It's About The Work-Process, Not The People...

What is Time-on-Tools?

Time-on-Tools (ToT) is a productivity measure of crafts personnel on their tools performing assigned work. Contrary to some perspectives, work crews have little control of overall productivity. So ToT does not measure people performance. Rather, it measures work management effectiveness: how work is planned, scheduled and executed. Work (i.e., Time-on-Tools) is operating, removing, repairing, replacing, assembling, and/or installing equipment, structures, and systems. It does not include ancillary activities such as waiting for or seeking parts, tools, equipment, instructions, direction or the travel time associated with those tasks. It does not include travel time to or from the assigned work location. It does not include start-of-day and end-of-day activities such as work assignment, job preparation and clean-up, work permitting, and Job Safety Analysis. Although all of these activities may contribute to getting the work done, they do not constitute Time-on-Tools. Furthermore, ToT does not include production delays and naturally, it does not include craft “Idle” time, breaks, lunch, and meetings. Although the Time-on-Tool assessment does not directly address the issue of work pacing, the fundamental premise for conducting ToT assessments is the utilization of a standardized industrial engineering methodology. It identifies productivity barriers, which removed, will increase the amount of time that the personnel will be on their tools performing assigned work. An experienced, objective, and independent management engineer will be able to effectively identify such activities and barriers. Working with line management, they identify other potential productivity losses associated with unplanned work and absences, rework, and pacing. Time-on-Tool assessments are the most commonly recognized and readily field-validated means for assessing work management process effectiveness and field productivity. A statistically-valid, field-proven quantification of productive activities and lost time (idle & away) productivity barriers allows maintenance, construction, and operations management to make targeted improvements to overall productivity. By standardizing the observation methodology, data capture tool, barrier causes, and reporting metrics, an annual Time-on-Tool program for any production facility or construction site provides for a cost-effective means and measure for optimizing its planning, scheduling, and execution effectiveness, and ultimately, its overall profitability.

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