Departments juggle a variety of work orders, from routine preventive maintenance tasks to emergency repairs. However, keeping up with scheduled and on-demand maintenance tasks can quickly overwhelm a manual or paper-based work order scheduling system. Additionally, using an outdated work order tracking system tends to have a negative impact on service quality, labor usage, and dispatch times. Work order management software simplifies and controls the work order management process, eliminating guesswork, doing away with paper requests, and creating a traceable history.
What Does Work Order Management Software Do?
Work order management software facilitates the creating, tracking, assignment, and reporting of work orders, enabling maintenance departments to handle multiple tasks, including the following:
- Estimate and track labor, parts and miscellaneous costs
- Track safety procedures
- Track downtime
- Quickly assign labor hours
- Display outstanding work for the day, week, or month
- Complete online history for regulatory and insurance agencies
Work order maintenance software is updated in real-time, keeping everyone connected and informed. Some work order management systems even offer add-ons that allow maintenance technicians to receive and update work orders via mobile devices. Work request add-ons enable users to submit work requests on the web and that information can then be put directly into a work order.
An organization can set the parameters for scheduling maintenance tasks based on a number of different triggers, including machine hours, a specific number of days, or a user-defined calendar. This level of customization gives organizations control of the maintenance process and allows for proactive responses to future maintenance needs, thereby reducing the need for reactive maintenance work orders. Work order maintenance software also helps organizations comply with regulations and avoid non-compliance fines.
Keep Maintenance Technicians On Track and On Time with Work Order Maintenance Software
When maintenance technicians receive work orders via work order maintenance management software, they can start the work immediately because all of the information they need is right at their fingertips. They know exactly what parts they need to use and receive specific instructions and procedures to follow. This allows technicians to complete work orders without interruption or delay. When a technician completes a work order, he can quickly update the work order’s status with the click of a mouse. In short, work order management software gives maintenance technicians access to the right information at just at the right time.
Maintenance technicians can add notes to each completed work order for future reference so that other maintenance technicians can benefit from their knowledge and experience. Work order maintenance software feeds all of the important data from work orders into reports so that maintenance managers can analyze work order history and identify areas for improvement. The software also tracks information about the parts used, so maintenance managers can determine when it’s necessary to reorder parts.
Benefits of Using Work Order Maintenance Management Software
The benefits of implementing work order maintenance software in your organization are numerous. The following are some of the advantages:
- Increase availability and performance of equipment
- Boost employee productivity
- Reduce overtime
- Improve customer service
- Minimize paperwork
- Reduce the maintenance backlog
- Improve safety
Maintenance is an essential activity that organizations should view as a profit center rather than a cost center. While companies can buy new equipment to replace failing equipment, it’s far more effective to maintain existing equipment and keep it in tip-top condition with work order maintenance software. Maintenance isn’t an added expense. Work order maintenance management software is an investment in a company’s future.
Let DPSI Help You
Work orders are the heart of DPSI’s iMaint EAM software. iMaint’s easy-to-use work order module allows maintenance technicians to define and assign work orders quickly and easily. iMaint is customizable, scalable maintenance management software that can meet your exact specifications and grow with your company. Sign up now for a free demonstration of iMaint to learn more about its features and capabilities.
