Operational availability vs operating rate

Operational availability is the fraction of time a machine functions properly when it is needed, also called the operable rate. The operating rate is the amount of time within a period such as a shift or a day that a machine is actually used to make something. The document compares the two terms and shows that a high operating rate is not automatically good, whereas the ideal operational availability is 100%.

Source checked1/1 values · 2026-10-25Metric

Specification

1 source

Kind	metric

Study notes

An automobile illustrates the difference: operational availability is the percentage of time the car runs properly when needed, while the operating rate is the percentage of time per day the car is actually driven.
From a lean perspective a high operating rate is not necessarily desirable; it is good if the equipment produces just what is needed and bad if it overproduces.
The ideal operational availability is 100%, because it refers to how well a machine runs when needed.
A machine can have high operational availability and a low operating rate, or the reverse, since the two measures answer different questions.