We already have a login page to authenicate users, so now the first action we want to implement is a way for users to create a new work order.  This is a very basic form with just a few fields, but you can always add your own fields to fit your needs.  You can enter [...]
Maximo Times

Did you know that Maximo has a built in timer functionality that will let laborers start a record and then later stop it and record that transaction in the LABTRANS table?  Well, it does and it’s a great feature to have, especially on a mobile device like EZMaxMobile.  It just makes total sense to start/stop [...]
Maximo Times

You can already create a new work order with REST but it’s useless if you can’t add labor hours to it right?  This tutorial will show you how to setup the MXWO object structure to be able to add LABTRANS records at the same time you create a work order.  You can now create a work [...]
Maximo Times

In a previous tutorial, querying data use the REST API framework is fairly straight forward and much easier to use than WSDL web services.  Now the question is, how do we update or create new records using this API?  This tutorial will show you how to create a new work order using Maximo’s REST API. [...]
Maximo Times

Here is an explanation from IBM about how Maximo handles work orders, work order hierarchies, and work order operations [via IBM Support] From the user’s perspective, very little has changed in the existing work order functionality between Maximo 4 vs 6.x and 7.x. Work Order functionality have however been enhanced in the following two ways: [...]
Maximo Times

Let’s face it, we have all been in a situation where the temperature is either too warm or too cold. One person’s comfort zone is another person’s misery. But what happens when getting the temperature adjusted turns into a maintenance management nightmare?

Why Maintenance Management Goes Crazy

In some offices, the temperature can be adjusted by anyone, in other offices it takes a supervisor or someone with a key. In larger facilities like a casino, the temperature is controlled by casino management and the maintenance department as part of an overall operations plan to watch energy usage as well as keep casino guest comfortable.

When the environmental controls can only be adjusted by maintenance the normal procedure is to turn in a work request using a handheld device so that work can be scheduled as soon as possible. But what happens when similar requests are turned in just minutes apart. One work request asks for the temperature to be raised and the second work request asks for the temperature to be lowered.

When this happens it is commonly referred to as Newton’s Third Law of Work Requests, which clearly states that for every work request there is an equal and opposite work request guaranteed to annoy the facilities management and maintenance team.

The Facilities Manager’s Dilemma

When opposing work requests arrive, how do you tell which one to turn into a work order and which one to deny? The simple answer is to respond to the person that is higher up the management food chain. When this information is not available maintenance management must:

• Track down the person who submitted the work request.
• Ask for additional details such as area, reason such as if the request was guest proposed versus employee request.
• Submit additional information to management for a decision.
• Wait for the unhappy party to generate a third work request or have an executive override to come in.

Actually, the possibilities for action can be endless. The truth is, it is impossible to make everyone happy. The best that facility or maintenance management can do is make sure they have the best information available when accepting work requests. This can be accomplished by making sure all staff have been properly trained in submitting work requests using their EAM CMMS systems.

EAM and CMMS Facility Management Tools

EAM CMMS tools features include the ability to automate much of the work management lifecycle including work requests, work orders, inspections and preventive maintenance. However, their true value comes from increasing maintenance efficiencies, lengthening the lifecycle of assets and giving facilities management the ability to evaluate the work that has been completed to make better repair, refurbish or replacement decisions.

EAM CMMS tools are most effective when they are used properly. This means that the software has the needed asset detail in the system and that proper EAM CMMS training is conducted both during implementation and over the course of time. It is the facilities manager’s job to make sure that all staff are using the system as it was intended to be used.

Applying EAM CMMS Tools to Newton’s Third Law of Work Requests

The key to submitting work requests AND completing work orders is making sure that you have all the detail. For our Casino example, the information that is missing includes:

• Which part of the Casino floor (lobby, slots, poker tables, restaurant…)
• A better description of the problem such as how cold or warm and who is complaining (asking for the change (guest, employee).
• More details including if the problem is related to a vent issue, a door stuck open or is the HVAC not working etc.

This is critical as one of the goals of facility maintenance management is to maintain the proper environmental conditions that lead to maximum productivity, guest satisfaction and energy savings. Having the proper temperature affects humidity which can affect the performance of equipment as well as lead to corrosion (if too humid).

Share with us how your facility handles Newton’s Third Law of Work Requests. If you liked this article you may also enjoy reading:

• How EAM features will improve your MRO Bottom Line
• 12 Reasons Raising Children is Just Like Using an EAM
• Make Sure To Consider Handheld Device Mobility TCO For EAM Systems

Enterprise Asset Management 101

Here is a trick to create a keyboard shortcut to work order tracking or any application you wish from any screen in Maximo.  Here is a quick rundown of some available keyboard shortcuts for Maximo, but these aren’t really helpful in terms of navigating from one application to another.  If you want to go from [...]
Maximo Times

One of the traps of a non entrepreneurial environment in facilities maintenance management is that key personnel are unable to recognize a bad situation getting worse because they are too close to the situation. In contrast, an entrepreneurial minded organization is constantly aware of the need for change in order to survive, improve and ultimately thrive in a competitive world. The secret is the desire to do the job better and the recognize opportunities for improvement. With this said, how can you tell if there is an opportunity for MRO improvements using a dynamic Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system?

The first step is to get a handle on your workflow. The core ingredient of any maintenance management workflow is the use of work orders to mark the beginning and end of maintenance tasks. Unfortunately, many maintenance managers not using an EAM/CMMS can quickly find themselves overwhelmed by work orders as assets age and require more care. Quite often it is the small preventive maintenance tasks that are delayed because staff was too busy reacting to repair issues. Here are some of the signs that you might need an EAM work order maintenance solution.

8 Ways to Tell if You Need an EAM to Organize Your Work Order Management System Work Order Management System

1. The facilities maintenance manager jumps nervously when the wind blows. This is a sure sign of anxiety issues caused by the fear of losing control or being overwhelmed. Get back control using an EAM to organize and automate the work requests, work orders and maintenance scheduling.


2. The guy who filled out the open work request retired 5 years ago. Most of the maintenance team thinks the grating sound the equipment makes is normal because they have never heard it sound differently.


3. No one can remember how to fix the problem. An EAM database will resolve this issue because it records all maintenance work orders and results.


4. Facility management discovers the asset no longer needs minor repair because it failed 3 months later and had to be replaced. Preventive maintenance could have prevented this major replacement expense.


5. Overtime is out of control as repairs and asset failures mount up requiring immediate attention. An organized work flow will reduce this cost.


6. Everyday is just a battle spent firefighting. Proactive measures such as inspections and preventive maintenance are unheard of because no one has the time.


7. Energy and water bills increase as a percentage of the overall maintenance operations costs. This is a result of poorly maintained assets requiring more energy to have the same amount of output or numerous leaking faucets and toilets.


8. The useful lifecycle of assets is not nearly what was expected causing more work orders as well as faster asset replacement. Poor maintenance practices only shorten the expect useful life of equipment. Conversely, well maintained equipment will almost always last longer.

An EAM/CMMS solution does more than just organize your workflow. The data that is input contains all asset information so that you can manage the asset through its entire lifecycle from the planning stages through retirement/replacement. An EAM puts at your fingertips the complete knowledge know of assets such as location, condition, maintenance history, repair costs, vendor info, who worked on it and what was the fix. In simple terms maintenance managers gain back control as well as their sanity while at the time saving the company priceless dollars.

Tell us how you identify an operation in distress. If you liked this article you may also enjoy reading:

• When an EAM and Common Sense Collide


• Grab The Low Hanging Fruit with a CMMS


• How Maintenance Management Visibility Affects Trends

Some technologies have the potential to completely change how operations are conducted in business. New ideas are constantly being generated and as they are researched new applications develop spreading the technology. Some examples are huge, such as the internet or the automation of manual work management processes through software. However, integrating this technology into everyday business did not occur overnight and in many cases took years to become part of our industrial fabric.

Great ideas find their path into business just as it does in everyday life. They start with one application and then grow as other uses come to light or are accepted into the mainstream. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is one such technology that has a huge potential in today’s industrial world.

Understanding RFID

RFID technology enables the transmission and receiving of radio waves between a tiny microchip (tag) and a reader. The chips contain asset information that can be used to identify it, track its movement or even its cost. Once an asset is tagged it can then be read by a reader for management review or action.

There are three primary RFID types; passive (no batteries), active (continuous broadcast with a battery) or be activated only when an RFID reader is in close proximity (requires a small battery). The greater the battery power the greater the cost. The price range for tags ranges from a few cents for the passive up to $ 100 for the more powerful actives. This makes the cost of individual tags a significant factor to consider.

In addition, there are two types of RFID classifications. The first is a fixed RFID which the reader is in a set position. The second is a mobile RFID where the reader may be part of a mobile handheld device. Because of the cost of active tags, many industries current use passive or battery assisted tags to monitor inventory.

Over the last few years technology has improved the amount of information that can be contained on the tags as well as the ability to transmit (read) the information at greater distances. Perhaps the greatest advantage to industry is that unlike bar codes which can only be read one at a time, RFID tags can be read in bulk, for example inside boxes or as a shopping cart goes by a reader in a store. Assets can also be read using mobile devices in more challenging locations such as assets buried underground.

Industries Using RFID Technology

RFID technology is currently in use by the health care industry, by companies to automate Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and for use in inventory tracking. New applications are being developed every day and are expected to be used by manufacturing, construction and the military.

One of the fastest growing areas is inventory control. Bulk and boxed reading is a significant advantage over bar code technology. For example, inventory reconciliations in a cable warehouse or on trucking fleets can be reduced to just a simple walk-through (without paper) making accounting staff and asset managers very happy with the labor and paper flow expense savings.

An example of RFID use in the retail industry has just been announced. Walmart recently announced the use of RFID for retail asset management specifically, to track clothing for better inventory. In addition to better inventory control, RFID tags will also enable stores to reduce theft by sending out a signal for unremoved RFID tags on store items.

Advancing RFID Toward EAM Applications

Future industrial applications for RFID technology will also benefit infrastructure management. One industry in great need of RFID type applications are utilities companies and any other industry that has assets in challenging locations. RFID tags can be used to locate underground assets or assets that are hidden.

The biggest challenges to cost effectively integrating RFID tags on hidden assets are improving the strength of signal detection and increasing the amount of data that a tag can hold. Current chips hold generally hold 2KB of information (smaller than the size of a photo). Some more advanced chips are holding up to 64KB.

We can expect microchip development to continue as they did in computers to hold much more information. New chips are sure to be able hold enough asset detail to transmit critical information to asset managers without having to dig up the pipes or cables for inspection.

As RFID capabilities improve a major breakthrough will occur when the tags are able to incorporate enough data that can be uploaded directly into EAM system for management review and analysis. The impact on asset and maintenance management will be profound for labor, planned maintenance effectiveness and capital analysis.

Share with us your view point on the use of RFID technology and how it may help your asset management. If you enjoyed this article you may also want to read:

• When Maintenance is Not Maintenance
• EAM Alternatives to Spreadsheets for Municipality Operations
• It’s 9:00 AM – Do You Know Where Your Assets Are?

Enterprise Asset Management 101

A work order like an asset has a lifecycle of its own. The work order lifecycle can be viewed as the time it takes to accept a work request through the time it takes to complete the work order. How much time you spend any given stage is dependent upon the skills of the administrator, the type of system used (manual or EAM/CMMS) and of course the level of expertise the maintenance teams have acquired.

What is a Work Request

A work request is a paper document or a screen of an online CMMS that identifies maintenance work needed on a particular asset. The work request may be the result of an asset failure or the result of inspections as part of a preventive maintenance routine. Regardless of how the problem was identified, a work request must be reviewed for priority, parts availability/requisitions, time required and labor availability. Once the work request has been analyzed, it may result in a work order for action.

What is a Work Order

Once a work request is approved for further action, it is converted into a work order. A work order is more than a maintenance job assignment, it represents the document trail (either paper or computerized) that follows the maintenance of an item. A work order should contain at a minimum; a description of the task, details of the asset, a tracking number, date requested, due date, who it is assigned to, a priority, a place to record the time spent on, inspection notes, general notes/remarks section. As the task is completed, time spent, cost, materials, outcome and notes of special tools/considerations should be recorded. Results are returned to maintenance management either via paper or on CMMS handheld devices.

Role of an EAM/CMMS for Work Order Lifecycle

Visually the lifecycle of a work requests/lifecycle can be viewed as:

The opportunity maintenance managers have is two-fold. The first opportunity if to increase the efficiencies of the work order lifecycle itself. This includes but is not limited to the elimination of a paper based system, shifting the source of work orders from reactive identification to pro active thus decreasing labor and materials costs. These opportunities for improvement can best be ascertained by implementing EAM/CMMS software. For example:

• Elimination of paper based system: Manual systems are inherently slower as the paper trail must continually make it back and forth for further review or clarification. In addition, transcribing information is subject to greater errors or lost/misfiled forms. The elimination of a paper based system will all but eliminate forms costs as well as help make the move to a greener operation. EAM/CMMS systems make use of computers and mobile handheld devices to record all work requests, work orders and results.


• Shifting the reasons for maintenance: One of the main reasons work orders and work requests can overwhelm facility managers is because much of their work is a a result of reactionary need. Improvements in efficiency, scheduling flexibility can be achieved by shifting from a reactionary based system to a pro active maintenance management philosophy of scheduled inspections and preventive maintenance. A commitment to the CMMS scheduling of inspections and preventive maintenance will help identify minor issues before they become major repairs and labor intensive.

The second opportunity is use the results of all work to create a historical database of knowledge that can be used for asset lifecycle projections, identification of repair trends and knowledge transfer for training. EAM/CMMS handheld device applications when set up correctly will automatically record work order and work request information to produce a variety of management reports that will enable better asset lifecycle management.

Ultimately, this enables early asset issue identification and better capital budgeting. The EAM system can also provide repair fix detail to maintenance staff unsure of the last actions taken or provide instructions on how to fix a particular problem.

Clearly, the use of an EAM/CMMScan improve the work order lifecycle. Tell us how you have made improvements to your maintenance operations. If you liked this article you may also enjoy reading:

• Top 8 Reasons You Might Need EAM Work Order Management


• The Roles of an EAM in Asset Lifecycle TCO


• Battling The Skilled Maintenance Worker Crisis With An EAM