What is a Work Order?
What is a work order? How do you create a work order in MaintSmart CMMS Software? These questions (and more) are answered in this short article and video.
Work orders are a unit of work in a formal format. An example could be “Lubricate the Bearings” on Conveyor #1”. In MaintSmart there are the only two fields needed to create a work order. The following list some examples of work order types:
- Equipment breakdown maintenance
- Projects
- Preventive maintenance
- General tasks not related to equipment
- Equipment generated maintenance (automatic work order)
- Scheduled maintenance (automatic work order)
Work orders are listed in the work order screen as they are entered. Additionally, work requests (repair tickets) submitted to the CMMS are also added to the work order screen. Work requests are simply a “work order” that has a “Request” status. It is a simple matter for the maintenance manager to convert a work request to a full work order by merely changing the status.
How Do I Create Work Orders and Communicate Work to Maintenance?
All work orders are added to the work order screen in MaintSmart and become a permanent record. Work orders are permanent unless deleted by a user that has a delete role for work orders.
There are only two required fields for entering a work order. This makes it very simple for inexperienced CMMS users. There are many optional fields as well as unlimited room for notes and unlimited file attachments of any type file! There are several ways to enter a work order into the software as follows as evidenced in the list below.
Enter work orders into the software by the following methods (items #1 and #2 are covered in this post/video):
- Entered directly into the work order screen.
- Duplicated from an existing work order.
- Created from a downtime record.
- Submitted through the MaintSmart Web add-on module.
- Work orders added through the MaintSmart Mobile smartphone application.
- Automatically created by expired meters (meters are entered manually or MaintSmart reads data through an OPC interface directly from the equipment).
- Generated automatically by a user-defined schedule.
- Created from a work order template (boilerplate work order).
NOTE: For a personal demonstration of how to create a work order by methods 3 - 8 (above list) contact our office.
Work Orders are communicated by the methods listed below:
- Displayed in work order screen. This may be set to only show work assigned to the logged in user.
- Emailed automatically to one or more maintenance technicians.
- Automatically printed to one or more printers.
- Submitted through the MaintSmart CMMS Web add-on module.
- Work orders added through the MaintSmart Mobile smartphone application.
When and Why Should You Use a Work Order?
Use work orders for any type of work. MaintSmart work orders may be very simple or extremely comprehensive containing unlimited note and file attachments. Embed images into the work order as needed to clarify the job at hand. Below is a listing of some common work order applications.
- Preventive maintenance work order (automatic or manual creation).
- Repair work order following an equipment failure..
- Create a project work order. These are often combined into a Composite Work Order. Composite work orders are a work order that contains many other work orders.
- Basic work order. Perhaps unplanned work is needed that does not fit any of the categories listed above.
- Submit a repair ticket (work order with a Request status). Repair tickets are generally submitted by non-maintenance personnel requesting work that they feel is needed.
- Reminder work order. Since MaintSmart CMMS creates new work orders based on dates, weekdays and time it is simple to create an automatic reminder work order for any purpose.
Work orders are the heart of any good CMMS system. MaintSmart understands this and provides many ways to create work orders, whether manually or automatically.
The next post in this MaintSmart CMMS Evaluation series explains work orders printing and reporting, work order templates, linking spares to work orders, work order options and shortcuts.
Compare Full Work Order to List-Based Preventive Maintenance Format
Typically a work order is one primary task with detailed instructions, SOPs, file attachments and parts linked to it. In addition to this powerful work order format MaintSmart offers a list-based preventive maintenance checklist format. This is particularly useful for your calendar-based repetitive work.
Previous CMMS Evaluation Lessons:
Request a free no obligation personalized online demonstration of how to create work orders!