copter ® Work Order Systems Work order systems are one of the keys for successful maintenance management. Work orders, which arc the documents used to collect all necessary maintenance information, can be described in many different ways. For the purpose of this text, we will use the following definition: A work order is a request that has been sereened by a planner, who has decided the work request is necessary and has determined what resources are required to perform the work, Who Uses Work Orders? Work orders should not be implemented by just the maintenance de- partment, without regard for other parts of the organization, Figure 5-1 lists the groups that should be involved in the use of a maintenance work order em. WORK ORDER SHOULD SATISFY AND BE USD BY: + Maintenance + Inventory/Purchasing + Operations/Facilities + Accounting + Engineering + Upper Management Maintenance Maintenance is the primary user of the work order. Maintenance re- quires information such as. What equipment needs work performed What resources are required A description of the work Priority of the work Date needed by 798 Chapter 5 Other information may be required, depending on the type of facility or plant in which the work order system is used. The main point is that the maintenance organization must get the information needed for good man- agement decisions. If the information cannot be obtained from the work order, it is unlikely reliable information will ever be available from another source, Operations or Facilities Operations or facilities also needs input into the work order process They must be able to request work from maintenance in an easy proc If they have to fill out 15 forms in triplicate, they will be unlikely to par- ticipate in the use of the work order, thereby eliminating its effectiveness. Whether it is manual or computerized, the work order system must be easy for operations and facilities personnel to use. They should only be required to fill in brief information, such as: What equipment needs work Brief description of the request Date needed Requestor This information can then be used by the planner to complete the work request and, in turn, convert it to a work order. Engineering Because engineers are usuallly charged with the effectiveness of the pre- ventive and predictive maintenance programs, they need input into the work order system. In addition to requesting work for engineering services, engineers also need access to historical information. If accurate and prop- erly maintained, historical information can help engineers operate a cost cficetive preventive maintenance program, Without accurate information, the PM and PdM programs become guesswork. Therefore, the engineering staff will need information such a Mean Time Between Failure Mean Time to Repair Cause of failure Repair type Corrective action taken Date of repair ation of this informa Proper uti ion will enable the engineering staff to optimize the preventive maintenance program,Work Order Systems. 99 Inventory and Purchasing The inventory and purchasing departments need information from the work order system, especially regarding the planned work backlog. If the work is planned properly, inventory and purchasing personnel will know what parts are needed and when they are needed. Good historical informa- tion on maintenance material usage will help them establish max/min lev- els, order points, safcty stock, and other settings for maintenance materi- s. The information required by inventory and purchasing includes: Part number Part description Quantity required Date required Accounting Accounting needs information from the work order system in order to properly charge the right accounts for the labor and materials used to per- form maintenance tasks. The costing system may be different for different locations. However, the following types of accounting information are com monly gathered: Cost center Accounting number Charge account Departmental charge number Upper Management Upper management is interested in information that can be gathered from multiple work orders. Therefore, this information must be easy to ex- tract from the work order. Summary information should be compiled from completed work orders, work orders in process, and work orders waiting .cheduling. If information is not easy to extract, managers might ea: spend days gathering the information. Check boxes for key information fields can be invaluable for streamlining the process. Computerized sys tems make this task easier, but only if they are properly designed. In sum- mary, the objectives of the work order system are listed in Figure Types of Work Orders Any work order system must have several types of work orders. The most common are: Planned and scheduled Emergency Standing or blanket Shutdown or outage100 Chapter 5 WORK ORDER OBJECTIVES + A method for requesting, assigning and following up work + A method of transmitting job instructions + A method for estimating and accumulating maintenance costs + A method for collecting the data necessary for producing management reports Planned and Scheduled Work Orders Planned and scheduled work orders have already been briefly de- are the work orders for which a request is made, a planner sercens, resources are planned, and the work is scheduled, Work informa- tion is then entered in the completion process and the work order is filed. This type of work order, which is the most common, will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 6, the planning and scheduling chapter. seribed. The Standing or Blanket Work Orders Figure 5-3 lists the purposes of standing or blanket work orders STANDING OR BLANKET WORK ORDERS + Repetitive small jobs where the cost of processing the documentation exceeds thecost of performing the work. + Fixed or routine assignments where it is unnecssary to write a work order each time it is performed. ‘These work orders are generally written for 5- to 30-minute quick jobs, such as resetting a circuit breaker or making a quick adjustment. Writing a work order for cach of these Jobs would bury maintenance in a mountain of detail that could not be compiled effectively into meaningful reports. Standing work orders are written against an equipment charge or an ac- counting number, Whenever a small job is performed, it is charged to the work order number. The work order itself is not closed out, but remains open for a time period preset by management. It is then closed and posted to history and a new standing work order is opened. One problem with standing work orders is people sometimes feel as if they are used like credit cards, charging time for the craftsmen that is not otherwise accounted for. Occasionally such charges are made, but whenWork Order Systems 101 the charges are closed out on the work order, offenders can be spotted Computerized systems make this detection much easier because they can quiekly compile a list of all personnel who have charged time to a work or der. Some of the more sophisticated systems can even display the percent- age of time any craitwork charges to a type of work order. If offenders are suspected, it is easy to find them. However, this example is usually the ex- ception, not the rule. Most employees do not abuse a standing work order stem Emergency Work Orders Emergency, reaetive, or breakdown work orders are generally written alter the job is performed. Breakdowns require quick action. In most cases, there is not enough time to go through the usual planning and scheduling of the work order, The craft technician, supervisor, or production supervisor generally makes out the emergency work order after the job is completed The format of the emergency work order is similar to the work request in that only the brief, necessary information is required. When the work order is posted to the equipment history, it should be marked as an emergency work order, allowing the analysis of the emergency work orders by: * Equipment [D * Department * Equipment type * Requestor Analyzing emergency work patterns can help identify certain trends that can be invaluable when planning maintenance activities. The typical flow of a trouble call or emergency work order is pictured in Figure 5-4 ‘The need for a central call-in point for work requests is to prevent over- REACTIVE WORK FLOW + Trouble call is received by a central dispatch point — May be the maintenance supervisor « The call is dispatched to the maintenance supervisor * If the repair is going to be over a certain time or cost limit, the supervisor and planner analyze the repair + When the logistics are arranged, the repair is performed lapping assignments. If requests are taken at different points, several tech- nicians may be dispatched to the same job When technicians or supervisors arrive at the job site, they may realize that the job is more involved than the call may have indicated. If the work102 Chapter 5 required is going to exceed a certain cost or time limit, the job is routed back to the planner for analysis. If the work is going to be easier to coordi- nate and plan by scheduling, the planner takes control of the work order, scheduling it as soon as the material and labor resources are available. This approach allows for cost effective maintenance activities, instead of wast- ing labor productivity waiting to do a job. Shutdown or Outage Work Orders Shutdown or outage work orders are for work that is going to be per- formed as a project or during a time when the equipment is shut down for an extended period. These jobs, which are marked as outage or shutdowns, should not appear in the regular craft backlog. This work is still planned, insuring that the maintenance resource requirements are known and ready before the shutdown or outage begins. Such planning prevents delays and maximizes the productivity of all employees. In many cases, the work or der information is entered into project management software to run a com- plete project schedule. Computerized Maintenance Management Software (CMMS) does not include enough features of project management software to make it an ac- ceptable scheduling alternative. Some vendors have included interiaces to project management systems, which tends to correct this deficiency. Obstacles to Effective Work Order Systems Figure 5-5 outlines some of the most common work order problems TYPICAL PROBLEM FOR WORK ORDER SYSTEMS. + Inadequate or ineffective prevent + Inadequate labor controls @ maintenance programs Inadequate stores controls + Poor planning and scheduling disciplines + Lack of performance measurement + Inadequate or inaccurate equipment history Inadequate or ineffective preventive maintenance programs These problems can impact the success of a work order system, causing anything from a simple nuisance to total ineffectiveness. Preventive and predictive maintenance programs are keys to operating a work order sys-Work Order Systems 103 tem. If an organization is in a reactive mode, it has little or no time to oper- ate a work order system. Providing the information necessary to satisly the work order system takes time, When an organization runs from breakdown to breakdown, it either has little or no time to record the information or any information recorded is generally sketchy and inaccurate. ‘Companies are in a proactive mode when the work is planned on a regu- lar schedule, with 20% or less emergency activities. This schedule provides supervisors and planners with the time needed to properly utilize the work order reporting system, Without preventive or predictive maintenance pro- grams, it will be impossible to properly utilize a work order information system, Inadequate Labor Controls A lack of controls for the maintenance labor resource is a second factor that prevents optimum usage of a maintenance work order system. The fol- lowing problems are common with labor resources: * Insufficient personnel of one or all craft * Insufficient supervision of personnel * Inadequate training of personnel « Lack of accountability for work performed Without controls in these areas, inadequate or unacceptable resources may be all that is available when the planner tries to schedule the work. Having the labor resources properly controlled is important for a work or- der system to he effective Inadequate Stores Control A lack of stores controls can reduce the work order system to total in- cifectiveness when materials are required. Planners who do not have ac- curate, timely information concerning the materials in the maintenance stores cannot schedule the work. If the craftworker has a work order 1 quiring certain materials, but the materials are not available when they are necded, valuable time is wasted obtaining the materials, thereby low- ring the craftworker's productivity. Planners, supervisors, and craftwork- ers must have current information about the stock levels of maintenance inventory items. Most consultants believe that maintenance materials are ential part of a good maintenance planning program. the most es Poor Planning and Scheduling Disciplines Poor planning disciplines affect the work order system because most of the information on the work order is not reliable. In this situation, work or- ders fall into disuse, resulting in discontinuance of the work order informa-104 Chapter 5 tion flow. Job plans must be accurate and realistic if the work order system is to be successful. If companies do not have a work order planning system, they really do not have a work order system Lack of Performance Measurement Lack of performance controls is really a lack of follow up on manage- ment’s part. Once a job plan or a work order is produced, it should always be audited for compliance, This audit can highlight weaknesses in: Planning Craft Skills Any deficiencies can then be corrected. However, if performance con- trols are not used, the lack of accountability will create a disorganized cf fort, again allowing the work order to fall into disuse. Inadequate or Inaccurate Equipment History Inadequate or inaccurate equipment history hinders the work order system because none of the information used to make management dee sions will be reliable. Managers will not be able to base budget projections, equipment repair forecasts, or labor needs on historical standards. The work order system presumably is not being used accurately; equipment history is built from the work order history file. Unless care is taken to sce that all posted data is accurate, the unreliable work order system will not be used. Conclusion ‘The work order system is the cornerstone for any successful mainte- nance organization, If work orders are not used, the organization cannot expect much of a return on investment from the maintenance organiza- tion, However, work order problems are not all maintenance related. Un- less all parts of an organization cooperate and use the system, true mainte- nance resource optimization will be just a dream.