do when conditions change. A consistent method reduces the temptation to run slowly simply because the operator is unsure. Keep training status visible to supervisors so support arrives before cautious operation becomes a permanent loss.
How should a business tackle quality loss?
Quality loss includes defects and the rework, delay or material consumption that follows. It may appear late, when an inspection finds a nonconforming part, or earlier, when an operator stops to resolve an uncertainty. Either way, the time has already been spent and the schedule may need to absorb the correction.
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Investigate the cause rather than relying on a temporary fix. Roberts identifies supplied materials, drawings and machine issues as examples of causes to examine. Trace the defect back to the point where the condition entered the process: specification, approval, incoming material, setup, operation or inspection. Record whether the issue was detected immediately or after additional work, because late detection increases the amount at risk.
A corrective action should change the condition that produced the defect. That could involve clarifying a drawing, correcting a machine setting, tightening material checks or improving an instruction. A workaround that merely sorts the output may protect one delivery while leaving the loss in place. The article gives no defect-rate benchmark, so judge progress using your own baseline for rework time, scrap and repeat causes.
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Start-up and set-up loss occurs when a project, job or shift is nominally due to begin but cannot yet work. Resources may not be approved, materials may be elsewhere, drawings may be incomplete, equipment may need preparation or responsibilities may be unclear. The result is a late start that can push every dependent activity along the critical path.
Roberts advises preparing what the job needs before approval or kickoff. Create a readiness check that covers people, equipment, materials, information, access, safety requirements and any required decisions. Assign an owner and a due date to each item; a checklist without ownership simply records the same failure repeatedly.
Separate a genuine prerequisite from a preference. The aim is not to stock every possible item or hold work unnecessarily, but to ensure that the approved job can begin safely and productively at the planned time. If a prerequisite is uncertain, escalate it before the start date rather than discovering it at the workstation.
How do these six losses relate to OEE?
The list resembles the established manufacturing Six Big Losses framework, but it is not a one-to-one restatement. OEE groups equipment failure and setup or adjustment under availability; idling and minor stops and reduced speed under performance; and process defects and reduced yield under quality. It treats startup yield separately from defects during stable production.
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Roberts’s list uses “quality loss” broadly and reserves its sixth category for “start-up and set-up loss.” That wording is useful for construction manufacturing and project teams because it draws attention to readiness before work begins. Use OEE terminology when your reporting system requires it, but do not silently substitute the categories: explain which local loss maps to which OEE group.
Four comparison questions help decide where to act first:
- Planned or unplanned? A scheduled changeover and an unexpected failure need different controls.
- Availability, speed or good output? A machine may be available yet running slowly, or running at speed while producing defects.
- What is the primary cause? Classify it as equipment, material, workflow, information or training before choosing a remedy.
- Where can it be measured? Some losses belong to a station or shift; start-up readiness may be clearer at project level.
How should a construction manufacturer put the list into practice?
Begin with a short, consistent observation period rather than trying to improve all six at once. A practical sequence is:
- Define the unit of work. Choose a line, cell, project phase or shift and state when planned production is supposed to occur.
- Capture every interruption. Record start, finish, immediate cause and whether the event was planned. Include small stops, not only breakdowns.
- Separate symptoms from causes. “Waiting for material” is a symptom; the cause may be purchasing, staging, identification or a late design decision.
- Rank by accumulated impact. Consider total minutes, frequency, downstream delay, rework and safety exposure rather than choosing the most dramatic single event.
- Assign one corrective owner. The owner coordinates the change; operators and support functions should still contribute evidence.
- Set a review date. Check whether the same loss recurs and whether a countermeasure moved the problem elsewhere, such as reducing setup time while increasing defects.
Keep the record usable. A small number of agreed cause codes is better than a complicated form nobody completes. Review trends with the people who perform the work, because they can distinguish a genuine equipment issue from a missing drawing or an impractical sequence.
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Do not treat the six labels as six departments’ problems. A breakdown may involve maintenance, purchasing, scheduling and the supplier; a quality loss may begin with a drawing and appear at final inspection. Cross-functional ownership is essential.
Do not chase a single headline number. Roberts’s article recommends understanding and applying solutions to improve supply-chain and manufacturing processes, but it reports no controlled evaluation or measured effect size. Present local results as your own operational records, with the period and scope stated, rather than as a guaranteed benefit of the framework.
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Finally, do not confuse activity with improvement. More meetings, more forms or more inspections can consume time without removing a cause. The useful test is whether the interruption becomes less frequent, shorter, or less damaging without creating a new safety or quality problem.
Where can a team get help?
BBI Services’ current site describes work with teams on productivity, quality, sustainability, risk and cost, and lists a Productivity Improvement Programme and Improvement Solutions. That makes it a relevant service lead for organisations that need outside support identifying losses, but the figures displayed on its homepage are not dated or accompanied by enough case context to treat them as general productivity guarantees. See BBI Services for the company’s current service information and verify scope, evidence and commercial terms directly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I start tracking productivity loss with a small team?
Choose one workstation or project phase for a defined period and use a simple sheet with start time, end time, cause and planned or unplanned status. Review the entries at the end of each shift, then remove duplicate cause codes before expanding the practice to another area.
Are all changeovers waste that should be eliminated?
No. A changeover can be necessary for the product mix, safety or customer requirements. The improvement goal is to make the transition predictable and as short as practical while preserving correct settings, checks and documentation.
Can OEE replace the six time-stealers list?
OEE is a related measurement framework, not a replacement for the terminology in Roberts’s article. Map your local causes to availability, performance and quality when useful, but retain a separate readiness category if start-up delays are important to your projects.
What evidence should I request before buying new equipment?
Ask for your own failure history, downtime duration, affected orders, maintenance records and the cost of recurring disruption. Compare that evidence with the proposed equipment’s capability and support arrangements; the article itself does not provide a universal payback threshold.
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