MTBF — Mean Time Between Failures
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) is the average operating time between one breakdown and the next: total running time ÷ number of failures.
Formula: MTBF = total uptime ÷ number of failures. A compressor that ran 600 hours with 3 failures has an MTBF of 200 hours.
MTBF answers "how reliable is this machine"; MTTR answers "how fast do we recover". Availability combines both: MTBF ÷ (MTBF + MTTR).
Watch the trend, not the number: an MTBF that shortens month over month is a machine asking for root-cause review — exactly the signal a Repair/Review/Replace analysis formalises.
AssetAI computes this automatically from timestamps captured as your team works — no spreadsheet.
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More terms:
MTTR · OEE · What is a CMMS? · Preventive vs Predictive Maintenance · Failure Codes & FMEA Basics