Published: June 26, 2023  Updated: June 12, 2025

Effective Work Order Strategies for Maintenance Supervisors

Developing effective CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) work order strategies for maintenance supervisors presents a significant challenge. Considerations extend to every detail, ensuring technicians understand and prepare for tasks. This involves a comprehensive approach, transforming initial needs into structured, actionable directives.

From Request to Action: The Journey of a Work Order

The journey of a maintenance task often begins with a work request. Employees observe an issue requiring attention, ranging from a flickering light to a malfunctioning machine or ice on a walkway. These submissions represent initial observations, needing careful assessment and prioritization.

Supervisors must promptly address work requests. Prioritization stands as a critical determining factor. Avoid using "emergency" indiscriminately for requests, as this encourages overuse. Instead, supervisors thoroughly evaluate the true urgency and importance of each submission.

Work requests frequently necessitate authorization. The supervisor makes the final decision on approval. A well-designed CMMS facilitates the conversion of an authorized work request into a formal work order, initiating the structured maintenance process.

Crafting the Work Order: Essential Elements

Beyond converting work requests, initiating new work orders requires specific considerations. Determining the job type represents a logical starting point. Categories include preventive maintenance, corrective repair, safety work, regulatory compliance, and equipment relocation. Identifying the type sets the proper mental framework for the maintenance team.

Similar to work requests, priority holds immense importance for work orders. Here, actual emergencies find their place. Supervisors critically assess the urgency and impact of each job, determining if it demands immediate attention, completion within a few days, or by the week's end.

Location and Routing: Geographic Considerations

Job location significantly influences maintenance efficiency and output. Understanding travel time to and from the site proves crucial. Consider jobs requiring access to a tall structure, a confined basement, or remote areas of a property. Location directly impacts how effectively a task proceeds.

A quality CMMS offers options for establishing maintenance job routes. Instead of issuing separate work orders for identical tasks at different spots, a single work order covers multiple locations. Examples include gutter inspections across all buildings or comprehensive lighting and fire extinguisher checks. Implementing routes improves efficiency by consolidating efforts.

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Safety and Task Sequencing: Ensuring Proper Execution

Supervisors support their teams by integrating safety information and checklists into work orders. This practice makes logical sense. Safety measures apply universally across a company or specifically to an asset or job. Similarly, checklists provide a sequential guide for tasks requiring a specific order of completion.

Following established procedures and utilizing appropriate tools for the task ensures successful execution. Adherence to these guidelines becomes necessary and expected within a maintenance environment.

Assigning Tasks: Matching Skills to Needs

Assigning work orders to the correct personnel forms an obvious, yet critical, part of the process. Determine if the job suits an individual, a team, a particular skilled trade, or a specific shift. The objective involves dispatching tasks to those possessing the best qualifications. This seems straightforward, but effective strategizing becomes essential when handling numerous work orders and a team with comparable skill sets.

Material Readiness: Supporting the Crew

A supervisor can significantly aid workers by attaching a bill of materials to the work order. Accessing the inventory list and selecting necessary items, or utilizing pre-assembled kits of parts and supplies, saves considerable time for technicians. This eliminates the need for workers to gather identical items every time a recurring job arises.

Tracking Costs: Financial Oversight

A CMMS should track all purchases associated with a specific job. This information integrates into the work order and provides valuable data for accounting reports, offering a clearer picture of labor and material expenditures.

Attachments and Visual Aids: Enhancing Understanding

Including attachments with a work order offers substantial benefits. This could mean images, detailed safety protocols, or web links to video instructions. Such visual aids and supplementary information significantly enhance a technician's understanding of the task at hand.

Scheduling and Beyond: The Final Steps

Once a work order receives completion, it often moves into a scheduling queue. A supervisor or another designated employee uses a CMMS calendar to manage the list of work orders. Similar to arranging personal appointments, jobs get assigned to specific slots on the schedule. This also serves as another method for dispatching tasks to the appropriate team members.

A supervisor who effectively utilizes a quality CMMS observes increased output and readiness from the maintenance team. Work orders reside at the core of a CMMS. The approaches for an impactful work order may adapt for each job, but they remain vital for smoother operations.

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