Work Order Management

What is Work Order Management?

Work order management is the process of organizing maintenance tasks from initiation to completion. It’s a critical function of facilities management that ensures the efficient handling and documentation of all service activities, from preventive maintenance tasks to urgent repairs.

Work order management is essential for maintaining a well-functioning facility and ensures that maintenance teams efficiently perform their duties. Implementing clear processes and utilizing current technology helps facilities managers enhance the effectiveness of maintenance operations and extend asset lifespans.

The Purpose of Work Order Management in Facilities

Work order management in facilities management streamlines maintenance tasks, helping to ensure asset longevity and reduce downtime through effective work request organization.

Organizing Maintenance Activities

Work order management offers a structured approach to maintenance and repair by organizing activities based on urgency, resources, and the availability of maintenance staff. It helps ensure prompt servicing, as well as efficient preventive maintenance scheduling, helping reduce unplanned downtime due to equipment failures. 

Improving Accountability

Clearly defined roles and responsibilities of each individual or team helps track progress and ensures accountability. Holding assigned personnel responsible for meeting deadlines and quality standards promotes more consistent maintenance outcomes and improved productivity.

Enhancing Communication

A centralized system for updates and feedback helps ensure that everyone’s priorities and objectives line up, reduces misunderstandings, and provides confidence in the effective handling of urgent and regular maintenance tasks.

Increasing Efficiency

Streamlining maintenance request processes significantly enhances operational efficiency by helping to ensure timely repairs through a more effective and efficient maintenance process.

Maintaining Asset Health

By responding promptly to whatever work request they receive, maintenance teams can address issues before they escalate, preserving the health of equipment, minimizing costly breakdowns, and optimizing the value of critical assets.

Steps of The Work Order Management Process

As a comprehensive approach to maintenance and repair procedures, work order management involves a few critical steps to ensure that maintenance or repair work is implemented, documented, and tracked throughout the process.

1. Work Order Creation

The creation of a service request called the work order, which outlines specific instructions, assigns responsibilities, and schedules necessary work to ensure efficient and timely task completion.

2. Assignment and Scheduling

After generating a work order, a maintenance manager assigns it to appropriate maintenance staff based on expertise and sets a schedule based on importance, resources, deadlines, and personnel availability.

3. Task Execution

Once a maintenance team receives a work request, they carefully review the work order details, gather necessary tools and materials, and carry out the required tasks according to industry standards, government regulations, and company timelines.

4. Tracking and Monitoring

The maintenance manager tracks the progress of current tasks and reviews the effectiveness of completed maintenance or repair work. 

5. Documentation and Reporting

Maintenance teams document the actions they took and the end results of each maintenance task from start to finish, including labor hours, materials used, and reports of any incidents. 

6. Feedback and Closure

Once personnel complete the requested maintenance task, maintenance managers provide feedback on the actions taken and the final results. Feedback typically covers items such as the effectiveness of the work performed, adherence to regulations and safety protocols, and timeliness of completion.

How to Implement a Work Order Management Process at Your Facility

Initiating work order processes at a facility requires resources and planning. These steps can give you a leg up in rolling out a work order management plan. 

1. Define Your Processes

Establish clear protocols for each stage of the work order management process. Lay out specific processes for various scenarios, including reactive maintenance responses, preventive maintenance scheduling, and emergency repairs. Identify the resources, skills, and steps needed to perform the work. 

2. Choose the Right Tools

Research work order management software and select a platform that fits your facility’s needs. Many reliable maintenance platforms have integrated work order management features that help facility managers efficiently generate and manage work requests. 

3. Train Your Staff

Thoroughly educate relevant staff on how to perform their specific duties in the work order management system. Many software vendors offer tailored staff training to familiarize new users with the platform and provide webinars to show tips and tricks, as well as answering questions that users may have. 

4. Continuously Monitor

Track maintenance requests and aggregate data related to specific work order types. Review processes and compare them to tracked metrics to identify inefficiencies and improve practices to fill identified gaps.

Benefits of Work Order Management

An efficient work order management program provides organizations with several advantages that ripple across all aspects of operations. When you implement a work order management plan, your company can enjoy numerous benefits such as these:

• Reduced Downtime: By efficiently handling maintenance tasks, you minimize equipment downtime through timely engagement with issues and optimized maintenance scheduling.
• Cost Savings: Proper maintenance ensures equipment continues to run effectively, avoiding unexpected repair costs and expensive equipment replacements.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Through the analysis of historical data, managers can make informed decisions regarding maintenance strategies and asset management.
• Compliance: The documentation process of work order management helps ensure adherence to industry standards and compliance with government regulations.

Challenges in Work Order Management

As with any company-wide implementation, rolling out and maintaining a work order management program has its share of obstacles, such as these, that can slow down processes. 

• Work Request Volume: When operating manually, a large number of maintenance requests can overwhelm maintenance managers and staff. 
• Prioritization: Equipment with similar criticality levels sometimes have to compete for attention at the same time. 
• Communication Gaps: Poor communication can slow down work and lead to errors due to insufficient instructions and missing critical information.

Strategies for Effective Work Order Management

By applying these practical strategies, you can quickly overcome a majority of the obstacles that work order management presents.

Automate Processes

An efficient computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) or work order management system can help cut through a large volume of requests quickly and effectively, through notifications and status updates.

Prioritize Based on Impact

By scoring the importance of enterprise assets, you can overcome most prioritization challenges. Factor criteria such as impact on health and safety, affect on operations, replacement and repair costs, and importance to other operating systems into a quantifiable priority score of specific assets.

Foster a Collaborative Environment

Avoid communication gaps by ensuring clear messaging throughout the lifecycle of a maintenance request. Encourage teamwork and collaboration to improve communication through the entire process.

Leverage Data

Compile work order data and run analyses to identify trends and locate areas for improvement. 

Work Order Management in Conclusion

Work order management is an essential aspect of facilities maintenance, encompassing the entire process from task initiation to completion. A structured work order management system helps optimize maintenance practices, reduce downtime, and enhance overall productivity. This comprehensive approach helps ensure smooth operations and supports regulatory compliance efforts.

A robust facility maintenance platform like ServiceChannel can significantly improve work order management practices. Take the next step in transforming your maintenance program and explore what ServiceChannel can do for your facility today.