Thanks for the interesting article Don. Not being a maintenance specialist there were a few acronyms in there I had trouble with (MIMOSA, LPP/LPU, CMMS, RCM).
The costs associated with downtime have to be absorbed somewhere, and it either makes your products more expensive (and less competitive) and/or you make less profit than you could.
The ultimate and maybe the most important cost of downtime is the affect it has on deliveries to the customer. And we know if we continually let the customer down, eventually we could lose him. Where's that factored into the downtime cost equation?
We have a TPM page on the website. Will it be OK to put the article on there?
http://www.saferpak.com/tpm.htm
Maybe you could suggest some useful links we could add to the page. 
Regards,
Simon 
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On the associated website I designed for the study of True Downtime Cost (TDC :>) there is a glossary.
http://www.downtimec...outDowntime.htmOne of the explanation there as an example is ...
Labor Per Product (LPP/LPU) -
Also known as Labor Per Unit, is calculated using vague estimates of material, Direct Labor, and overhead cost. The cost per unit is normally used for external reporting only, not management decision.
Example: Direct labor (operator) X 30% fringe benefits = LPP = LPU
(MIMOSA, LPP/LPU, CMMS, RCM) are all defined on the above page. Yes with a link to MIMOSA.org also. :>)
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" The ultimate and maybe the most important cost of downtime is the affect it has on deliveries to the customer."
While the www.DowntimeCentral.com website has a primary goal to provoke thought in day to day decisions of the true cost of downtime, the website is not responsible for determining actually calculations or standards of calculating. The actual calculations will be varied on many metrics involved in various facilities and industries.
The area that focus on meeting customer demand is the "Sales expectation" area at
http://www.downtimec...om/SalesExp.htmAfter reviewing that page, you will see basic gist is to emphasize the importance of the cost of not meeting sales demands and relate that to the importance of TPM and OEE to better be capable of meeting sales demand.
You may notice in this area and others I do get a little opinionated when it comes to discussing the relationship between facility output capacity and sales demand. I feel the most profitable management relationship should be a goal of 100% equipment utilization that leads to a goal of 100% output capacity and let that drive the sales department management. (The typical and old school of thought is that the sales drives the production demand. If I invest millions in equipment only to see it be used 75% of it's capacity, I am going to stop investing in equipment and invest more in sales until I get closer to 100% equipment utilization.)
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"We have a TPM page on the website. Will it be OK to put the article on there?"
Sure, my goal has always been to spread the word as time permits, so any help is much appreciated.
I read your TPM page and it has some great insights there. Once again, as time permits, I would like to tie together or reference that page on my Downtime Central site. ( Especially would like to find the time to learn more about the European Foundation for Quality Management's Excellence Model™ (EFQM)). In this reply, you are surely learning a little more about me personally. Not sure if it's the patriotism in me or what, but I felt like a strong message of the United States is a failure. Ha Ha. :>)
Of course that struck a nerve. Being an American, I would have biased it by changing the "US" to "Many around the world". And then for exact references ... "In the US alone ... x amount of failures." Or better yet, a positive slant, "In the US they have only realized x amount of successful implementation." :>)
I realize we are having a ruff time at it, but there is something to be said for the great increases in numbers of those who are trying and even considering change. :>)
Cheers Simon, thanks for spreading the word and awareness of TDC.
Don
