Wrench time: where technician hours really go
Your technicians are busy all day. But how much of that time is spent actually fixing things? Here is how to find out and win hours back.
SilinX Editorial Team
Wrench time is the share of a technician's shift spent doing hands-on work: repairing, adjusting, replacing. Everything else — walking to get parts, waiting for permits, looking for information, travelling between sites — is necessary at times, but it is not fixing anything.
Why it matters
If you add a technician to your team but half their day goes to searching and waiting, you only gained half a technician. Raising wrench time is often the cheapest way to get more done with the same people.
The usual time thieves
Common culprits are: hunting for the right part, walking back to the store room, waiting for equipment to be released by operations, missing information about the asset, unclear job instructions and paperwork at the end of the shift.
How to win time back
Kit parts before the job starts. Keep common parts on vans or carts. Agree maintenance windows with operations in advance. Put the asset history, manuals and checklists on the technician's phone so they do not have to go looking. Let them close jobs on the spot instead of at the end of the day.
Measure lightly
You do not need a stopwatch study. Ask a few technicians to note their main activities for a week, or review how long jobs sit between steps. The patterns usually jump out quickly.
- Wrench time is hands-on work, not total time at work.
- Raising it is often cheaper than hiring.
- Kit parts, plan windows and put information on the phone.
- A simple one-week review reveals most time thieves.