Maintenance Tasks
Maintenance Tasks Overview
For a detailed video tutorial of how to setup maintenance tasks please follow this link:
One of the core features of MPWEB is the ability to keep track of maintenance tasks that need to be performed on equipment. This includes both recurring tasks and repair requests.
The basic process works as follows:
- Add new equipment to MPWEB.
- Attach corresponding maintenance template to the equipment OR add individual tasks manually into the unit OR do a combination of both (add a template and also add individual unique tasks). This step tells MPWEB what needs to be tracked.
- Set the Last Performed value to tell the system the last time any recurring tasks have been done. This is to maintain accurate tracking. If a Last Performed is not entered, the system will use the current meter or date as a baseline.
- When an item shows up as soon due or overdue, create a Work Order for the task.
- Once the Work Order is complete, the maintenance task goes into the equipment's history to reference later. The task and associated costs will also show up on maintenance reports.
- Completing the Work Order will reset the 'timer' for any recurring task and update the Last Performed values automatically. The recurring task will be tracked appropriately so MPWEB knows when the tasks will be due next.
When creating recurring maintenance tasks, you can name them however you wish. Each task interval can then be tracked by either date (X amount of days), a meter reading (X amount of hours/miles/kilometers) or a combination of both.
Adding PM Tasks To Equipment
To get started adding an individual PM Task to a unit, click on the equipment row from your Equipment list to get to the equipment profile screen. Click the Tasks tab.
Click the blue New button on the right and choose PM Task. This will bring you to the Add Recurring Task screen.
We will go over each item on this screen in detail.
The Task box at the top is the name of the task. This name will show up on Work Orders and on reports, so make sure it's brief but understandable. You do not want a very large value here if at all possible.
Parent Task is used if you want this task to be a Child of another task. Click this link for more information about parent and child tasks.
Status will give you the option of Active and Inactive. This is the status of the task itself. You can come back to the task later and set a task to 'inactive' if you wish to hide it or no longer use the task temporarily. The majority of the time this will be set to Active.
Task Tracking Options
There are a few check boxes underneath status box for task Tracking options. The tracking choices available will depend on the meter configuration you chose for the equipment itself. You can modify these by editing the equipment and changing the primary/secondary meter types.
If the equipment is also assigned to a maintenance template, then the primary/secondary meter is inherited by the associated maintenance template. All tasks have the option for Date tracking, regardless of the meter settings.
You will have a check box available for date and each meter type assigned to the equipment. Check the tracking intervals you care about for this task. All of them are optional (you don't need to keep them all checked). You can also combine them. In the example above, both date and hour tracking is enabled. Whichever tracking interval comes up FIRST will flag the task as being due.
If Due Every is checked you can set the recurring interval.
If Due On or Due At is checked, then the system will set the task as being due at a certain date or meter reading.
Click on Add Date or Add Meter to add another 'due at / on' value.
Advance Notice is used to give you a 'Soon Due' notification when the task is almost ready to be done.
In the example above the advance notice is set to 7 days. This way, MPWEB will alert us 1 week before the task become overdue.
You can enter a Last Performed value to tell the system the last time the task was done, for more accurate maintenance tracking.
Linked Task is similar to parent / child tasks. As an example, you can link a 1000 mile and 500 miles task together. Whenever the 1000 mile task is completed the 500 mile task automatically gets included as well. Click this link for more information about linked tasks.
Additional Details / Link Parts To Tasks
Under the Additional Details section, Estimated Labor is how long the task should take to complete. This number is used as a default when adding labor to the Work Order for this task.
Notes will display on the work order underneath of the task. Any extra detail about the task, such as directions or additional explanation of what the task entails, can be added here for reference. These will appear on Work Order print outs under the task name.
The Parts Required section includes a Select Part button. Here you can choose a part from your inventory and associated it with your task.
When you click Select Part, the task is automatically saved. You will have the option to add from a parts list.
Press the smaller Save button when everything looks good.
Now, whenever this Oil Change task is added to a Work Order the 'Oil Filter' part will automatically get added as well.
Click the green Save button on the bottom to save this task. Click Save & New to save the task and bring you back to this screen to immediately add another task.
Maintenance Template Setup
There are two methods of adding recurring tasks to equipment to be tracked.
- Individually add tasks to each unit separately / independently (which we went over above).
OR
- Create a Maintenance Template once (with corresponding tasks included in the template), and then apply that template to units as needed.
There are some instances where adding individual tasks to units makes more sense. For example, if you have a unique piece of equipment with its own set of requirements that are different than your other units, then it makes sense to add tasks individually just to that unit through the equipment profile screen. However, if you have a number of light duty trucks, for example, that all share the same maintenance schedule, it makes sense to create one 'Light Duty Truck' maintenance template, and simply assign the template to all light duty trucks. This saves time from having to open each unit and manually add tasks to each.
Note that you can also assign a maintenance template to a unit, and then add individual unique tasks in addition to the ones brought over from the template. This would be a hybrid approach.
In this article we will be going over how to create a new Maintenance Template and apply it to your existing equipment.
Creating A New Maintenance Template
To create a new maintenance template, click the gear on the top right and choose Maintenance Templates.
Click on the blue New button to create a new template.
This will bring you to the New Maintenance Template screen. Choose a Name for the Maintenance Template that makes sense to your organization. In this instance we're calling it Light Duty Trucks.
On this screen you also have the option of choosing a Primary Meter and Secondary Meter. These will be used for tracking purposes whenever the tasks are created. Make sure to choose a meter configuration that makes sense for this type of equipment. One important note to remember is that all equipment that is assigned to this maintenance template must use the same meter types. If I set the template to miles and hours, if a unit ONLY has Miles setup in the meter configuration, but not hours, then I will not be able to add the unit to this template.
Click on the Save button when done naming and choosing the meter configuration. Once this is saved, the system will present you with the ability to add tasks to the template.
Click the Add Task button to add tasks to the template. This will bring you to the New Template Task screen.
You would fill this out in a similar manner to what we went over above when adding PM tasks to individual units.
Editing An Existing Maintenance Template
To go back to an existing template and make changes, click the gear on the top right of the screen and choose Maintenance Template. This will bring you back to your list.
Click the action gear to the right of the record you wish to make a change to. Choose Edit from the list.
Here you can make changes or add tasks as needed.
Click on the Add Task button on the bottom to add a new item. To edit an existing task click on the task name. This will bring you to the task edit screen.
You can also use the Delete button on the bottom of this screen if you wish to completely remove the maintenance template from the system. Note that this can only be done if there are no units attached to the template. Otherwise, the delete button will be hidden and you will see a message in its place which tells you how many units are still using the template. There is no way to undo the removal of a template.
There are two ways to assign equipment to an existing Maintenance Template. We will go over both methods below.
Please note that the equipment meter configuration must exactly match the meter configuration for the maintenance template, or else you will not be able to assign the template and it will not show up as an option.
Assigning Template From Edit Equipment Screen
From the Equipment Index, click the action gear on the right hand side and choose Edit.
Scroll down to the Settings section. You will see a Maintenance Template drop down. Click this drop down box to choose a template from the list.
Once a template is chosen, press the Save button on the bottom to save the changes.
Assigning Template From Maintenance Template Management
You are able to assign multiple units to a Maintenance Template through the Maintenance Template Management screen. To get there, click the gear icon on the very top right and choose Maintenance Templates.
Click on the action gear to the right that corresponds with the template you wish to add units to. Click the option Add Equipment.
Here you will see a list of equipment that's eligible to assign this Maintenance Template to. In order for a unit to show up on this list, the following must be true:
- The unit must not already belong to another Maintenance Template. If this is the case, you must remove the unit from the existing template first before you can assign it to a new one.
- The Primary and Secondary Meter Configuration must BOTH exactly match between the settings on the Maintenance Template and the primary/secondary meter on the Edit Equipment screen.
Check the equipment you wish to add to the template and press Save to assign. You can check as many units as you wish.
Removing Equipment From A Maintenance Template
This can also be done from the Maintenance Template Management screen. Click the action gear on the right and choose Remove Equipment.
Select the equipment you wish to remove from this template. Press Save when finished.
You can also remove a maintenance template through the Edit Equipment screen by clicking the Maintenance Template drop down box and pressing the Backspace button on the keyboard.
