Getting Started with Planned Maintenance

Set up Planned Jobs to manage repetitive tasks efficiently and ensure that important work in your facilities is not missed

Overview

Planned maintenance allows repetitive or important jobs to be managed efficiently, and typically includes:

• Statutory and recommended asset maintenance.
• Administrative activities such as audits and renewals.
• Cleaning or inspection activities.

With Planned Jobs, important work can be scheduled for many years into the future.

Reports for Managing Planned Maintenance outlines how setting up Planned Jobs can support your management of resource workload and business reporting requirements.

Before you start

There are a number of important things to consider before venturing into creating Planned Jobs.

Schedule types

There are two commonly used Schedule Types available for Planned Jobs. 

1. Period (Elapsed) - This will create a work order once the Next Scheduled date has arrived. It will then automatically adjust and schedule the Next Due date based on the defined Cycle Type and Cycle value. For example, the next Scheduled Date for a job that runs on 3 January 2023 with a monthly Cycle Type and Cycle value of 1 is 3 February 2023. 
2. Period (Completed) - This will create a work order once the Next Scheduled date has arrived. It will then automatically adjust and schedule the Next Due date using the Last Completed date, as the starting point, adding the timeframe of the defined Cycle Type and Cycle value. For example, a three-month Planned Job that is Next Scheduled for 3 January 2023 and completed on 3 February 2023, will have a Next Scheduled date of 3 May 2023, that is, three-months from the Last Completed date. 

Planned Jobs and Sites

Planned Jobs must be linked to a Site and can only be linked to a single Site.

This is important as filtering the Site drives what assets will be displayed or where the Planned Job is to be generated for if not incorporating an asset. You can further refine the filtering for a more defined location for the job.

Asset filtering requires a minimum of one Site, further refined to Building, Floor, Room and/or Asset Group / Asset Type.

Planned Jobs and dates

It is important to understand dates when setting up Planned Jobs, especially when an asset has previously been preventively maintained but this has not been managed within FMI Works.

This is especially important when the Planned Job cycle is greater than one year.

Organisational operational processes need to be considered when setting up Planned Jobs, for example:

• Whether assets of the same type are being scheduled at the same time irrespective of purchase or commissioning dates. In this instance, it may be necessary to create an ad-hoc work order to have the asset checked before it is placed into service, then the future date (matching other assets of the same type and frequency) can be used.
• Whether assets should be scheduled for planned maintenance from the date the asset was purchased / commissioned.
• Whether spreading workload of employees or contractors to ensure that peaks in workload do not occur is preferable, i.e., the work generated can be completed by available resources.
• Whether the organisation needs to specify periods where the asset is less likely to be needed or prior to peak usage periods.

Cascading Planned Jobs

Planned Jobs can be cascading, to avoid duplicate work orders being generated.

For example, if a Planned Job recurs every three months, as well as annually, the three-monthly Planned Job is suppressed when the annual work order is generated, so that the contractor receives only one work order.

Tips for creating Planned Jobs

• Planned Jobs can be created with or without a linked asset.
• Planned Jobs can be set up so that the work order Current Status is either Work in Progress or Scheduled.
• Standard Documents or Additional Documents can be attached to a Planned Job. These are automatically attached and sent with the email to the Planned Job recipient.

More information

For step-by-step instructions on setting up Planned Jobs see How to Use the Planned Job Wizard Step 1.