A work order management process is the path a job takes from somebody noticing a problem to the record of what was done about it, and every site has one whether it is written down or not. This page writes it down in seven steps, says what cmms work order management holds at each step, what a cmms work order system adds over the same process on paper, and what a cmms work order carries when it is done properly. It ends with where the process breaks on most sites, which is the close, not the request.
Request, triage, and raise
Someone notices a problem and records it: the asset, the symptom, whether it is stopped. The supervisor triages: is it a work order at all, what type, what priority from the matrix, who does it. A work order is raised with a number, or the schedule raises one itself when a preventive task comes due. In a CMMS the request form feeds the supervisor's queue and the schedule raises preventive work overnight; on paper the request pad feeds the tray and the supervisor writes the preventive work orders from the log each week.
Plan, do, and record
The supervisor plans the week: work orders by priority against the hours and the parts. The technician takes the job, isolates and locks out, does the work against the checklist or finds the fault, and records findings, parts, meter reading and hours at the machine. A CMMS work order carries the checklist, the history of the asset and the parts list to the phone; the paper version carries the checklist attached and the history in the file, if someone fetched it.
Close, follow up, and learn
The work order is closed with the returned time and a follow-up raised for anything found. Monthly, the closed work orders are read: the reactive share from the type, compliance from the dates, the repeaters from the asset and the findings. The schedule is adjusted from what the history says. A CMMS produces the figures from its reporting screen; the paper log is summed by hand, and the maintenance log worksheet on this site is that summary.
Where the process breaks
At the close. Requests get raised because someone is annoyed; work gets done because the line is down; but recording findings and times and raising the follow-up happens only if the site insists. A work order closed with checked, ok, and no times has finished the job and lost the record, and every figure downstream is wrong. The fix is a form that expects a sentence, a supervisor who reads closes daily, and a habit that the job is not finished until the record is.
Questions people ask about work order management process
What is the difference between work order management and a CMMS?
Work order management is the process; a CMMS is software that holds it. The process runs on paper too, with more effort at the reporting step.
How long should a work order stay open?
Until the asset is returned and the record is complete, and no longer. Open work orders with the work done are the commonest cause of a false overdue list.
Who owns the work order process?
The maintenance supervisor, who triages, plans and reads the closes. A process nobody owns runs on whoever shouts.