Work Order Management

Transcript

Work orders are a cornerstone in an organized maintenance system.

A work order is a request for maintenance that travels through an organization from a requester. A work order begins the work order process—and lays the foundation for efficient and functional facility management.

Naturally, the first step of the process is noticing a maintenance need. Maintenance requests can be prompted in several ways, from noticeable malfunctions to preventive maintenance schedules.

Once a need arises, a work order request form is filled out by a requester. The form covers the basics of the maintenance being requested:

• Location of the asset
• Details about the situation
• Any other pertinent information

If using a digital work order form, photographs or videos can also be attached

Processing and approving the request is typically overseen by a maintenance manager. If the maintenance requested requires special parts or equipment, those items are obtained in this step.

If you’re unable to set up automated work order assignments, then each task will need to be manually assigned. When determining priority level for each work order, and who to assign it to, keep in mind the following:

• Urgency
• Readiness of the team/current workload
• Overall impact of the issue
• Each technician’s skillset

When the scheduled date and time comes around, the technician performs all necessary maintenance on the asset. Once it’s completed, the technician documents their work and closes out the work order form including their time, resources purchased or used, and images of the resolved problem.

After the maintenance is completed and documented including notifying the requesting user of the work completed and allowing for feedback, review the work order periodically to ensure the asset’s issue was resolved or put the asset in a preventive maintenance rotation.

Keeping a work order form clean but informative is important. Spare no details but keep all communication contained in its entry and checkboxes.

You’ll find that with every work order management style, the work order is key in developing facility maintenance organization and structure.

There’s a lot more to learn about the benefits of work order management. Talk to an expert at FMX and be on your way to a better process through a well-organized work order maintenance software or take the FMX maintenance assessment and find out where you are in your work order management journey.