Work Order: Preventive Maintenance Software

Published 17/02/2024

What is Preventive Maintenance Software and Why is it Important?

Preventive Maintenance is a systematic observation, testing, and fixing of faulty components before the system crushes. Preventive Maintenance aims to prolong the life of the system by eliminating possible failures. A preventive maintenance program is computer software that stores maintenance data on a remote database or in the cloud to track all inspections and repairs easily.

A preventive maintenance system ensures that assets, plant and equipment can have maintenance scheduled automatically and assigned to a preferred contractor through a seamless and automated way on an ongoing basis. The frequency might vary such as an asset requiring a monthly maintenance check versus another which might be quarterly. The job task being automatically assigned to the preferred contractor to action whent he frequency comes up. This will commonly form part of your work order software and start with a work request form.

The various types of preventive maintenance include:
- Time-based maintenance
- Predictive maintenance
- Usage-based maintenance
- Prescriptive maintenance

Preventative maintenance can help avoid maintenance issues by catching potential problems early and solving them before they become expensive repairs. Regular maintenance checks can help identify malfunctions, worn parts, and other issues before they become serious. Additionally, preventative maintenance can help extend the life of your equipment by ensuring it is running at peak performance. Regularly scheduled maintenance can also save you money in the long run by preventing costly repairs or replacements.

Preventative maintenance can also be completed to identify and correct any potential safety issues with the equipment. This can help to ensure that the equipment is safe to use and operate, reducing the risk of accidents or injuries. Additionally, preventative maintenance can help to reduce downtime, saving time and money. Scheduling regular maintenance checks can also help to reduce energy costs, as well as improve the overall efficiency of the equipment.

See how Preventive Maintenance Software can work for your organisation





Here we also go over an overview and guide on how to write a preventative maintenance plan.

Elements of a preventive maintenance system

Robust preventative maintenance software should offer comprehensive asset tracking capabilities, allowing you to keep tabs on all your equipment and machinery. This means being able to easily access vital information such as serial numbers, warranties, and maintenance history at the drop of a hat.

Work order management is an essential component of any top-notch preventative maintenance software. The ability to effortlessly create, assign, and track work orders can significantly enhance your team's efficiency and productivity.

Scheduling features are also crucial when it comes to preventative maintenance software. Look for a solution that allows you to schedule routine maintenance tasks at predetermined intervals, ensuring that no important checks or inspections fall through the cracks.

Reporting capabilities are another key consideration when evaluating preventative maintenance software options. Detailed reports on equipment performance, work order status, and overall maintenance trends can provide invaluable insights into your operations.

Mobile accessibility is becoming increasingly important in today's fast-paced world. The ability to access and manage preventative maintenance tasks from anywhere at any time can be a game-changer for many organizations.

Ease of use is another factor that shouldn't be overlooked when selecting a preventative maintenance software solution. An intuitive user interface and straightforward navigation can make all the difference in user adoption and satisfaction.

- Inspection

It involves periodic inspection of the organization's assets to determine potential failure and vulnerability. The critical inspection areas include; database, electrical, mechanical, network cabling, and the physical condition of the tools.

- Servicing

Since it is important to keep its records, servicing network and internet infrastructure is crucial. After inspection, affected areas should be attended to replace broken parts.

- Calibration

Preventive Maintenance involves regular evaluation of the value of features of the company's tools by comparing it to the standard protocols given by the manufacturer. It involves comparing tools, one of which is certified standard with known precision, to detect and rectify the differences in the tool's precision compared to the established certified protocols.

- Testing

Testing involves checking the system for vulnerability by either hiring certified hackers or using a test team within the company.

- Alignment

It involves changing some less-performing tools and replace with more powerful tools to achieve system performance.

- Adjustment

The adjustment involves regular tweaking of some elements of the system to achieve system performance.

- Installation

Broken and degraded components are replaced as soon as they are noticed. Preventive maintenance systems often fail due to underestimating the extent of the failure and the high cost of maintenance.

View Preventive Maintenance Forms, Registries and Templates





Creating Custom Preventive Maintenance Workflows

A common preventative maintenance workflow might begin with the initial work request but also setting a recurrence so that it can be automatically triggered when the due date arrives. This might then trigger series of follow on workflows ranging from notification, automatically issuing to a preferred contractor, escalations and follow ups before work order closure. Being able to customise this workflow is critical as different workplace types and industries will have different preventative maintenance requirements.

Instances when a company system needs preventive Maintenance:

- In case of equipment unreliability leading to low production

- When most of the systems are not functioning due to failure

- When the lifespan of equipment has reduced due to improper Maintenance

A preventive maintenance system typically simplifies the complex preventive maintenance tasks and processes. An organization's preventive data is stored on a computer/cloud for efficient tracking of repairs, replacements, and inspections. This software stores data in one place, so it's easy to manage purchase orders, inventory, and work orders. Preventive maintenance is primarily designed to keep operations productive and equipment running. So, when you stay on top of maintenance tasks, you can prevent unplanned downtime thus, saving the organization time and money.

These are the typical processes involved in preventive Maintenance:

1. Establish validating data - The Company's manager establishes validating data for users to select when using the application.

2. Define preventive maintenance tasks - The maintenance manager determines the preventive maintenance procedures and schedules execution plan; determines the job location and the tools to be used.

3. Generate schedule - The supervisor generates a working schedule using the scheduling routine. The scheduling routine is a program that generates dates by clicking generate schedules button.

4. Schedule labor - After the system generates the dates, the supervisor assigns the preventive maintenance team to execute the task.

5. Review and manage the schedule - The maintenance manager reviews the using Preventive maintenance planner to determine whether there are areas that need changes. They may change dates for work orders which are not urgent and replace them with urgent ones.

6. Generate preventive maintenance work orders - The maintenance manager generates work orders. They can do so using the system, which generates them automatically or periodically during specified times.

7. Issue work orders - The maintenance manager issues work orders to the supervisors, who issue them to the execution team.

8. Task execution-The execution team proceeds to the job location, ready to execute the task. After execution, they update the results of the project and any relevant information concerning the task to the server and write a report for analysis.

9. Closure-When the technical team is certain of their work, the supervisor reviews the work and decides whether or not to close the work order. When the supervisor is satisfied, they close the work order and start working on open ones.

10. Analyze-The maintenance manager analyzes all the reports given by the technical team for future reference. The reports aid in determining the cost of other related work orders and the number of artisans required.

A preventive maintenance system is important as the installation of the entire system. Establishing one in your company will prevent system failure, and in case it happens, important data will not be lost. Furthermore, it is a cost-saving technique because already installed systems will be maximally utilized.

Preventive Maintenance Schedule

A preventive maintenance system is like a schedule of upcoming worker orders to preferred contractors. Once tasks are logged as work orders with a frequency, they are automatically issued to preferred compliant contractors to action and complete the work order. Complexities such as capped work order cost totals can still be built in to ensure that jobs aren't above and beyond capped cost totals.

It is a schedule of regular maintenance activities that helps to ensure that a piece of machinery or equipment is operating properly and efficiently. The schedule outlines when maintenance activities should be completed, what type of maintenance needs to be performed, and how often the maintenance should be done. The schedule may also include instructions for completing the maintenance activity, such as how to check and lubricate parts, how to check for signs of wear and tear, or how to monitor the performance of plant and equipment on site. Following a preventive maintenance schedule can help reduce the risk of costly repairs or breakdowns and extend the life of the equipment.

Common preventive maintenance frequencies:

- Weekly
- Monthly
- Fortnightly
- Quarterly
- Yearly

Some examples might include:

- six monthly fire extinguisher checks
- annual light fixture replacement
- monthly gardening maintenance
- weekly cleaning

Guide to setting up a Preventive Maintenance Workflow

A Preventive maintenance workflow is the process of scheduling, executing, and tracking maintenance tasks in order to maintain the condition of the equipment and machinery.

The first step is to create a maintenance schedule. This is a plan that outlines what type of maintenance needs to be done, when it should be done, and who should be responsible for completing the task. The maintenance schedule should be tailored to the specific needs of the workplace, taking into account the type of equipment and machinery that needs to be maintained.

Once the maintenance schedule is created, the next step is to assign the tasks to the appropriate personnel. These personnel should be trained on the safe and proper use of the equipment and machinery, as well as the specific maintenance tasks that need to be completed. Contractors will need to be inducted and compliant.

The next step is to create a maintenance log. This is a record of all the maintenance tasks that have been completed, as well as any issues that have been identified. This log should be updated regularly to ensure that all maintenance tasks are being completed and that any issues are addressed in a timely manner.

Try setting up a work order system to manage this workflow digitally.

Try setting up a maintenance schedule using our Preventive Maintenance Software

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