Create New Work Order
The majority of work orders in Maintenance Connection are created through service requests or are automatically generated through preventive maintenance schedules. Work Orders can also be created using the SMS to Work Order feature, described below.
The Work Order module can also be used to create new work orders. Creating work orders in this manner provides a blank work order record on which to record data about the affected asset, target completion date, and work to be performed.
There are many shortcuts throughout Maintenance Connection to create a new work order. For example, you can right-click an asset on the Asset List and select New Work Order. This creates a new work order that is already associated with the designated asset. Also, you can select Create a New Work Order from the Work Center Home Page.
The system can be set up to ensure a newly created work order hasn't already been entered in the system. For more information, see: How can I check for a duplicate work order?
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Choose between two options:
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Select Work Order from the menu.
The Work Order Details page opens. All fields are empty except those with default values. Depending on your organization’s business process, default values can be set for: Type, Priority, Target Hours, Shop, Supervisor, and Survey. For more information, see: Work Order Preferences.
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Enter the reason for the work order in the Request Info field.
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If applicable, enter a problem code in the Problem field.
You can also open the Problem lookup 
to access a list of problems stored in the Failures module.
Entering a problem on a corrective work order may populate the Work Order Details page with default values defined for this problem in the Failures module. Default values can be populated for: Asset, Procedure, Repair Center, and Shop. The values populated onto these fields can be overwritten if necessary.
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Select the asset with which the work order should be associated.
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The List button can be used to open the Asset List in the List pane, allowing you to select an asset. Click the asset to associate it with this work order. You can also drag and drop the asset onto the work order.
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The Search button can be used to open Asset Search in the List pane. Enter your desired search string and click 
. Select the desired asset from the list displayed.
Once an asset is associated with the work order, the organizational attributes of the asset are automatically populated onto the work order, such as the repair center, department, shop, account, customer and zone. You can change these default values on the work order.
Even though the value in the asset was used to populate these default values, they remain independent of the asset. If the attribute is later changed on the asset, this change will not be reflected on the work order. This allows you to maintain accurate history.
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If a procedure is required for this work order, select the procedure from the Procedure module lookup .
Designating a procedure before saving this record will ensure that all fields from the procedure will be appropriately populated. These fields include estimated costs, tasks, and other default values.
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Enter any additional relevant data for your new work order on the Details page.
In general, for a new work order, it is important to enter:
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Click Save.
It is not necessary to click Save before recording data on other tabs; however, you cannot assign a work order or modify its status until the initial work order has been saved.
If your organization has set up the system to check for duplicate work orders and the data you entered matches another open work order, a warning will display, prompting you to confirm that you wish to proceed. For more information, see: How can I check for a duplicate work order?
As soon as the new work order is saved for the first time, Maintenance Connection automatically generates the Work Order ID and display the new ID in the Work Center Header.
The Work Order ID is incremented each time a new work order is generated. Depending on the preference set by your organization, the Work Order ID may have a prefix indicating the Repair Center ID. In an organization that includes repair center as the prefix, sequential Work Order IDs for the repair center “MAIN” would look like: MAIN-1435, MAIN-1436. Whereas, in an organization that does not use repair centers as a prefix, the Work Order IDs would look like: 1435, 1436, 1437, and so on.
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Access additional tabs to enter additional data on this work order.
For more complete information on the data available on each screen, see Work Order Tabs/Screens.
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Click Save.
The SMS to Work Order feature allows users to initiate a work order by sending a text (SMS) to a predefined number. The subject of the text message is populated into the work order reason field along with the phone number of the requester. Maintenance Connection checks to see if the phone number matches an existing Labor/Requester record and populates the Requester ID and Name if a match is found. If an image is attached to the text, it is uploaded as well.
The feature is only available to Cloud Hosted customers that have purchased the MC for Phone/SMS Service. Contact your Accruent representative if you have questions about this feature.
Create a New Work Order