A Guide To Work Orders & Work Order Management (Template Included)

A Guide To Work Orders & Work Order Management (Template Included)

Work orders are essential for organizations to manage their maintenance work. They are a document that describes how maintenance work will be performed and should include a description of the maintenance activities and information such as who requested and approved the work order, the maintenance technician responsible for executing the work as well as the associated due dates, costs and resources. Work orders can be either executed by an internal maintenance team or if your organization doesn't have one, you can hire a third-party maintenance contractor. Work order management is the tools and strategies used to plan, schedule and manage work orders efficiently so that you can solve critical maintenance problems, keep equipment in optimal conditions and make sure asset downtime is minimized. Traditional work orders used to be issued and managed as physical documents, but today most organizations use software to manage their work orders and their maintenance staff.

The 3-step work order process involves creating a work request, evaluating the work request, and creating a work order. The work order includes all of the information about the maintenance activities to be performed such as the due dates, job description and requirements, among other details. Work orders are used to standardize workflow and create a simple and fast process for scheduling, assigning and tracking maintenance work while documenting resources and tracking performance. They are primarily used in the construction industry for service requests, but can also be used for products, inspections and audits. There are different types of work orders that are part of the maintenance schedule of an organization, such as preventive, inspection, emergency or corrective maintenance work.

General work orders are used for activities such as setting up new equipment in a production facility. Preventive maintenance work orders are scheduled to schedule routine maintenance work that needs to be done to keep equipment working at optimal conditions. Inspection work orders are issued whenever an organization wants to inspect its assets. Emergency maintenance orders are issued when an asset breaks down, and have a high priority level. Corrective maintenance work is employed whenever a maintenance technician identifies a maintenance issue, problem or potential risk.