Idle Time
What Is Idle Time?
Idle time is paid time that an employee, or machine, is useless due to factors that can either be controlled or uncontrolled by management. It normally applies to full-time workers as opposed to advisors, who regularly need to bill for each hour of their time.
Key Factors
- Idle time is paid time that an employee, or machine, is useless due to factors that can either be controlled or uncontrolled by management.
- Idle time can be classified either as normal or abnormal.
- Limiting idle time is key if a business has any desire to boost productivity over long periods of time.
Figuring out Idle Time
Idle time is a period of time associated with employees waiting. That might be on the grounds that a piece of machinery they need to utilize isn't working, they are waiting for an important shipment, or the company is staff heavy and not every person paid to be there has a task to do.
At the point when employees are not taken part in useful activities it can have serious ramifications for employers. As per a 2018 study from the Harvard Business School, 78.1% of workers wind up consistently with involuntary idle time, which costs employers an estimated $100 billion every year.
Types of Idle Time
Idle time can be classified either as normal or abnormal.
Normal Idle Time
Normal idle time is classified as "downtime" for standard maintenance and repair. Consistently scheduled downtime for manufacturing assets is a normal business practice and can't be controlled by management.
Abnormal Idle Time
Abnormal idle time, for example, a worker strike, is strange and can, generally speaking, be controlled by management. Time management is critical in any business, especially when there are high fixed costs. Idle machinery or equipment creates depreciation expenses and furthermore lessens output productivity.
Idle workers who are on fixed salaries are a weakness to company profitability and a drag on overall productivity.
Instances of Idle Time
Company managers who don't effectively schedule work shifts or operations flow might cause idle time. Employees themselves, too, might be responsible for causing idle time.
For example, in the event that a vehicle factory assembly team makes 100 cars in an eight-hour shift and the quality inspection and testing group processes just 50 cars during that shift, the assembly line would need to idle for a while until the quality control group made up for lost time to pace.
A natural disaster could likewise be the justification for idle time. Floods, for instance, much of the time bring about stoppages of loading and unloading of holders at delivery ports or rail route terminals, which would affect processing plants that depend on these transportation organizations. With a surplus of completed inventory, production lines would be forced to idle the two workers and manufacturing facilities until goods began moving once more.
Special Considerations
No business runs at 100% efficiency over long periods of time, and idle time is inescapable. In any case, the goal is to limit this "cost" to the company through careful planning and coordination with associated groups. Likewise, it is prudent for managers to draw up contingency plans to keep operations running when a startling event emerges.
