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A work order printing press is exactly what it sounds like; a press that prints work orders, nothing else. It is NOT a living, breathing system that organizations rely on to deliver decision support to improve equipment reliability, mitigate risk, maximize asset life, and increase overall plant profitability.
When a CMMS is ONLY a work order printing press, history never returns to the system. Without history, making improvements is difficult and what does not get measured does not get managed. Hence, the following items are never properly managed, costing organizations significant time and money:
Therefore, it is critical to turn your work order printing press into a living decision support system that accurately tracks, at a minimum, the following work order information:
Sounds easy, right? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Updating your CMMS with accurate work order information is difficult and burdensome, especially when information is collected manually. First, work orders must be created, printed, and assigned. Once assigned, work needs to be completed.
If parts are needed, maintenance technicians must travel back and forth to storerooms to check out and return parts. If a part is unavailable, it needs to be requested, approved, and ordered. Sometimes, techs, themselves, are responsible for placing orders via phone, fax, or email, not to mention receiving and stocking the parts, too.
Next, they must travel back to the equipment to repair or maintain it. Once the work is complete, the work order must be updated. However, what happens if information (start times, stop time, parts, etc.) is forgotten because they get called away to another job or emergency? In steps guestimates or unrecorded work.
Let's say work order activities were recorded but your department doesn't have a maintenance clerk. Without a clerk, techs, themselves, are responsible for making CMMS work order updates. Most of the time, they prefer other activities over typing. Additionally, oily and poorly lit work environments make paper and computer updates even more difficult.
Once again, manually updating CMMS software with paper work order information is not easy. Plus, techs have other HUGE responsibilities such as keeping the plant up and running, offices at comfortable temperatures, etc.
To help, I created MVP Capture Mobile CMMS back in 2000 (Today, we offer MVP Plant Mobile CMMS.). Instead of taking an average of 15-30 minutes to make manual paper and CMMS updates (per work order), techs use barcode scanners to point and scan. Instantaneously, CMMSs are updated with precise work order data (without ever having to physically touch a piece of paper or a computer). Back then, I also printed sheets of barcodes for common words to make updating comments easy. Today, our MVP Plant Mobile CMMS users take advantage of voice to text to record comments.
If you manually update your CMMS with paper work order information and think a mobile CMMS solution is too expensive, check this out:
The Annual Cost of Manual CMMS Work Order Updates
The Annual Cost of Mobile CMMS Work Order Updates
Annual Savings
Mobile CMMS solutions abolish work order printing presses, save time and money, deliver accurate work order data, and enable techs to better utilize their time. Instead of making paper and CMMS work order updates, their time is better utilized performing maintenance and preventing failures. Eliminating paperwork and data entry also increases job satisfaction.
With or without a mobile CMMS solution, create standard operating procedures (SOPs) to set the standard for work order data and maintain the integrity of it. Detail how to properly collect and update your CMMS with work order information. Then, train your techs on the SOPs and continuously ask for their feedback (to perfect the process and the SOPs).
Once your CMMS alive with precise work order history, it will be quick and easy to detect bad boy equipment and where to focus your attention, increasing asset life, reliability, and the overall profitability of your plant.
Remember, CMMSs want to be more than just another work order printing press. :)
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Founded in 2000, CMMS Data Group is the market leader in CMMS software and services. Led by the award-winning MVP Plant™ CMMS software combined with its professional services and technical support, the Company also provides comprehensive Reliability Engineering Services. These solutions empower maintenance and reliability professionals to increase customer satisfaction, reliability, capacity, productivity, and profitability, delivering a competitive edge to their organization.
