5 Work Order Management Tips to Boost Business Productivity

Are your work orders causing maintenance delays and unmet service agreements? As the engine of your maintenance operation, it is essential to pay attention to your work orders. If the work order is for a piece of critical equipment and it breaks down due to late work orders, you can put the entire operations at stake. It can cause significant backlogs, especially if other tasks depend on this job. 

Taking a more proactive approach to maintenance is vital to ensure productivity and avoid costly production delays. And how can you do that? Having an effective work order management system is the key. It helps maintenance managers and technicians organize, prioritize, monitor, and accomplish critical tasks. 

To aid you in boosting business productivity and getting the job done as seamlessly as possible, we’ve put together the following five work order management tips: 

1. Have a Standard Operating Procedure

A standard operation procedure (SOP) is vital to any business process, including managing your work orders. It clearly outlines how to best complete assignments and eliminates the guesswork for the technicians. Ensure an SOP is in place to minimize errors and confusion in your maintenance team. This way, you can guarantee compliance and keep machines running smoothly. 

Also, having a clear and well-defined SOP can help you save time since you won’t have to explain the process repeatedly. Like other new processes, however, implementing SOPs requires thorough preparation. 

Here are some factors to consider before creating standardized checklist templates and protocols for your work orders:

• Specify what exactly you want to accomplish, whether it’s ensuring equipment reliability, safety, or regulatory compliance. 
• Identify the specific processes that need an SOP. Note that SOPs may not be a good idea for complex decision-making tasks. They’re suitable for routine or repetitive tasks, like performing regular inspections, maintenance schedules, and filling out work orders. 
• Ensure that the steps and directions in your SOP are easy to understand and follow. 

2. Keep Everyone in the Loop

Having sound work order management alone can’t give you optimal results. But it’s also crucial to keep your maintenance team and other employees in the loop. You can keep everyone fully informed by establishing an open line of communication. This can help you identify the problems they encounter along the way and address them as soon as possible. 

For example, you encounter unexpected delays in a work order process. You can discuss with them what the issues are and the feasible solutions. Ensure to consider their needs and positions in your entire work order management process. Do they need new equipment to make the job easier and get them done faster?  

Effective communication lines can ensure everyone is on the same page with any necessary changes or urgent demands. 

3. Monitor the Work Order Process

Tracking the progress of every work order process is also essential. It provides visibility for the completed tasks, what the focus is now on, and what work will be necessary for the future. This also ensures that everyone’s job is on the right track and prevents anyone from responding to repeated requests for updates. 

It can also help you track everyone’s performance. If work orders are often overdue, you can look into them and discuss what needs to be done to get better results next time. Also, monitoring the submission of work requests allows your operations and maintenance team to be on the same page. So if there are any issues, everyone can be accountable for them. 

4. Utilize Technology Solutions

Managing work orders may sound uncomplicated. But, in reality, it’s a complex process that can use up a lot of time and effort, plus the reams of paper you need if you do it manually. Thankfully, several technologies nowadays can help you streamline time-consuming tasks and reduce logistical costs. 

Work order systems software is among the technological tools you can use to send, monitor, manage, and complete work orders on time. It’s also possible to make approval and scheduling for work orders based on priority levels. Instead of going through dozens of paper-based work orders, you can keep them in the same channel and create better linkages between your teams. 

5. Level up Your Work Order Management Process

Automating your work order management process will save your company time, money, and effort. It helps keep your business’s equipment and inventory running efficiently while enhancing productivity at the same time. But you don’t have to start big. Before shifting to digital work orders, take the time to determine your company’s unique needs and research all possible options and solutions.