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The usefulness of work orders has been proven time and time again when it comes to managing the work of field technicians. Does your business provide installation services? Does it need to conduct repairs, maintenance or after-sales operations? In all of these cases, learning how to manage work orders is essential.
At the time when most competitive businesses are going through a digital transformation, you should also consider using work order management systems to streamline the process and focus on the efficiency of your interventions. Ready to learn more about the ins and outs of work orders? Let’s get to work!
Work orders or WO are among the most common documents in the field services world. They are used by maintenance managers to assign field technicians to a specific task, usually at the request of a customer or relevant authorities. They may be issued after service requests or maintenance requests made by customers or employees. In some cases, they could be needed after the result of an internal or external audit, if maintenance works are deemed necessary for compliance.
Purchase orders are issued when the need to buy a new item, stocks or machine is discovered. They are then passed down to a buyer, who is in charge of sourcing the required material. On the other hand, work orders are related to tasks to be performed, namely repairs, installations and general maintenance jobs.
While both are essential to running the daily operations of any company, they don’t result in the same actions and don’t involve the same people. Oftentimes, the maintenance team and purchasing team are separate.
Work orders help make the maintenance process more efficient and smoother for everyone involved, from the maintenance team and facility managers, all the way down to the client.
The maintenance team:
The facility or maintenance managers can:
The client or customer:
The maintenance manager (or facility managers, depending on who is the person in charge of planning interventions) should write down all the information relevant to the work order request.
The work order should include:
The work order is used by field technicians or their manager to fill out details such as:
The document is then signed by the client with eventual remarks to validate the intervention.
The typical process unfolds as follows:
Once the team completes the work, the accounting department will edit the bill and paychecks for technicians.
The feedback and remarks from the client may be saved to your CRM software to improve customer service, and the work order could either be stored digitally or printed out for your archives.
Work orders can be bought from specialized shops. Some are able to edit personalized work orders which include your logo. They are completed by hand.
You can download work orders in PDF format online for free. This is an alternative to buying them in a store.
It’s possible to use Excel to create work orders or maintenance schedules.
Most CMMS solutions include work order management software. These make it possible to access and edit work orders from a tablet, smartphone or laptop. Maintenance managers, technicians, accountants and clients can all access the form before, during and after the intervention.
Using cloud-based software to manage work orders can help you optimize resources, gain time and streamline your processes, from the initial request to the invoice.
Field technicians benefit from these gains and can focus on delivering better service more quickly. Customers will be amazed by your display of professionalism and the expertise of your teams.
Ready to work on your digital transformation, starting with work orders?