Details Tab: Work Order Module

The following fields are displayed in the General Information area in the upper-left of the Work Order Details page:

• Reason: Description of the work order request. The first several characters of this field are displayed in the Work Order list to help identify the item. To access an expanded window to display or enter more text, click the directly above the field.

• Failure Class: Ties the work order to a set of problem, cause, and remedy codes (configured in the Classifications module) you can use for failure analysis.

• Problem: Specific problem, if identified by requester. If you are entering a work order manually, you can use the Problem lookup to select a problem.

  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.

• Requester ID/Name: If the Service Requester is used to submit the work order, the ID field will contain the ID of the Requester. If the work order is entered manually, the requester will default to the logged in user.

  To manually enter a requester, use the lookup to access a list of the requesters in the Requester module. The full name of the requester is displayed below the ID.

• Phone/ Email: Telephone number and email of person making the request, automatically populated from the Requester, Labor Resource, or Contacts module.

  You can change the phone number or email. Note, however, that changes will not be copied back to the associated Requester or Labor Resource record.

The Asset/Location area of the Work Order Details page lists the asset with which the work order is associated. If no asset is yet defined, buttons are provided to locate an asset using list or search methods. If an asset is already defined, the current asset will be listed along with its location in the asset hierarchy. A picture of the asset may also be displayed.

If a physical location is associated with this asset, a Physical Location section displays the address of the asset. Clicking this section opens the location in a mapping application, allowing the technician to obtain directions if needed.

When an asset is associated with a work order, the organizational attributes of that asset, such as repair center, shop, department, account, customer, and zone, are automatically populated into the asset. If the asset does not have one of these attributes defined, Maintenance Connection searches up the Asset List to find the appropriate value. If no value is found, the field is left blank.

Add Asset Using Buttons in Asset/Location Area

Action Button Options to Select or Change an Asset

The default values for several of these fields are defined in Work Order Preferences.

The following information is displayed in the center column of the Work Order Details page:

• Procedure: Procedure associated with the work order. Procedures are typically listed if the work order was generated through a preventive maintenance schedule. To manually enter a procedure, use the Module lookup to access a list of procedures from the Procedures module.

  If a procedure is associated with the work order, requisite tasks and estimated costs—including labor and parts—will automatically be populated onto the work order.

  If a procedure is entered or modified after a work order has been issued, the tasks and estimated costs will not be updated.

• Target Date/ Hours: The target date for completion of the work order and the estimated hours to complete the work. If the work order is associated with a procedure, these fields will be auto-populated. The values in the fields can be modified, if needed.

  If your organization has enabled Priority Action Rules the priority defined for a new work order may determine the target date for the work order. For further information, see the information in the next section defining the Priority field.

• Type: The type of work order. This field is populated as part of the generation of the work order. If you are entering a work order manually, you can select a type from the Type lookup.

• Priority: The priority associated with the work order. This field is commonly used for reporting purposes. In addition, work orders with an urgent / critical or low priority have a visual indicator listed in the Work Order List. If you are entering a work order manually, you can select a Priority from the Priority lookup.

  A default value for this field can be set through a preference, procedure, asset, or defined preventive maintenance schedule. Should a work order have associations to multiple priority values. For example, if a procedure and an asset with differing priority values were both associated with a work order. Preference is given in the following order:

  1. Asset

  2. Preventative maintenance

  3. Procedure

  4. Manual entry or preference default

  If your organization has enabled Priority Action Rules, the priority defined for a new work order will determine the target date for the work order. The target date associated with this priority will be displayed by default on a new work order. You can change this priority prior to saving this record by altering the value in the Priority field or by selecting a procedure that has a default priority established. Upon saving the new record, the target date field will update to the date corresponding to that defined in the Work Order Priority Manager.

  The priority action rules only take effect on new work orders. If the work order has already been generated or saved, changing the priority will not affect the work order target date.

• Project: Projects can be used to track groups of work orders. You can assign the work order to an existing project or create a new one. Use the Module lookup to access a list of projects from the Projects module.

• Repair Center and Shop: The repair center and shop with which the work order is associated. For corrective work orders, the repair center and shop are populated by default from the associated asset. For preventive maintenance schedules, the repair center and shop are populated based on the values specified on the PM Assets Tab.

  To change the repair center or shop displayed, use the available Module lookup.

• Shift: The shift to which the work order is associated. For corrective work orders, the shift is populated by default from the defined Work Order Preference.

  For Preventive Maintenance Schedules, the shift is populated based on the defined shift from the PM Schedule listed on the PM Details Tab, or by a specific value defined on the PM Assets Tab.

  See the section on Shift Pass Downs for information on changing work order shift assignment at the end of a shift. If the shift needs to be changed, use the available Module lookup.

• Department and Account: The department and account with which the work order is associated. The department and account are typically populated by default from the associated asset, or through the values on the PM Assets Tab for work orders generated through a PM Schedule. If the department or account needs to be changed, use the available Module lookup.

• Contract: If this work order should be linked to a contract, you can use the module lookup to access a list of contracts from the Contracts module.

  Use the asset tree on the left of the Contracts Module lookup to filter the displayed contracts to those associated with a particular asset or node of the tree.

• Customer: The customer with which the work order is associated. This field is only used by organizations that manage maintenance for multiple customers. The customer is typically populated by default from the associated asset. If the customer needs to be changed, use the available Module lookup.

• Zone: The zone with which the work order is associated. This field is only used by organizations that conduct maintenance by geographic zone, such as a school district. The zone is typically populated by default from the associated asset. If the zone needs to be changed, use the available Module lookup.

• Supervisor: The supervisor in charge of the work order. This field is displayed on the right side of the page. For corrective work orders, this value is automatically populated after entering the repair center and shop. By default, the supervisor of the assigned shop is populated onto the work order. For work orders generated from a PM Schedule, the value is retrieved from the PM Assets Tab.

  To change to a different supervisor, use the Module lookup to obtain a list of supervisors form the Labor Resource module.

The status of the work order in the upper-right of the Work Order Details page indicates the work order's current state in the maintenance cycle. While organizations use different processes for managing the status of their work orders, in general, the following process is used:

• Requested > Issued > Completed / Closed

• Requested > Denied, On-Hold, or Canceled

Depending on the process used at your organization, constraints may be placed on changing status until a work order has been approved. This means you may not be able to issue a work order until it has received required approval. In another organization, the Issued status may not even be used; work orders may be acted upon in the Requested State without first being issued.

The status of the work order is changed by clicking the Action menu next to the Status label or by using the buttons displayed on the bottom of the page. The options available at the bottom of the page will depend on the current state of the work order.

The status is automatically changed upon selecting a new value from the Action menu. It is not necessary to save the change.

Status Option Definitions

The status options are described in the table below:

• Requested: The work order status is automatically set Requested when the work order is created. This status is used when the work order is initiated in the Service Requester, automatically generated through a preventive maintenance schedule, or manually entered in the Work Order module. Work orders in this status are waiting to be issued or denied.

  Preventive maintenance schedules can be defined to have work orders automatically created with an initial status of Issued.

• Issued: The work order status is typically changed to Issued to indicate that the work order is in progress. Once a work order is issued, it cannot be denied. To cancel an issued work order, you must change the status to Canceled.

  To allow organizations to track more definitive progress with a work order, Maintenance Connection keeps track of additional stages of an issued work order. For example, depending on your organizations business process, users may use the Complete/Close Work Order window to indicate that they have responded to a work order.

  In addition, some organizations progress work orders through stages of being completed and finalized before closing them out. In these instances, the text label next to the status icon on the Details page might indicate:

  • Issued: Responded

  • Issued: Completed

  • Issued: Finalized

  Filters for these states of being issued are displayed in the Work Order List filter menu.

• Denied: Work orders in a requested state can be denied, indicating that the supervisor or administrator does not think the work should be performed at the current time. Changing a work order to Denied status places it into a general closed state. Once a work order has been denied, it can be accessed at a later date and reissued.

• On-Hold: Work orders in Requested or Issued status can be placed in On Hold status. This status is similar to Denied, although it keeps the work order in a pending state indicating that the supervisor or administrator may wish to reissue when resources are available. Once a work order has been placed on hold, it can be accessed at a later date and reissued.

• Canceled: Work orders that have been issued can be canceled, indicating that they no longer should be acted upon. Changing a work order to Canceled status places it into a general closed state. Once a work order has been canceled, it can be accessed at a later date and reissued.

• Closed: Work orders that have been completed and reviewed as necessary are changed to a status of Closed. Using the Complete/Close Out Work Order option brings forward a window providing options to enter appropriate information to complete the process. In addition to providing dates and notes, you have the ability to convert estimated costs to actual costs, and set all tasks as complete.

• Deleted: The Delete option does not just change the status of the work order, it permanently deletes the work order. This option should only be used when a work order is created in error.

• Sub-Status: Maintenance Connection provides an additional Sub-Status field directly below the Status field to provide more information regarding the reason for the current status. This sub-status field can be modified to tailor its use to the needs of your organization.

  You can select a Sub-Status from the Sub-Status lookup.

Depending on the business process used at your organization, work orders may require approval before being processed or issued. If approvals are not used at your organization, the Approval section of the Work Order Detail page may be hidden.

If no approvals are required for a given work order, the words Not Required will be listed in the Approval section of the Work Order Details page. If approval for the work order is required, the work order may require more than one level of approval. The number of approvals required is listed beneath the Approval header. The number of approvals required is based on the definition in an associated procedure and/or the access rights of the individual accessing the record.

If the work order does not require approval, the column in the Work Order list will be blank and the approval area of the detail page will indicate approval is not required. If approval is required, the current approval state will be listed in the Approval section of the Details page.

Once the work order has been approved, the date of approval and initials of the individual who approved will be listed in the Approval section.

The action button to the right of the Approval label is used to approve or reject a work order request. Clicking the action button displays the Approval action field.

You must be a member of an access group with permission to approve work orders to process approval.

Approval Option Definitions

The following approval options are available:

• Approve: Approves the work order. It is not necessary to click Save after processing an approval; the approval takes effect automatically.

• Reject: Rejects the work order. It is not necessary to click Save after processing an rejection; the rejection takes effect automatically.

 For complete instructions on Assigning Work Orders, see Assign Work Orders.

The Assignment section of the Work Order Details page displays current assignments and provides two methods to create new assignments:

• The Assignment Action field can be used to quickly make an assignment for the current user. In addition, an assignment can be made for another user selected from a list.

• The New Assignment icon can be used to create an assignment using the Assignment Calendar. Clicking the New Assignment icon opens the Assign tab and places you in New Assignment Mode so that the assignment can be made.

The assignments shown on the Work Order Details page display as follows:

• If “estimated labor” has been defined for the work order, such as through a procedure, a placeholder icon will be displayed for the estimated labor. The placeholder icon lists the type of craft / estimated labor required.

  Clicking the icon will display the Assign tab and place you in New Assignment Mode so that the assignment can be made. The New Assignment Calendar will automatically display tabs as Estimated Labor, and list the individuals with the requisite skills.

• If an assignment has been made, manually or through an automatic assignment, the assigned individual will be displayed. If a picture of the individual is available, the picture will be displayed. Listed directly below the picture is the name of the individual assigned, the assignment date, and hours.

  • To view or modify this assignment, click the icon and select View Labor Calendar. The Assigned Labor Calendar for the assigned individual is displayed. If the assignment date is in a different month, you will need to use the date controls to navigate to the correct month. 

  • To remove this assignment, click the gray x in the upper-right corner of the Assignment icon. You are asked to confirm that you wish to delete the assignment.

  • If the individual assigned is currently online and is a member of an access group with permission to chat, a small chat icon is displayed to the left of the name. Clicking this icon brings forward a Chat tab in the Message Center and sends the assigned individual a chat request.

• In addition, a blank Click to Assign option is provided to support new assignment.

Clicking the Assignment icon brings forward a menu with additional actions that can be performed.

The Send Email and Send SMS Text options opens an email message using your default email program, addressed based on the values populated in the Labor Record of the individual assigned. These options can only be used if these fields are populated on the individual’s Labor Contact tab.

In the bottom-left of the Work Order Details page are a series of check boxes used to provide quick “indicators” regarding the work order. To select an indicator, click anywhere on the control (label or box). To clear an indicator, click anywhere on the control that is selected.

Check box controls are used to indicate if a value is true (“yes” or “no”).

Indicator Definitions

The following indicators are available on the Details page:

• Warranty: This field should be checked if the work order is associated with a warranty. The field is automatically updated if the asset associated with the work order is under warranty.

• Attachments: This field should be checked if the work order has attachments associated with it. The field is automatically checked if an associated asset or procedure has documents attached.

• Chargeable: This field should be checked if the work order has chargeable items.

• Survey: This field should be checked if a survey should be available to use when the work order is closed. Clicking the check box opens a window to designate which survey to use.

  This is typically set as a global default in preferences: Work Order Preferences.

• Shutdown Required: This field should be checked if the work order requires an asset to be shut down to perform the maintenance. The field is automatically checked if an associated procedure indicates shutdown is required.

• Lockout / Tagout: This field should be checked if the work order requires a lockout procedure. The field is automatically checked if an associated procedure indicates lockout is required.

• Follow-up Work: This field should be checked if the work order has follow-up work to be completed. The field will automatically be updated if a work order is created for follow-up in the Tasks / Labor Report tab.

• Printed / E-Mailed: This field should be checked if the work order has been printed or emailed. The field will automatically be updated if this option is checked by a user during the process of printing or emailing a work order.