Work order management is one of the most important aspects of a facility manager’s job. They are tasked with the responsibility of managing workflow throughout the maintenance department and ensuring that work orders are fulfilled before minor repairs become emergencies. However, this task is not one without roadblocks and bottlenecks. Designing a system that reduces redundancies and works for both technician and employee is something most facility managers struggle with at some point in their careers.
If your maintenance request process has fallen to the wayside these tips can help you get back on track:
Reduce redundancies
If you have a backlog of preventative service requests, there are likely redundancies throughout that need to be eliminated. You may have incomplete work order requests, repeated requests from failure to provide service, and work orders that are no longer relevant to your facility. Before you can begin the work of streamlining your work order process, you must first clear out the cobwebs and ensure that every current work order is relevant to your maintenance team.
Create a better work order request system
At MaintenX, we see many companies that use work order forms that are too simple, too vague, or that are not organized properly to truly assist their maintenance teams. These work order systems are typically at the root cause of maintenance backlog and inefficiency issues, not the maintenance technicians or management in charge. If your work order system is disorganized or does not provide adequate detail for service requests to begin, start by cleaning up your order process and see if the issues resolve.
Assign tasks immediately
If a work order is anyone’s responsibility in your maintenance department, it is really considered no one’s responsibility. To ensure work gets done in a timely manner, strive to assign tasks to specialists within your department as soon as they come in. This puts adequate pressure on the maintenance team to get the job done and ensures everyone knows what their duties are day-to-day.
MaintenX uses advanced work order management software that keeps track of service requests, customer notes, maintenance technician dispatch, and completion of services all in one hub. In this way, we are able to track your progress from initial request to completion and troubleshoot every step of the way. As part of our commitment to customer service, we believe this is a necessary part of what makes MaintenX a trusted source for local businesses.
If you’d like to learn more about our work order system or how you can start working with MaintenX at your facility, call our offices today!
