Downtime Cost Calculator
Most plants underestimate unplanned downtime because the cost never appears as a single line in the P&L. Enter your numbers below to see the annual figure — and how much of it is realistically avoidable.
Your plant
What it costs you
Annual cost of unplanned downtime
38.88 Lakh
₹38,88,000 per year
- Downtime hours / year
- 72 hrs
- Lost contribution margin
- 36.00 Lakh
- Idle labour & overhead
- 2.88 Lakh
- Cost per downtime hour
- ₹54,000
Potentially avoidable: 15.55 Lakh / year
Assumes condition monitoring prevents 40% of unplanned stoppages. Mechanical faults such as bearing wear, misalignment and imbalance give early vibration signatures; power failures, material shortages and operator error do not.
These figures are an estimate based on the values you entered. They are not a quotation or a guarantee of savings.
Questions about downtime costing
How do you calculate the cost of unplanned downtime?
Multiply total downtime hours per year (breakdowns × average hours per breakdown) by the contribution margin the line would have produced in those hours, then add the labour and overhead that keeps being paid while the line is stopped. Contribution margin — selling price minus variable cost — is the right figure, not the full sale price, because you avoid the material cost of units you never made.
Why use contribution margin instead of revenue?
Using full revenue overstates the loss. When a line stops you lose the margin on unmade units, but you also do not consume the raw material and consumables for them. Contribution margin captures the true economic loss.
How much downtime can condition monitoring actually prevent?
Condition monitoring detects developing mechanical faults — bearing wear, misalignment, imbalance, looseness and lubrication problems — which typically give warning signs days to weeks before failure. It does not prevent power failures, raw material shortages, operator error or planned maintenance. This calculator applies a deliberately conservative 40% recovery rate to the total.
What is a realistic cost per downtime hour?
It varies enormously by industry and line. A small fabrication unit may lose tens of thousands of rupees per hour, while an integrated steel or cement plant can lose several lakh. The figure this calculator produces is specific to the numbers you enter rather than an industry average.
See which machines are actually at risk
Vexron monitors vibration and temperature on your critical assets and flags developing faults before they stop the line.