Book companion resource · Worksheet
Loss List and System Priority Worksheet
Letter & A4. Print-ready. Free, no email required.
← Back to toolkit · Browse by chapterThe Ray and Carl whiteboard, made printable. Takes an observed wrench-time loss, maps it to the system that would close it, and builds a ninety-day system-installation priority order.
Companion to: Fix the System, Chapter 2. Prerequisite: complete the Follow-a-Crew Field Audit Sheet (Ch1 companion) first. This worksheet consumes its output. How long it takes: four to six hours across two weeks of plant walking, plus two hours of prioritization at the end. What you'll produce: a ranked list of the top six systems to install in the next ninety days, with estimated hours of wrench-time recovery per system, rolled up to annual mechanic-equivalent capacity.
The logic
Your Chapter 1 field audit produced a cause-of-loss list. This worksheet takes that list and does three things:
1. Groups the causes into specific, installable systems. 2. Estimates how many wrench-time hours per week each system, if installed, would recover. 3. Ranks the systems by recovery size so you know which to install first.
At the end, you will have a number you can take to a plant manager. We are paying for X mechanic-hours of capacity and extracting Y. If we install these six systems over the next ninety days, we recover Z.
That number is the language that makes cost-cutters put their scissors down.
Part 1 — The loss list
Transfer every observed cause of non-wrench time from your field audit into the table below. One row per distinct cause. Be specific. "Waiting for parts" is not a cause. "Waiting for parts because the kit was pulled Friday and not restocked" is a cause.
| # | Observed loss (specific) | Where it happened | How often per week (estimate) | Hours lost per week (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 | ||||
| 8 | ||||
| 9 | ||||
| 10 | ||||
| 11 | ||||
| 12 | ||||
| 13 | ||||
| 14 | ||||
| 15 | ||||
| 16 | ||||
| 17 | ||||
| 18 | ||||
| 19 | ||||
| 20 |
Ray's list had nineteen items after his Wednesday. Most plants land between 15 and 30. If your list has fewer than 10, you probably haven't walked enough shifts — add a second day and rebuild.
Part 2 — Map loss to system
For each row above, write the specific system that would close that loss if it were installed and held. Use the reference table below as a starter kit. A system might close multiple losses; that is expected — note the same system against multiple rows.
Starter reference — common losses and the systems that close them
| Observed loss | System that closes it | Book chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Kits pulled and not restocked | Kit-restock close-out discipline + weekly crib audit | Ch6 Plan / Ch9 Close Out |
| Bearing / part not where CMMS says | Parts-consumption tagging at close-out + crib reconciliation | Ch9 Close Out |
| Shared tool missing / hunt delay | Shared-tool log + daily check-in/out at shift end | Ch8 Execute |
| Scheduled job cancelled with no notice | Written cancellation protocol with 24h notice requirement | Ch7 Schedule |
| Job has no job plan | Planner planning discipline + 1-week planning horizon | Ch6 Plan |
| Operator not available when crew arrives | Scheduling coordination with operations + written handoff | Ch7 Schedule |
| Vendor meeting hijacks lead mid-shift | Protected calendar for leads + meeting whitelist | Ch7 Schedule |
| Close-outs say "Repaired. RTO." | Close-out quality rubric + supervisor weekly audit | Ch9 Close Out |
| Break-in work displaces planned work | Frozen-zone policy (48-72 hours) | Ch7 Schedule |
| PMs slip | PM kitting 48h ahead + escalation notifications | Ch6 Plan / Ch7 Schedule |
| Notifications sit in NEW status | 24h triage commitment + weekly reject-pile review | Ch5 Identify |
| Operator anomalies never reported | Operator-driven reliability program + simple notification template | Ch5 Identify |
This table is a starter, not exhaustive. Your plant will produce losses that need bespoke systems. Write them down. The book's Parts II-V expand on each system listed here.
Your loss-to-system map
| # (from Part 1) | Loss (short) | System that closes it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| ... | ||
| continue for all rows |
Part 3 — System priority ranking
Aggregate the loss-hours-per-week by system. Most of your 15-20 loss rows will collapse onto 4-8 systems. That is good. It means the levers are fewer than the symptoms.
| System | Losses it closes (row #s) | Total hours recovered per week (crew-wide) | Notes on installation effort |
|---|---|---|---|
The math that unlocks the budget conversation
Top 6 systems total recovered hours per week: _______
Multiplied by 48 working weeks per year: _______ hours
At your fully-loaded labor rate of $_______/hour: $_______ annual value
Translated to mechanic-equivalents (÷ 1,920 hrs/year): _______ mechanics
This is the sentence to bring to your plant manager:
"We are currently paying for [X] mechanics and extracting the productive output of [X minus Y]. If we install six specific systems over the next ninety days, we recover [Y] mechanic-equivalents of capacity. I am not asking for headcount. I am asking for ninety days of executive support for a frozen-zone policy, a kitting discipline, and a close-out standard."
Ray's numbers were:
- 1,728 hours per year recoverable
- ~1.5 mechanic-equivalents
- Six systems, ninety-day plan
- No hiring required
Yours will be different in specifics. The shape will be nearly identical.
Part 4 — Ninety-day installation sequence
For your top 6 systems, sketch a ninety-day installation order. Use this heuristic:
- Weeks 1-2: Install the system whose loss is most visible to the crew. Building trust requires an early visible win.
- Weeks 3-6: Install two systems that have the largest single recovery impact.
- Weeks 7-10: Install two systems that depend on the first ones being in place (e.g., PM kitting depends on kit-restock discipline).
- Weeks 11-12: Audit and reinforce. No new installation in the last two weeks. Make sure what you installed is holding.
| System # | Install during | Visible metric to track weekly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weeks 1-2 | |
| 2 | Weeks 3-4 | |
| 3 | Weeks 5-6 | |
| 4 | Weeks 7-8 | |
| 5 | Weeks 9-10 | |
| 6 | Weeks 11-12 (reinforce + audit) |
After ninety days
Redo your Follow-a-Crew Field Audit Sheet with a different crew. Expect a 5-10 percentage-point gain in wrench time for a first installation cycle. Less than that is diagnostic — probably means one of the systems did not actually get installed, only announced. Walk the floor and find out which.
From Fix the System by Ivan Getov. Companion to Chapter 2: The Job, and Why Most Plants Get It Wrong. getov.xyz/toolkit/fix-the-system/ch02/loss-list-system-priority. Free. No email required.