Published: December 28, 2022  Updated: June 03, 2025

Mastering Maintenance Journeys: Strategic Routing with CMMS

"Nothing should lead you aside from your planned route." — Sunday Adelaja.

Effective maintenance operations thrive on precision and planning. A powerful feature within many Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), such as MAPCON, provides just this: routes. This capability dramatically enhances efficiency and productivity for maintenance teams, offering a structured approach to recurring tasks.

The Logic of Routes: Why They Matter

Routes offer a systematic way to tackle similar or repetitive jobs across different areas of a facility. Imagine a delivery service with designated stops; maintenance routes operate on a similar principle. They comprise a series of stops a technician follows to perform specific tasks, such as inspections, cleaning, or routine checks. This organized approach brings substantial efficiency gains to maintenance departments.

Maintenance supervisors gain the ability to plan work logically, ensuring the completion of numerous tasks within one area before moving to another. This prevents technicians from crisscrossing a facility, reducing travel time and physical exertion. For example, in a large manufacturing plant, instead of dispatching technicians to inspect machines scattered across different production lines with separate work orders, a supervisor creates a single route. This route includes all the machines on one specific production line, allowing the technician to address them sequentially. This eliminates wasted travel and keeps the focus on a defined operational zone.

Furthermore, routes significantly reduce the administrative burden on supervisors. Instead of creating multiple work orders for the same inspection or task across several buildings or pieces of equipment, a supervisor issues just one work order that incorporates all the necessary stops within the defined route. For instance, a hospital maintenance manager needs to conduct quarterly checks on all emergency lights in six different wings. Without routes, this means six individual work orders. With a route, the manager creates one work order for the "Emergency Light Inspection Route," encompassing all six wing locations. This consolidates paperwork and simplifies dispatching.

Dissecting Route Functionality in CMMS

Understanding the inner workings of routes reveals their full potential. MAPCON offers various sections and tabs to define and manage these critical paths.

The Lookup Tab: Your Route Directory

The Lookup tab typically presents a comprehensive list of all established routes. A site/zone drop-down menu often allows users to view routes in specific locations or operational zones within a larger enterprise. Double-clicking an existing route reveals its detailed configuration. Options usually include creating a new record or jumping to a specific route using search criteria. In a chain of retail stores, a facilities manager might use the Lookup tab to quickly find the "HVAC Filter Replacement Route" for the Midwestern region, then drill down to see routes specific to a particular store within that region.

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The Stops Tab: Defining the Journey

The Stops tab is where the actual route takes shape. A "Route #" field, which can be a number or a descriptive name (e.g., "Eye Wash Inspection Route," "Lights-Exit and Safety Route," "Crawlspace-Inspection and Cleaning Route"), serves as a required identifier. A description field provides space for additional details if the route name alone does not convey the scope of work (e.g., "Check and Inspect All Safety and Exit Lights for Six Main Buildings" or "Scrub, Dust, and Remove All Spiders From All Crawlspaces in Three Buildings").

A crucial "Generate WO" option allows users to create a work order directly from the completed route definition. Required fields for "Site" and "Zone" ensure proper location tagging. An optional "Rating" field provides a priority setting, indicating the urgency of the tasks within the route. A checkbox often accompanies this rating, allowing the printing of a route form alongside the work order for the technician. This feature ensures all necessary information is immediately available.

A smaller window typically allows the addition of checklists and work order types, tailoring the route to specific maintenance protocols. Below this, a larger window accommodates the individual stops on the route. Users designate whether a stop relates to a "Cost Center" (CD), "Equipment" (EQP), or "Location" (LOC). The subsequent required field specifies the code for the chosen item (e.g., "Building A" if the stop is a location). Any associated description automatically populates, as does the location field. A final checkbox offers the ability to inactivate a particular stop if it becomes irrelevant to the route.

Consider a large university campus. A route for "Fire Extinguisher Annual Inspection" might involve stops defined as "Location: Library," then "Location: Science Building," and so on. Each stop could have its own specific instructions or equipment associated, ensuring consistency across all locations. MAPCON gives the option of modifying information for each stop.

For instance, Stop 1 might be a Location like Building A, or Stop 2 could represent the Cost Center of Laboratory 4. This flexibility ensures that routes accurately reflect the diverse needs of an organization. This detail is all available within the "Summary" category. Clicking "Detail" typically expands the view, offering a larger window for a comprehensive description of each stop and a section for "Special Instructions," allowing for precise guidance.

Beyond the Basics: Enhancing Route Information

Several additional tabs further enhance the utility and completeness of routes, providing critical information for technicians and supervisors alike.

The "Safety Procedures" tab, while often optional, is invaluable in situations requiring specific safety protocols. It allows the selection from a predefined list of procedures relevant to the route's tasks. For example, a route for inspecting high-voltage equipment in a power substation would link to procedures regarding lockout/tagout and electrical safety, ensuring technicians follow proper guidelines.

The "Notes" tab offers a space for any extra special instructions that do not fit into other categories. This could include unique site access requirements or specific environmental considerations. For instance, a route for maintaining exterior signage might include a note about coordinating with the building security team for roof access.

The "PM Procedures" tab allows users to select from already established preventive maintenance procedures. Details can be added, and the "Inventory" category enables the inclusion of necessary items. If inventory data is input, users must designate the stockroom from which items are pulled and the required quantity. For a routine vehicle fleet inspection route, this tab would specify the oil change procedure, the type and quantity of oil filters, and the stockroom where these items are stored. For familiarity and consistency, users define the cycle of the preventive maintenance job—weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

The "Attachments" tab mirrors other listing attachment features. A useful suggestion involves attaching a map of the route a technician is to take, highlighting the most efficient path. For example, a diagram showing the specific crawlspaces to check within each building can be attached to the route. Attachments also include other pertinent documents such as safety regulations, images of specific equipment, and web links to specific video instructions.

The "Open Work Orders" tab provides a view of any active work orders associated with the current route. During the creation phase, this tab remains empty, populating once the route becomes active in the field.

Finally, the "Costs" tab allows the input and tracking of total costs as they become known. This provides an excellent mechanism for tracking the efficiency and financial implications of deploying technicians on specific routes. For a route focused on critical infrastructure monitoring, this tab would track labor hours, specialized equipment rental costs, and any consumables utilized during the monitoring process, providing a clear financial overview.

Once all the necessary information has been entered and saved, the route is ready for deployment.

Activating and Utilizing Routes

With routes defined, their practical application becomes straightforward. There are typically two primary methods for utilizing these created paths.

First, as mentioned, clicking the "Generate WO" button directly within the route definition automatically creates a new work order form. Users then fill in any additional appropriate information specific to that instance of the work order.

Alternatively, users can open a new, blank work order form. After filling in the required data at the top of the form, typically below a "Submitted By" field, a required field with a drop-down menu appears. Selecting "Route" from this menu then enables the user to double-click on an adjacent window and choose the desired route. Any other relevant information can then be added to the work order tabs as needed.

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The Technician's View: What They See

Regardless of the dispatch method, the work order typically appears in the technician's communication channel, such as email or a mobile CMMS application. Recalling the "Stops" tab during route creation, the window displaying the stops forms the content of a PDF file, but only if the "Print Route Form with Work Order" checkbox is active. Without this, the technician receives only basic information about the inspection or task, potentially lacking details on any recent changes or additions to the route (for instance, if an additional crawlspace needed inspection due to a new pest report).

Routes offer significant advantages. Instead of technicians receiving multiple, separate work orders for individual tasks within a related sequence, they receive one consolidated work order listing all the stops. When dealing with routine maintenance jobs, having a pre-defined route proves exceptionally beneficial. It eliminates the need to create individual work order stops each time the job is performed, ensuring consistency and saving valuable time. This structured approach to work allocation fosters greater efficiency and clarity for maintenance teams, ensuring critical tasks receive attention in a methodical and organized manner.

Enhance your maintenance operations. Explore CMMS routing capabilities today.

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