Define each measurement boundary
Reporting, acknowledgement, work start and completion are different events. The team should know which events a report uses.
A metric name alone is insufficient. If one plant measures response from an operator's call and another from a later system entry, the figures are not directly comparable.
Separate work from waiting
A repair can pause for parts, machine access or a decision. These periods affect overall elapsed time but do not equal the technician's working time.
Record the reason for the pause and when work resumes. “In progress” alone does not reveal whether someone is working on the machine or waiting for a condition to be met.
Use the data to choose an action
If parts delivery dominates the delay, more training on receiving reports may achieve little. If the issue is late notification, warehouse improvements will not address that cause either.
For a plant director, identifying where delay occurs is the useful result. CMMS can retain work times and status, but interpretation needs shared definitions, especially when comparing shifts or teams with different operating conditions.