About Work Orders
Work orders help you plan, schedule, and track your organization's maintenance activities. You can use work orders to assign resources and labor, manage scheduling priorities, and keep a record of maintenance performed on your company's assets. Work orders also allow you to track costs associated with tasks and attach related documents such as warranties.
Each work order includes one or more tasks. A task is an individual work activity that is assigned to a technician and includes information about the resources needed to complete the work.
There are three types of work orders in GLOBAL:
- Preventive Maintenance work orders are automatically created based on PM schedule information. For information about creating PMs, see Adding and Scheduling PMs. For information about PM work orders, see Submitting and Issuing PM Work Orders / Tasks.
- Service Request work orders are created using the Manage Requests page. For information about creating a work order from a service request, see Managing Service Requests.
- Demand work orders are created manually on the New Work Order page. For information about creating a demand work order, see Creating a Demand Work Order.
Work orders are processed in four phases: Identification, Planning, Execution, and Analysis. Demand and new Service Request work orders start in the Identification phase. PM work orders can start in the Identification, Planning, or Execution phase depending on the WO Status setting on the PM. See Adding and Scheduling PMs for more information.
Click on the following labels to learn more about each of the WO phases.
Identification Phase Information
New Demand and Service Request work orders start in the Identification phase. New demand work orders are created by manually entering information on the blank work order form on the New Work Order page. Each new demand work order is in draft status and does not have a work order number and is not saved to GLOBAL until the work order is submitted.
Some PM work orders also start in the Identification phase, depending on settings on the PM. Each new Service Request work order and PM work order starts with a work order number assigned and with other work order form fields filled based on information included in the original PM or service request.
Each work order must include at least one Services or Additional Services item before the work order can be submitted and continue to the Planning phase. Each service added to the work order creates a new Task. These Tasks are further managed in the Planning phase.
Planning Phase Information
In the Planning phase resources such as parts and labor are assigned to each task on the work order, and other work order details are finalized. Once the Planning phase is complete, the work order is issued, and tasks are assigned to the people who will perform them. When the work order is issued, it enters the Execution phase.
It is important to complete as many fields as possible in the Planning phase. Once the work order is issued and enters the Execution phase, many fields can not be filled or edited. In addition, depending on how your organization has configured GLOBAL, you may not be able to edit or add resources to a task once the work order has entered the Execution phase.
Execution Phase Information
In the Execution phase, labor time and information are recorded. Technicians can use the timer button available on the task in GLOBAL to keep track of labor time spent on the task, or can manually enter the time when the task is complete. Technicians and other users can also add any parts and other costs that weren't included during the Planning phase, enter asset meter readings, and attach related documents to the Task form. For more information, see Completing Tasks.
When the Task form(s) associated with a Work Order are completed, the Work Order status becomes Complete | Completed and the work order enters the Analysis phase.
Analysis Phase Information
When a work order enters the Analysis phase, it indicates to all GLOBAL users that all the tasks on the work order have been completed. In the Analysis phase, the information on the completed work order is available for review and analysis. You can also use the information about labor time, resources used, and other costs in your company's invoicing system, if applicable. The final step is to close the work order, recording any asset failures that were found while the work order tasks were being performed. The final status of a completed work order is Closed | Completed. For more information, see Closing Work Orders.