Whilst a ubiquitous term “wrench time” merits a quick explanation. It can be thought of as - the amount of time someone spends physically executing their main trade. In essence the thing they are being paid to do. So, a taxi driver driving taxis, barbers cutting hair, mechanical technicians changing a pump bearing etc.

Every organisation should be working to maximise the wrench time of their workforce. The more time someone spends doing their core activity the greater the value their labour represents to that organisation. For example, when hiring a plumber, you are paying them to unblock your pipes and fix your leaky taps, not to fill in paperwork or go get parts in between tea breaks. The more time the plumber spends plumbing the more their expertise is utilised and the less time they take, hence the less you pay for. Additionally for the plumber it also means they can move onto their next job faster.

Maximising wrench time is the holy grail of work execution because who doesn’t want to squeeze more juice from the same orange? More work being executed without any increase in resources such as personnel, time, capital expenditure etc. might sound like a deal too good to be true, but as the graphic below demonstrates, the cumulative impact of relatively small increases can be substantial.

By implementing a tailored, nuanced planning and scheduling solution, not only is your time spent wiser when you have it, but less time is wasted when you don’t.

Given that the industry is once again experiencing a crash in prices, those organisations who aren’t measuring their wrench time effectively and taking serious steps to improve it wherever possible are hemorrhaging money, needlessly.

Improving wrench time doesn’t have to be painful. Small and subtle changes to improve the efficiency of even a single work management process can have a big impact. Now is the perfect time for organisations to embrace a true understanding of what their 'true' execution performance is so that they can identify how to unlock the rewards.

If your organization is; unsure of how to go about making small impactful changes, or have tried in the past to improve wrench time with limited success, get in touch with SRCN today.

We will help you to unlock the potential in your organisation and your people.