From Chaos to Control: Eliminating Downtime with Data

Jessica Duffield
Feb 20
3 min read

Inside Becky Faith’s Breakout Session at the Automation, Maintenance & Reliability Summit

At our January Automation, Maintenance & Reliability Summit, one breakout session stood out for its direct and practical approach to one of manufacturing’s most expensive challenges: unplanned downtime. Becky Faith, Director of Business Development at FocustApps, opened with a question that reframed the conversation, "who here has responsibility for reducing downtime?” Nearly every hand in the room went up. Then she grounded the discussion in reality, "the industry average cost of downtime is $50,000 per hour.” Suddenly, this wasn’t just about maintenance inefficiencies. It was about revenue, team morale, and operational stability.

The Reality of Downtime: Cost, Chaos, and Pressure

Becky described what happens when a line goes down — the scramble, the radio chatter, the pressure to fix it fast.

“Your line stops mid-run and your radio chaos erupts. Everyone scrambles around.”

Downtime rarely happens in isolation. Chronic equipment failures repeat themselves. Maintenance teams are stretched thin. Budgets are tight. Overtime piles up. And when the same assets continue failing, frustration grows across departments. “The challenges are real and the pressure is constant,” she explained. But her focus wasn’t on dwelling in the problem. It was on changing the approach.

Why Zero Downtime Matters

Zero downtime, Becky emphasized, is not just about keeping machines running.

“Achieving zero downtime isn’t just about keeping machines running. It’s about transforming your entire operation and giving your team the wins they deserve.”

When failures are prevented instead of reacted to, everything shifts. Overtime decreases. Emergency weekend callouts disappear. Shift meetings become calmer and more focused on planning instead of blame. The result? Safer. Calmer. Predictable operations.

The Three Fundamentals That Deliver Results

One of the most impactful parts of the session was Becky’s breakdown of three fundamentals that can be implemented immediately — without expensive sensors or complex systems.

1. Track the Top Five “Killers”

“Eighty percent of your pain comes from 20% of your assets.”

Instead of treating every piece of equipment equally, Becky encouraged teams to focus on repeat offenders — the conveyor bearings that seize, the pump seals that leak, the motors that overheat. Identifying and consistently monitoring high-risk assets creates clarity and focus.

2. Plan — Don’t React

Reactive maintenance costs far more than teams realize. Proactive maintenance, on the other hand, is structured and predictable; scheduled repairs, proper parts on hand, safe working conditions, and no last-minute overtime. Her summary was simple:

“Same repair. Different approach.”

One scenario costs thousands in lost production and emergency labor. The other becomes just another scheduled task during planned downtime.

3. Early Warnings Change Everything

Becky shared a steel plant example where a conveyor failed every Friday like clockwork. Instead of accepting it as inevitable, the team began tracking vibration daily. They saw a pattern — readings increased throughout the week. Repairs were shifted to Wednesday during planned downtime. The result? Zero overtime and no surprise failures. Early detection transformed the outcome.

Turning Manual Tracking into Real-Time Visibility

While Becky emphasized that these fundamentals can begin manually, she also demonstrated how FocustApps automates the process through real-time dashboards and predictive risk scoring. The platform separates planned versus unplanned downtime, tracks OEE and availability, identifies key downtime drivers, and ranks machines by risk using a 0–100 scoring scale.

“When it starts getting into the yellow, that’s when you start working on it.”

Instead of reacting after failure, teams act before breakdown occurs.

AI as an Enhancement — Not a Replacement

During the Q&A, attendees asked about AI integration. Becky clarified that AI enhances strong data — it does not replace it. With accurate historical data, AI can flag impending failures, reference part libraries, and build intelligence over time. But trust must come first, which is why FocustApps often begins with a pilot program to demonstrate ROI before scaling. “I think that’s the proof in the pudding — here it is. See what we did.”