Field & Maintenance
What is MTBF?
Mean Time Between Failures
MTBF is the average operating time between failures for a repairable item — a core reliability metric. A higher MTBF means equipment runs longer before breaking. It drives spares planning, maintenance scheduling, and availability projections.
MTBF shows up in readiness analysis and sustainment planning, and is increasingly estimated from sensor and maintenance data rather than spec sheets.
In FORGEFORGE's IoT edge intelligence and maintenance history let MTBF be computed from real operating data, not just nameplate figures.
Common questions
What is the difference between MTBF and MTTR?
MTBF measures how long equipment runs between failures (reliability); MTTR measures how long it takes to restore it after a failure (maintainability). Availability depends on both.