A machine that isn't cutting isn't earning. The most expensive assets in a shop are the machines, and the question that decides whether they pay for themselves is simple: of the hours each one is available, how many are actually spent making chips? This dashboard turns machine-day records into a true utilization picture - run hours against available hours, with setup, idle, and downtime broken out so the gap has a name.
What this dashboard answers
It answers "is the iron busy?" honestly. Machine Utilization % is run hours divided by available hours - the share of scheduled capacity actually spent cutting. Next to it sit the time stolen from cutting: Setup Hours, Idle + Downtime Hours, and the Setup Ratio %, which is the share of busy time lost to setup versus run. A per-machine bar ranks utilization, a 100% stacked column splits each machine's hours into run/setup/idle/downtime, and a weekly line shows whether utilization is trending up or sliding.
The metrics that matter
Owners fixate on utilization %, but the actionable number is often the Setup Ratio % - a machine that's "busy" but spends a third of its busy time in setup is a candidate for batching, fixturing, or scheduling changes, not a new machine. The downtime page ranks idle and downtime hours by reason (no operator, no material, maintenance, no work) and uses a Machine-by-Shift matrix to expose whether the second shift is where capacity quietly disappears.
Why this data is trapped
Run, setup, and downtime hours come from machine-monitoring or shop-floor data collection - operators clocking machine states, or a monitoring layer feeding JobBOSS (E2 Shoptech), Global Shop Solutions, ProShop ERP, or ECI M1 / Epicor. The reason tools like Datanomix exist at all is that this data sits in the ERP as raw transactions, not as a utilization scorecard. Most owners estimate utilization from gut feel because pulling it cleanly means exporting machine logs and rebuilding them in a spreadsheet.
How to read it
Read utilization % by machine first - the spread usually surprises owners, because a couple of machines carry the shop while others sit. Then read the run/setup/idle/downtime stack: a low-utilization machine that's mostly idle is a scheduling or sales problem, while one that's mostly setup is a batching or fixturing problem, and one that's mostly downtime is a maintenance or staffing problem. The Machine-by-Shift matrix is where hidden capacity hides - utilization that collapses on a shift is often free hours you already pay for.
The sample uses realistic synthetic machine-day data - no real machines, schedules, or production records.
Metrics it tracks
| Metric | What it means |
|---|---|
| Available Hours | Total scheduled machine capacity across all machine-days. |
| Spindle / Run Hours | Actual cutting/run time logged across all machine-days. |
| Machine Utilization % | Run hours divided by available hours - share of capacity actually spent making chips. |
| Setup Hours | Hours spent on setup across all machine-days. |
| Idle + Downtime Hours | Non-productive busy-floor time - idle plus logged downtime. |
| Setup Ratio % | Setup hours divided by (run + setup) hours - share of busy time lost to setup versus cutting. |
Used by: Owners and operations managers managing machine capacity and capital
Frequently asked questions
What is a good machine utilization rate for a job shop?
There's no universal benchmark - it varies with mix, batch size, and shift coverage. The value of the report isn't matching one number; it's seeing the spread across your machines and the split between run, setup, idle, and downtime, so you can tell whether low utilization is a scheduling, setup, maintenance, or sales problem.
What's the difference between spindle hours and available hours?
Available hours are the scheduled capacity a machine is staffed and open for. Spindle (run) hours are the time it's actually cutting. Utilization is run divided by available - and the gap is the setup, idle, and downtime this report breaks out by reason.
Do I need machine monitoring to build this?
Not necessarily. If operators clock machine states or you capture run/setup/downtime in your ERP's shop-floor data, that's enough to build it. A monitoring layer makes it richer. The sample here is fully synthetic, so you can see the finished utilization view before connecting your own data.
Build this report on your own data
Clone this Machine / job shops template — describe it and we’ll generate sample data so you can try it free, or upload your own export. You get a fully modeled, branded Power BI project that opens in Power BI Desktop.
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