Book companion resource · Worksheet
Follow-a-Crew Field Audit Sheet
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← Back to toolkit · Browse by chapterA one-day exercise to measure your crew's wrench time. Walk behind one crew for a full shift. Log every minute. At the end of the day, do the math.
Companion to: Fix the System, Chapter 1. How long it takes: one full shift, plus thirty minutes of math at the end. What you'll learn: your crew's wrench-time percentage — the fraction of paid labor hours spent with hands on an asset.
Before the shift
- Pick a normal day. Not a shutdown, not a big-project day. The point is to see the baseline.
- Tell the lead mechanic you are going to follow the crew. Be straight. Do not pretend.
- Ask the lead to run the day as if you were not there. Do not ask them to change anything.
- Bring: this sheet printed out, a clipboard or hard pad, two pens, a watch with a second hand (or your phone's clock app).
- Wear the same PPE the crew wears. You will be on the floor all day.
The log
For each activity the crew performs, log one row below. Any change of activity, location, or status gets a new row. Round times to the nearest minute. Mark "On asset?" with a ✓ ONLY when a member of the crew has their hands physically on an asset doing maintenance work. Walking, waiting, searching, meeting, paperwork, and travel are all ✗.
| # | Start | End | Minutes | Activity (short description) | On asset? (✓/✗) | Mechanics present | Location | Notes (parts, tools, waits, causes) |
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Continue on a second sheet if the day requires. A full shift usually produces 30 to 60 rows.
The math (end of day)
Do this at your desk, with coffee, before you talk to anyone.
Step 1 — Total paid labor hours
Crew size today: _______ Shift length (hours): _______ Overtime accumulated across the crew (hours): _______
A. Total paid labor hours = (crew size × shift length) + overtime = _______
Step 2 — Total on-asset hours
For every row in the log marked ✓ on asset, multiply the minutes by the number of mechanics present for that activity, and divide by 60 to convert to hours. Sum across all ✓ rows.
B. Total on-asset hours = Σ (minutes × mechanics ÷ 60) for all ✓ rows = _______
Step 3 — Wrench time
Wrench time % = B ÷ A × 100 = _______ %
Step 4 — Benchmark
Compare to Palmer's tiers (from Wrench Time Benchmarks, Ch1 companion):
- Below 35% — deep trouble
- 35% to 55% — recovering / North American average
- 55% to 65% — decent / target for a well-run program
- 65% and above — world-class
Your tier: _______
Step 5 — The capacity gap
If your crew hit decent (60%), how many more hours would you get per week?
Recoverable hours per week = (0.60 − your wrench time) × total paid weekly hours = _______
In mechanic-equivalents (÷ 40 hrs/week): = _______ mechanics
The list
On the back of this sheet, write down every cause of non-wrench-time from the day. Be specific. Not "waiting" — "waiting for parts on Job 4042 because the bearing had been pulled last Friday for Line 7 and not restocked." Cause-level.
| # | Observed cause of non-wrench time | Approximate hours lost today |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 | ||
| 8 | ||
| 9 | ||
| 10 |
This list is the starting input for the Ch2 Loss List and System Priority Worksheet — which turns it into a ninety-day system-installation plan.
What not to do
- Do not share the number with your boss in the first week. Sit with it. Understand it. Share it when you have a plan, not a wound.
- Do not tell the crew the number until you tell them what you are going to do about it. The number belongs to the system, not to them. If you show them the 36% before you show them the six systems you're going to install, you will break trust.
- Do not skip the math and "estimate." The math takes thirty minutes. The estimate is always generous by ten to fifteen points.
- Do not repeat this exercise the next day. One day is enough to see the pattern. Repeating daily creates observer effect and fatigue. Re-measure in 30 days after you've started installing systems.
From Fix the System by Ivan Getov. getov.xyz/toolkit/fix-the-system/ch01/field-audit-sheet. Free. No email required.