in your CMMS System
A work order full of code numbers confuses people. When work order type (breakdown, corrective, modification, etc) is described as Work Order Type ‘04’ you can guarantee that no one knows what ‘04’ is without looking it up on a list.
If a Trade Type is a ‘02’ and it means a fitter, you can be sure that a lot of work order requests from operators will be wrong and they will take the planner’s time to correct. Even more confusing is when the Work Order Type and the Trade Type are both an ‘04’!
In the early days of CMMS software the programmers used numbers in fields because the computer responded quicker with one or two digits than a word of several alphabetic characters. Unfortunately it started a trend that with today’s faster computers does not need to continue.
If a CMMS allows enough alphabetic character space in typed fields then use words humans understand. Save time and reduce the amount of training by making the choice easy and clear for people. Use a short descriptive word instead of numbers or one or two letters in information fields.
If icons are used then be sure the icon contains the word it is meant to symbolise. Some icons take a lot of imagination to visualise what the designer was trying to say.
Anything that can be done with the software that makes the creation of a work order quicker, simpler or more accurate is well worth adopting. If one minute could be saved in the life of a work order by reducing the number of errors that cause confusion and waste time to correct. Then a site with 5,000 work orders a year would save two man-weeks annually.
*CMMS –Computerised Maintenance Management System
Mike Sondalini – Maintenance Engineer
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If you found this interesting, you may like the ebook Process Control Essentials.
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