Glossary
What is MTBF?
MTBF stands for mean time between failure. It is the average time between failures of an asset or system, calculated as total operating time divided by the number of failures. MTBF is a common reliability metric.
What it means
MTBF helps organisations understand how often assets fail and compare reliability. It is often used with MTTR (mean time to repair) to assess maintenance performance.
Why it matters
- MTBF = total operating time ÷ number of failures.
- Higher MTBF means the asset fails less often.
- Requires consistent failure recording (e.g. in work orders).
- See also: mean time between failure (full glossary entry).
Example in maintenance operations
An asset runs 10,000 hours and fails 2 times. MTBF = 10,000 ÷ 2 = 5,000 hours.
Related concepts
Frequently asked questions
What does MTBF stand for?
MTBF stands for mean time between failure. It is the average time between failures of an asset or system.
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