Author: Ethan Wilke

Key Takeaways

• Tracking productivity helps keep employees accountable for their performance
• There are many common key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to track maintenance labor performance
• Understand how to interpret KPI results and how they might align with business goals

Labor performance tracking keeps employees accountable for completing assigned maintenance work in an efficient way. Organizations must have methods to measure the productivity and efficiency of their staff. This article discusses several labor performance metrics that you can use to track your maintenance team’s performance.

Maintenance Employee Performance KPI Examples

Every maintenance team is comprised of a unique set of individuals, with varying levels of experience and skill. The employee performance metrics you track depends on the business goals of your organization.

The following productivity metrics represent common key performance indicators (KPIs) tracked by maintenance departments. Note that many of these KPIs rely on the availability of accurate time tracking data, such as that stored in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

Average Service Request Response Time

Average Service Request Response Time is the average amount of time it takes to respond to work requested via a service request. This metric measures how quickly the maintenance team responds to service requests, starting when the request is submitted up until work towards solving the issue begins.

To calculate the average service request response time, take the sum of the response time—the total elapsed time between service request submission times and their related work order start times and divide it by the number of service requests submitted in the reporting timeframe.

Keep in mind what unit of time is used for the response time. Converting the output of this calculation from hours to minutes or minutes to hours requires an additional step. Convert values in hours to minutes by multiplying by 60; divide values in minutes by 60 to express in hours.

How to Interpret Average Service Request Response Time

A low (short) response time means the maintenance team responds to requests quickly. However, shorter response times should be viewed in context of the types of repairs requested. Employees are more likely to contact maintenance personnel directly for urgent issues, rather than submitting service requests.

A high (long) service request response time can mean there is a backlog of requests that are getting pushed to the backburner. However, a backlog may not be unusual because requests have to be balanced with other important maintenance work. Long response times may also indicate that requests are submitted with incomplete information. Work request management software, like a CMMS, standardizes the information required to submit requests.

Note that multiple factors come into play when analyzing average service request response time. Some organizations immediately turn all service requests into work orders. Others assign personnel to review incoming requests and prioritize them accordingly. At times, more information must be gathered before work can begin.

These factors greatly impact how quickly the maintenance team responds, thereby affecting the average response time. When analyzing response time, you may wish to select a subset of service requests that are similar in priority or complexity.

Average Task Completion Time

Average Task Completion Time measures the average amount of time it takes to complete a maintenance task. It estimates how long it takes to complete a specific maintenance and is used by maintenance managers to improve resource planning and maintenance scheduling.

To calculate the average task completion time, divide the total time required to complete the task by the number of times the task was performed during the reporting timeframe.

How to Interpret Average Task Completion Time

The average task completion time primarily applies to planned maintenance activities, where a baseline completion time is known. Owner’s manuals typically include these time estimates. Therefore, a good starting point is to compare your measured task completion time to the values provided by the asset’s manufacturer.

High or rising average task completion times mean tasks take longer to complete than expected. A logical next step is to compare task completion times between employees to determine whether the issue lies with a particular person or team. It could be possible that task instructions are not clear and misunderstood, or that additional training is needed.

Average task completion times that are close to the benchmark value provided in maintenance documentation are ideal. It means technicians are skilled and informed enough to complete maintenance work in a timely manner. Still, expect some variance in completion time, within reason.

Low or falling task completion times mean that tasks are completed quickly. Though preventive maintenance work tends to be less complex and, therefore takes less time, it is normal to scrutinize suspiciously low values. It may be an indication that technicians are rushing through work, skipping steps, cutting corners, or underreporting their work time in an attempt to look more productive.

Work Order Activity

Work Order Activity tracks how many work orders are completed compared to past performance. This metric helps determines the maintenance team’s productivity.

To calculate work order activity, divide the number of work orders completed within a given time period by the number of completed work orders within an equal previous time period, and then multiply by 100 to express the value as a percentage.

How to Interpret Work Order Activity

The Work Order Activity metric compares performance between two time periods:

• If the result that is greater than 100%, more work orders were completed in the most recent period.
• If the result is or is close to 100%,  performance was consistent between the two reporting periods.
• If the result is less than 100%, fewer work orders were completed compared to the previous period.

Tracking this KPI over time allows you to analyze trends. Consistently increase values indicate higher, more efficient performance, while consistently decreasing values indicate that performance may be declining. However, employees are not always at fault for decreasing values.

The Work Order Activity metric does not account expose the reasons why productivity increased or decreased, however. For example, imagine that in the previous reporting period the maintenance team completed a large number of low priority inspections, part replacements, and work requests. This period, a high priority, relatively complex annual preventive maintenance job was completed over multiple days. In this scenario, work order performance may appear low, even though the annual work order held greater importance to the organizations.

Other possible causes of decreasing performance include:

• Understaffed maintenance teams
• Stockout occurrences that delay maintenance work
• Lack of equipment availability to maintenance
• The need to complete unexpected or higher priority maintenance work

The reporting period may also be to blame. The shorter the reporting timeframe, the more variability there will be in the result. For instance, comparing values week-to-week will show greater fluctuations than when comparing month-to-month, quarter-to-quarter, or year-to-year. Longer time frames account for more natural variance in maintenance needs, and give a more accurate picture of work order activity.

Wrench Time

Wrench Time measures the percentage of time a maintenance technician spends manually performing maintenance work. It does not include time spent traveling to the asset, retrieving inventory parts from the stock room, reviewing maintenance history, and other tasks that don’t involve physically repairing an asset.

To calculate wrench time, divide wrench hours by total working hours, then multiply by 100 to find the value as a percentage.

How to Interpret Wrench Time

Wrench time can be tricky to interpret, even deceiving. Remember that the time physically performing work represents a small portion of someone’s day. To add a bit of context, experts estimate that world class wrench time is 55%. In reality, the average wrench time for most organizations is between 25%-35%. For the purposes of this discussion, high or low wrench time means that wrench times are outside of this range.

Low wrench time means that technicians are spending too much time doing something besides performing maintenance. However, low wrench time does not necessarily mean that time is being wasted. As mentioned earlier, retrieving items from a stockroom or troubleshooting a breakdown is within the scope of a technician’s work but doesn’t involve physically repairing an asset. Other causes of low wrench time include:

• Technicians not performing up to their true potential
• Poor maintenance planning and scheduling
• Asset not being available for planned maintenance
• Unexpected emergency maintenance events
• Waiting for parts and tools
• Inaccurate time tracking

If a technician’s wrench time is consistently low, review the jobs that have the lowest scores and try to identify the underlying problems.

High wrench time is generally positive. However, wrench time that seems too good to be true can be cause for concern as well. Depending on how wrench hours are recorded, numbers can easily be inflated so as to make an employee appear more productive than they actually are.

Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)

Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) is the average time it takes to repair an asset. Unlike wrench time, MTTR accounts for the total time a technician is actively working on solving the issue, including travel time to the asset, troubleshooting, performing the repair, and testing the solution. Though MTTR is typically used as an asset management KPI, it is impacted by the efficiency and effectiveness of labor resources.

To calculate MTTR, divide the sum of repair time (usually in hours) by the number of repairs in the reporting timeframe. Note that MTTR is calculated per asset or asset class.

How to Interpret Mean Time to Repair

Interpreting MTTR can be tricky because the number will rise and fall based on the types of repairs that were done during the time period. Therefore, it is best practice to calculate MTTR by the type of repair performed on an asset or asset class.

An MTTR value that trends higher over time means that assets are taking longer to repair. One possible cause for this trend is labor performance. Start by identifying who performs repairs on the asset and, using other maintenance productivity KPIs, determine if the cause is employee related. For example, a particular technician may not have the correct skills for making the repair.

It is important to look at low MTTR in context with other information about your assets and maintenance process. For example, aging assets are more difficult to repair than new ones. Unavailable parts cause long delays in maintenance work. Previously neglected preventive maintenance work leads to more critical, complex, and lengthy repairs.

MTTR values that trend lower over time mean that your maintenance process is optimized for speedy repairs. In terms of labor, low MTTR means that technicians are quick to respond to maintenance issues, well-trained, able to troubleshoot efficiently, and are not wasting time.

Track Employee Productivity and Maintenance Performance with FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select is a powerful CMMS platform that empowers your team to stay productive by providing them with access to critical asset and maintenance information. Maintenance reports provide insight into your day-to-day maintenance operations and allow you to keep technicians accountable for how their time is spent. Request a demo today to learn more.

Everyone expects to be kept safe and comfortable in the spaces they occupy, whether at work, at home, or at play. Despite the critical role building maintenance management plays in our daily lives, many of us pay little attention to building maintenance – that is, of course, until something goes wrong. This article provides an overview of building maintenance management.

What is Building Maintenance Management?

Building maintenance management is the coordination of maintenance activities designed to maintain, repair, and improve buildings and their related systems and provide a safe, habitable, comfortable, and functional environment in a cost effective manner. It encompasses all tasks that make a space “livable” and ensures that major building systems, such as electrical, plumbing, fire prevention, and HVAC, are working efficiently.

Building maintenance management also includes a building’s structure including flooring, walls, ceilings, roofs, and fixtures. In addition, building maintenance may extend to building exteriors and include painting, cleaning, landscaping, and groundskeeping.

Why Building Maintenance Management is Important

A properly maintained building is important to both building owners and occupants for a number of reasons.

Safety and Comfort

Proper building maintenance management is important for the safety and comfort of building occupants – whether residents, employees, or commercial tenants.

Though occupants are responsible for some maintenance tasks, such as changing light bulbs and maintaining a sanitary environment, they become disgruntled when common areas aren’t cleaned or safety issues arise. Further, maintenance issues that are ignored accumulate over time and create dangerous environments, sometimes with tragic results.

In addition, prospective occupants need assurance from their lessors or owners that their maintenance concerns will be addressed in a timely manner.

Money-Saving

For building owners, it is much easier to manage a maintenance budget with predictable costs, rather than try to find the money whenever issues occur. For example, it is more costly to replace a major building system than to proactively maintain building assets through regular preventive maintenance (PM). Well-maintained buildings are typically more energy efficient as well, leading to further cost savings over time.

Compliance

Adequate maintenance is essential to staying in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations, such as those imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the International Code Council (ICC). Building code violations can result in heavy fines and other penalties for building owners.

Staying in compliance with building codes also helps minimize safety risks and reduces liabilities to occupants or guests who use your building.

Functionality

As with equipment maintenance, the overall objective of building maintenance management is to minimize failures and downtime. Without regular maintenance, buildings deteriorate and are more likely to cause disruptions to those inside.

Organizations that perform building maintenance management must address the challenges of both new and old buildings. New buildings may have design flaws that lead to undesirable conditions, such as inadequate air circulation, that may result in problems with indoor air quality. Old buildings face age-related issues, such as inefficient HVAC systems that create an uncomfortable indoor climate and result in high utility bills.

Profitability

Effective building maintenance management not only saves building owners money, but helps owners maintain or increase their property value. Buildings kept in good repair have the potential to earn more income from lessees, tenants, and buyers.

Types of Building Maintenance

Building maintenance generally falls into three broad categories.

Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance is routine maintenance performed on a regular basis to proactively address maintenance issues before they arise. It involves inspections, treatments, part replacements, and other tasks that prevent damage to the building’s interior and exterior structures. Preventive maintenance tasks are planned and scheduled according to appropriate date-based or usage-based intervals.

Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance activities restore a building to optimal conditions as damage becomes apparent. The nature of these tasks varies based on the type of building and the needs of its inhabitants. Unlike preventive maintenance, which is planned, corrective maintenance is done in response to an issue, such as those reported through service requests.

Protective Maintenance

Protective maintenance shields building structures from harsh environmental conditions and deterioration. It involves applying protective paints, sealants, coatings, and films to exposed surfaces such as pillars, awnings, and other architectural surfaces. Depending on the climate, these areas of the building may need protection from ice, snow, salt, heat, moisture, and extreme weather.

Areas of Building Maintenance

Building assets that require maintenance can be broken down into a few major building systems.

Electrical Systems

A building’s electrical system includes lighting, safety systems, electrical equipment, and power distribution. Regular maintenance of electrical systems ensures that spaces are adequately lit, electric systems are installed correctly, and that the building can handle the electrical load without causing safety issues.

Electrical maintenance is becoming increasingly important in older buildings that need to expand their electrical infrastructure to support newer equipment and technology.

Plumbing Systems

When people think of plumbing, the first thing that typically comes to mind is bathroom fixtures such as sinks and toilets – but it’s much more than that. Building maintenance management professionals are also responsible for maintaining hot water heating systems, storm pipes, roof drainage, and fire sprinkler systems.

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems provide for a safe and comfortable environment for occupants. HVAC systems not only control air temperature, but also air quality, air circulation, dust, and relative humidity. HVAC maintenance for buildings includes maintenance of the air handling units themselves, but also ensuring that the building structure is air tight and has proper ventilation. Maintenance on HVAC systems also includes the energy source for building heating and cooling.

Water and Wastewater Treatment

Building maintenance management also requires the maintenance of water and wastewater treatment systems. Maintenance teams must ensure there is a reliable source of safe, potable water for cleaning, drinking, and other uses. Wastewater and sewage systems must also be maintained to ensure safe and sanitary disposal of human waste, chemical runoff, and other hazardous materials.

Energy Management

Energy management is an important aspect of building maintenance management, especially in aging structures. Proper energy management leads to greater enjoyment of building spaces, better health and living conditions for occupants, and lower energy bills. Therefore, building maintenance teams must inspect and track the condition of roofs, insulation, doors and windows, and other areas that might contribute to the loss of heat or cold.

Interior

Interior building structures include floors, walls, stairwells, basements, and ceilings. Maintenance for these areas includes tasks such as cleaning common areas, regular trash removal, repainting walls, repairing drywall, refinishing flooring, and carpet replacement.

Exterior

Maintaining building exteriors is important for building owners because it gives the first impression of the residence or business. Exterior structures that require building maintenance include the foundation, roof, exterior walls and doors, and windows. While the core building maintenance focuses on the structure itself, effective building maintenance often extends to the immediate and surrounding grounds, as these elements directly impact the building’s integrity, accessibility, and overall presentation. This can include maintaining lawns, parking lots or structures, sidewalks and walkways, drainage, pest control, and landscaping.

Who is Responsible for Building Maintenance Management?

Building maintenance requires professionals with a wide range of skill and expertise.

Building Occupants

In some cases, those who occupy a building are responsible for minor maintenance tasks. For example, Wisconsin state law dictates that apartment tenant’s repair responsibilities include:

• Changing light bulbs and other minor maintenance
• Keeping the apartment in a safe, sanitary condition
• Keeping working batteries in smoke detectors
• Keeping thermostats at a reasonable temperature to prevent freezing of pipes and other equipment
• Repairing damage they or their guests have caused
• Controlling pests (in specific instances)

Janitorial Staff

Janitorial staff is responsible for the general cleaning of a building. Their job responsibilities include tasks such as sweeping, mopping, trash disposal, vacuuming, and so on. Depending on the organization and building size, janitorial services may be outsourced to a service provider.

Maintenance Technicians

Building maintenance technicians perform various routine tasks, such as performing inspections, repairing fixtures and equipment, and addressing simple maintenance needs. Smaller organizations may employ a “handyman” or jack-of-all-trades, while larger organizations are more likely to hire technicians with more specialized skills, such as a dedicated HVAC technician.

Other technician responsibilities include responding to work requests submitted by others and performing low priority preventive maintenance.

Maintenance or Facility Managers

Building maintenance managers or facility managers oversee all building maintenance. They plan and schedule maintenance activities, manage the team, and ensure tasks are completed on time. Additionally, people in this role may also hire and train new maintenance employees.

3^rd Party Maintenance Service Providers

Organizations may outsource maintenance work to third-party vendors depending on the scope of work, specific job, or required expertise. For example, some companies may not find it beneficial or cost-effective to hire a full time electrician, so electrical work is outsourced instead. Other building maintenance functions, like snow plowing and pest control, are typically performed on an as-needed basis. Therefore, it makes sense to outsource these tasks.

Building Maintenance Software

Building maintenance management can be overwhelming without a system to help coordinate and organize maintenance work. Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software provides a single platform for managing building maintenance. Using a CMMS allows maintenance and facility managers to maintain a birds-eye-view of all maintenance activities, track building and equipment maintenance costs, and schedule preventive maintenance tasks.

Building maintenance software allows organizations to:

• Maintain accurate records for all equipment and building systems
• Create, assign, and prioritize work orders
• Automate preventive maintenance scheduling
• View maintenance history and generate reports that support repair vs. replace decisions
• Track stock levels of frequently used spare parts and track inventory purchases
• Record labor performed by in-house or external maintenance teams
• Keep digital records for maintenance audits and regulatory compliance requirements
• Complete tasks from anywhere with access to the CMMS from a mobile device

Improve Building Maintenance Management with FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select is CMMS software designed to help you efficiently and effectively manage building maintenance. Comprehensive preventive maintenance functionality allows you to keep track of routine maintenance tasks and create maintenance schedules that protect and maximize the value of your buildings and equipment. A mobile app extends work order functionality to technicians in the field. Request a demo today to learn more about FTMaintenance Select.

Maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) inventory is a major expense for industrial organizations. By some estimates, it accounts for as much as 40% of an organization’s annual procurement budget, with replacement parts alone making up as much as 15% of total operating expenses.

This significant investment presents a clear opportunity to improve inventory control and reduce costs – without sacrificing maintenance effectiveness. In this article, we’ll explore what MRO inventory control is, why it matters for maintenance teams, and how a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) can help streamline the process.

What is MRO Inventory Control?

MRO inventory control, sometimes called stock control, is the process of tracking and regulating the level of MRO inventory within an organization, from the time it is received to the time it is consumed by maintenance work. It involves knowing what inventory items are available, how many are in stock, where they are located, and their condition (when applicable).

Effective inventory control provides real-time visibility into daily spare part usage and availability. This accurate data informs inventory management decisions, helping to ensure the right parts are on hand when needed. As a result, organizations can reduce inventory-related costs and minimize equipment downtime.

Inventory Control vs. Inventory Management

Inventory control and inventory management are often used interchangeably, though they are technically different concepts. While both involve tracking and managing stock, there are some key differences.

Inventory control refers to the process used to monitor and regulate stock that is already on hand within a facility. It focuses on storage, organization, and ensuring inventory levels remain accurate. It does not typically include purchasing or replenishment activities.

Inventory management, on the other hand, involves all aspects of inventory, from tracking item specifications and monitoring usage, to forecasting demand, making purchase decisions, and managing supplier relationships. It addresses both current inventory and the sourcing of future stock.

Effective inventory management depends on strong inventory control practices to provide accurate, real-time data for making decisions related to restocking and overall inventory strategy.

Why MRO Inventory Control is Important

Proper inventory control benefits maintenance organizations in 4 key areas: inventory accuracy, productivity, procurement, and inventory cost control.

Inventory Accuracy

Inventory control gives organizations a reliable, real-time view into what stock is available and in what quantities. This helps identify overstocked or understocked items, which informs better replenishment decisions.

Accurate inventory data also improves maintenance planning. When working from accurate stock counts, planners can schedule work around part availability and proactively address shortages to avoid delays.

Productivity

Poor inventory control leads to lower productivity and increased downtime. When parts aren’t available where they should be – or aren’t in stock at all – technicians must search for alternatives or wait, delaying repairs and disrupting production. By tracking part locations and quantities, technicians spend less time hunting for parts and more time performing maintenance.

Procurement and Reordering

Consistent inventory tracking provides insights into usage patterns and turnover rates, helping organizations determine ideal stocking levels and set accurate reorder points. This reduces the risk of overordering or running out of critical parts.

Inventory Cost Control

Strong MRO inventory control prevents excess spending on unused, obsolete, or expedited parts. It allows organizations to keep enough spare parts on hand to meet maintenance needs while freeing up money for other projects. Reducing the total cost of inventory also supports lean maintenance budgets and can help boost the organization’s overall profitability.

Key Elements of MRO Inventory Control

MRO inventory control involves knowing what items are carried in inventory, their quantities, their stocking locations, and conditions.

Maintaining Accurate Inventory Records

Organizations may use hundreds – sometimes hundreds of thousands – of spare parts to keep equipment running. With such a large volume of parts, accurately tracking inventory items and their quantities is essential to maintaining control.

To ensure accurate inventory records, organizations audit their inventory using a few key methods:

• Cycle Counting: Counting a subset of inventory on a rotating basis. Compared to a full inventory count, cycle counting is less disruptive, requires less labor, and can be done more frequently.
• Physical Inventory Counts: Periodically, organizations may perform full or spot-check physical counts, where they reconcile any discrepancies between the physical shelf and inventory records.
• Barcode Systems: Barcode labeling and scanning helps maintain accurate stock levels by reducing manual data entry errors and improving tracking efficiency.
• MRO Inventory Software: Many organizations use computerized inventory systems – such as a CMMS – that store inventory records and automatically update stock levels. While CMMS software provides real-time visibility into your inventory, it still requires some oversight to reduce data entry errors, mislabeling, and other mistakes that can introduce discrepancies over time.

During the audit process, organizations identify items that are obsolete, expired, or slow-moving and determine whether they should be scrapped, sold, or disposed of. This helps free up space for additional inventory and improve access to necessary spare parts.

Learn more about managing inventory with a barcode system.

Tracking Stocking Locations

Effective inventory control depends not only on knowing what’s in stock, but also on knowing exactly where items are located. Depending on an organization’s size and structure, MRO inventory may be stored in a single centralized storeroom or spread across multiple locations, such as additional storerooms, supply closets, cribs, vending machines, and technician carts. Within these spaces, items may be placed in specific aisles, racks, shelves, or bins.

With so many possible storage locations, it’s essential to monitor what is stored in each location and in what quantity. Without clear location data, technicians may spend up to 25% of their time searching for parts – time that could be spent carrying out maintenance work. That’s why location tracking is critical for MRO inventory control – it ensures part availability, increases technician productivity, improves audit efficiency, and reduces unnecessary reorders.

Check out our guide on how to organize your maintenance storeroom.

Maintaining Inventory Condition and Quality

When evaluating inventory locations, organizations must also consider whether those environments support proper storage conditions. Over time, items may become compromised due to dust, humidity, oxidation, corrosion, or other environmental factors. Supplies like chemicals, oils, and lubricants can degrade or expire if not used within their shelf life.

Damaged inventory may fail to perform as intended or even pose safety risks if used in maintenance work. Regularly inspecting storage spaces, stored items, and monitoring expiration dates helps ensure that only serviceable parts are available for use.

Monitoring Inventory Movement

Inventory control goes beyond knowing where an item is stored – it also involves tracking items as they move from place to place. Inventory may be relocated for many reasons, such as restocking storage areas, resupplying technician carts or service vehicles, or checking tools out from a crib. In some cases, inventory is moved strategically to improve efficiency and decrease travel time to a central storeroom.

Tracking these movements ensures inventory remains visible and available when needed. Without proper movement tracking, stock may appear to be missing, leading to unnecessary reorders, confusion, and downtime.

Not all inventory movement is physical, however. Organizations commonly use a check-out system for shared items like tools, temporarily transferring them to a technician’s custody. Documenting these transfers helps keep them accountable for proper usage and timely return.

Whatever the case, documenting inventory movement is essential for maintaining accurate records and preventing disruptions to maintenance operations.

MRO Inventory Control Tools

Historically, MRO inventory has been managed with spreadsheets, printed records, and basic accounting software. While these methods may work for smaller operations, they often lead to errors, inefficiencies, and a lack of real-time visibility as inventory stock grows.

A more effective and scalable solution is to use computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software to control MRO inventory. CMMS software centralizes inventory data, automates tracking, and integrates inventory control with the broader functionality of the system. A robust CMMS supports MRO inventory control in the following ways:

• Real-time Inventory Tracking: Monitor inventory quantities as parts are assigned, used, or received, including automatic stock level updates when items are consumed on work orders.
• Stocking Location Management: Know an item’s exact location within storerooms and storage locations, and track quantities when they move to new locations.
• Barcode Scanning Support: Use a barcode system to improve the accuracy of data entry or retrieval.
• Inventory Stock Notifications: Receive automatic alerts when stock level fall below predefined reorder points.
• Usage History and Reporting: Analyze usage trends to forecast demand and optimize stocking levels.
• Integrated Purchasing Tools: Generate purchase orders to replenish stock, and automatically receive quantities into inventory.
• Cost Management: Track inventory costs at the item level to better understand true inventory costs and improve MRO budgeting.

By leveraging a CMMS, maintenance teams can improve inventory accuracy, reduce costs, and ensure the right parts are available when needed. With better inventory control, organizations strengthen their entire maintenance operation and improve overall maintenance effectiveness.

Professional Development for Inventory Control

In addition to using software tools, professionals can benefit from formal education and certification programs focused on inventory and supply chain best practices. The following professional organizations offer learning opportunities and certification programs:

• Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), formerly known as the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS)
• Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)
• International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA)

Maintain Control over Your MRO Inventory with FTMaintenance Select

Inventory control is a critical maintenance management function that enables you to make strategic, data-driven decisions about your spare parts inventory. With the right tools in place, you’ll have more visibility of what items you stock, where they’re located, and their condition.

FTMaintenance Select is spare parts management software that helps you manage your spare parts catalog, automate stock updates, and maintain visibility into inventory availability across locations. Request a demo today to see how FTMaintenance Select streamlines MRO inventory control for your maintenance team.

Effective maintenance management relies on high-quality maintenance data. However, human error causes inaccurate data to be entered into computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software, compromising the usefulness of the information stored within it. Because of this, organizations often implement a barcode system to ensure accurate data entry and lookup. This article provides an overview of the many applications of barcodes in maintenance management.

Applications of Barcodes in Maintenance Management

Barcoding is a versatile technology that enhances many day-to-day maintenance management activities. The sections below describe common applications of barcodes in maintenance environments.

Asset Tagging

Asset tags are barcode labels that uniquely identify physical assets and are directly applied to asset exteriors for tracking purposes. In an ideal scenario, asset tags allow maintenance staff to walk up to an asset, scan the barcode, and perform some action using their CMMS. For example, the system might allow users to look up asset details, view maintenance records, or create a work order for the asset.

Asset tags are useful for organizations that have a large number of assets to maintain. Scanning barcodes reduces human error, ensuring technicians access and record accurate maintenance data for the specified asset.

Because asset tags are affixed to the asset, barcode labels must be able to withstand extreme temperatures, moisture, debris, and vibration without being compromised or lost. Incomplete or missing information invalidates the value of the barcodes. Organizations must choose the barcode printer and labeling materials that best suits their needs.

Read more: What is Asset Tagging?

Tool Tracking

Durable assets like tools are also commonly tracked via barcodes. This is because, unlike equipment assets which are largely stationary (except for vehicles), tools are mobile, shared among staff, and change location often. Barcoded tools allow the maintenance department to monitor exactly which tools are checked out, their current locations, and how many are available in inventory for use.

Tool movement is tracked through a check-in/check-out process using barcodes, similar to borrowing books from a library. When a tool is needed, technicians scan the barcode to check it out, reserving it for use. When the tool is returned, it is scanned back in to its storage location.

Read more: Mastering Tool Management with CMMS Software

MRO Inventory Management

Organizations typically stock hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands (or more) of MRO items within a stockroom. The sheer volume of unique inventory items makes it necessary to avoid misidentifying inventory items when completing work orders or replenishing the stockroom.

When applied to stockroom racks, shelves, and bins, barcode labels are useful for identifying the items stored there. This is useful for verifying parts pulled for maintenance work, adjusting part quantities when making kits, and performing physical inventory counts. Stockroom employees save time by scanning barcodes instead of manually typing numbers into the CMMS.

Alternatively, barcodes might exist in a master binder that lists all inventory items along with their corresponding barcodes. When the location of an inventory item is unknown, employees can look up its location in the CMMS by scanning the barcode information into a search field. The system then identifies the exact aisle, rack, shelf, and bin location of the item.

Read more: What is MRO Inventory Management?

Purchasing and Receiving

Barcodes are a useful tool when used with a CMMS’s purchasing and receiving functionality. When new inventory items arrive and need to be received, employees look up purchase order records by scanning a barcode on the physical PO form. From there, employees then update the status and quantities of incoming purchase order items. Having barcodes in place makes this process much faster and easier, especially when several items are received at once.

Organizations that track vendor item numbers are able to scan the barcode labels on incoming items and match it up with inventory records in the CMMS. Then, organizations are able to generate barcode labels that follow the organization’s internal numbering scheme for tracking and stocking purposes.

Barcoded Documents

CMMS software with barcode capability can generate barcoded paper documents, such as purchase orders and work orders. When these records need to be looked up and updated in the CMMS, all users need to do is click into a search field and scan the barcode. This is a huge timesaver when many items are received at once, or when a batch of work orders is ready to be closed.

CMMS Ease of Use

Depending on the CMMS, barcodes can provide shortcuts to valuable information. For example, clicking through multiple screens takes much longer than scanning a barcode. After the system recognizes the asset (or document), it can take the user to the record details or present the user with a list of options for what to do next.

Even if scanning a barcode only reduces user interaction by one click, those clicks add up over time. After all, the less time a technician spends clicking around in the CMMS, the more time he can spend actually performing maintenance work.

Benefits of Barcoding Technology in Maintenance Management

The applications of barcodes span nearly every major facet of maintenance management. Fortunately, many CMMS software solutions include barcode technology, thereby making it easier to incorporate barcoding into your maintenance process. As this article demonstrates, there are many advantages to barcoding:

• Reduced Human Error: Barcode scanning allows information to be entered into a CMMS using a scanned code instead of manual entry, thereby preventing mistakes and improving the accuracy of maintenance data.
• Increased Productivity: Once fully implemented, a barcode system allows maintenance workers to quickly locate information or take additional action using the CMMS. Wireless scanners and mobile barcode scanning allow employees to stay productive.
• Better Decision-Making: When using accurate data, maintenance organizations are able to make smarter decisions about asset maintenance, inventory purchasing, maintenance schedules, and more. This leads to more efficient operations and lower maintenance costs.
• Improved Return on Investment (ROI): Over time, organizations will be able to grow into using more advanced features of their CMMS. Combining powerful CMMS software with a barcode system provides additional long-term value to the organization, increasing the CMMS ROI.
• Increased User Adoption: Employees are more likely to adopt a system that is easy to use. Barcode scanning provides an easy data entry method for employees of all computer skill levels.

Improve Your Maintenance Operations with FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select barcode capability allows for comprehensive management of your assets and inventory, and integrates seamlessly into your maintenance work order management processes. Contact us today to learn more about the FTMaintenance Select barcode system.

Maintenance tasks provide guidance for how technicians perform maintenance work. However, many organizations do not have dedicated maintenance planning resources available. Instead, task writing falls to others within the maintenance team or administrative staff members who do not necessarily have the expertise to write effective maintenance tasks. This article provides tips for writing effective maintenance tasks for seasoned veterans and inexperienced planners alike.

What is a Maintenance Task?

A maintenance task is a small, identifiable piece of work that indicates the action – or actions – one must take to complete a maintenance work order. Maintenance tasks typically include:

• A description of the work itself
• Instructions for completing the task
• A labor craft that describes the required set of skills
• The estimated time to complete the work

The Importance of Effective Maintenance Tasks

Many maintenance teams do primarily unplanned, corrective maintenance (CM) and scramble to “put out fires” while doing little-to-no preventive maintenance work. In such cases, maintenance tasks are seldom used – instead, technicians are sent directly to failed equipment to diagnose the problem and implement a solution. The specific set of tasks performed is documented after the fact, is usually incomplete, and is done through work order notes instead of through formal tasks.

As maintenance teams tire of the chaos caused by unplanned maintenance and transition towards a proactive maintenance strategy, there is a greater need for planned maintenance guided by detailed maintenance tasks. Instead of vague statements, such as “fix the motor”, maintenance tasks break down work into more manageable, “bite-sized” to-dos. For example, fixing the motor may be comprised of multiple tasks including powering down the motor, turning the shaft by hand to assess the bearings, and inspecting for shorts and opens.

Further, studies show that proper maintenance planning and scheduling can increase wrench time by as much as 65%.

How to Write an Effective Maintenance Task

The steps below describe how to write an effective maintenance task in the context of planned preventive maintenance, where tasks are most often used.

1. Identify the Maintenance Problem

The first step in writing an effective maintenance task is to identify the problem to be solved. For example, does the equipment need inspection or a part replaced

2. Identify the Required Action

After you identify the problem, determine what action is needed to resolve it. Effective maintenance tasks will start with verbs – words that make it easy to understand what “to do”.

Also determine whether the action is a single step or comprised of multiple steps. Single-step tasks make it easy for technicians to picture exactly what to do. For example, actions like “clean”, “remove”, and “verify” are fairly straightforward. Multi-step tasks, such as lockout/tagout, require additional explanation in the task’s details, or may be better if broken down into individual tasks.

3. Describe the Task

Once you’ve identified the required maintenance action, flesh out the details of exactly what technicians must do. The work order will already provide details such as which asset is in need of maintenance and by when the work is to be completed.

Task details describe how to do the work. The level of detail depends on the experience and ability of your team. Less experienced or newer technicians might require more detail, sometimes as granular as spelling out how many turns of the wrench are required to tighten a belt. For these cases, we encourage the use of pictures, graphics – even videos! Experienced, veteran technicians typically need less detail, and will know what procedures to follow.

4. Identify the Required Parts and Tools

Along with what work is needed, you should take time to identify what parts, tools, and other supplies (such as PPE)is required to perform the task. Work orders usually include parts and tools in their own respective sections, although they may be included in task details as well.

5. Determine Task Completion Time

Effective maintenance tasks include deadlines that make clear how long work is expected to take. Not only do time estimates keep technicians productive, they help schedulers determine how long work orders are expected to take and where the work fits into the maintenance schedule.

Many organizations simply estimate task completion time based on experience, maintenance history records, or estimations provided by equipment user manuals. Estimates for new tasks may be based on completion times for similar tasks or educated guesses. Advanced organizations that track maintenance employee performance may have real-world data from which to make task completion time estimations.

6. Review the Maintenance Task

After you’ve finished writing a maintenance task, take a break and come back to it later. Examining tasks with “fresh eyes” and a clear mind can help you notice any errors or shortcomings. It also pays off to mentally walk through the steps, making sure that the task is clearly written and requirements are realistic.

The review should also involve asking questions like:

• Do any technicians require any additional training to complete the task?
• Have all safety warnings and necessary precautions been identified and included in the task?
• Are the steps listed in the most logical order?

The answers to these questions provide guidance on any revisions that should be made.

Create a Task Library with FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select is a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) that makes it easy for you to create and manage a library of maintenance tasks. Add tasks to reusable preventive maintenance (PM) work order templates or create one-time tasks for specific maintenance jobs. Request a demo to learn more about how to improve preventive maintenance with FTMaintenance Select.

People expect the places they live, work, and interact with to be safe, functional, and well maintained, but rarely think about what it takes to keep properties that way. While much property maintenance work goes unseen, its impact is felt by everyone – from owners and property managers to tenants and guests. This article shines a light on the essential role of property maintenance in preserving real estate value and ensuring a positive experience for all who depend on well-kept properties.

What is Property Maintenance?

Property maintenance is a set of ongoing tasks and actions taken to keep properties – including buildings and their immediate surroundings – functional, safe, and in working condition. It involves maintenance activities that preserve the long-term value of the property for owners and managers, provide a comfortable and safe environment for occupants, and help attract future tenants. The term is most commonly used in reference to residential real estate and hospitality properties, where buildings and grounds are maintained for the benefit of occupants, tenants, and guests.

Building Maintenance vs. Property Maintenance

While often used interchangeably, building maintenance and property maintenance differ in scope. Building maintenance refers specifically to maintaining the physical structure itself – walls, roofs, electrical systems and plumbing – and not the land it sits on. Property maintenance includes both the building and its external features, including land, parking lots, walkways, landscaping, and other outdoor amenities.

Facility Maintenance vs. Property Maintenance

Facility maintenance is similar to property maintenance but differs in how the building is used and by whom. Facility maintenance typically refers to commercial, industrial, or institutional buildings where an owner or organization occupies and operates within the facility – and is therefore responsible for its upkeep. In contrast, property maintenance generally applies to tenant-occupied spaces, where maintenance is often handled by property management teams or third party service providers.

Why is Property Maintenance Important?

Property maintenance is a critical part of real estate and property management, benefitting everyone who interacts with a property. Below are the main objectives of property maintenance.

Maintain Habitable Living Environments

Tenants and residents have the right to live in a space that’s safe, functional, and well-maintained. This includes reliable heat, running water, working electrical systems, and a property home free from major hazards. It isn’t just best practice – in many places it’s the law.

For instance, Wisconsin state law requires landlords to keep rental homes in livable condition. This includes making necessary repairs, maintaining building systems, and ensuring the property complies with all local building and housing codes. In federally subsidized housing, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) enforces similar standards known as the Housing Quality Standards (HQS).

Provide Safety and Comfort

While habitability laws set the bare minimum, good property maintenance goes beyond what is required. Property owners and managers also contribute to tenant safety, comfort, and satisfaction by maintaining clean common areas, responding quickly to maintenance requests, and keeping exteriors well-maintained and attractive. This not only keeps current tenants and guests happy, but also attracts future renters and builds a positive reputation.

Protect Long-Term Property Value

Property managers want to ensure profitability, either through rental income or resale. Property maintenance ensures buildings, grounds, and amenities are kept in good condition, which helps preserve property value or justify competitive rental rates. Performing regular maintenance reduces operating costs by extending building and equipment life, preventing unexpected breakdowns, and delaying the need for major renovations.

Reduce Liabilities

Proactively addressing property maintenance helps reduce the risk of legal action, financial loss, and reputational harm. Property owners and managers can be held liable for tenant injuries caused by poorly maintained infrastructure, inadequate security, and uninhabitable living conditions. They may also face fines and penalties for violating building, health, and safety codes, and risk having insurance claims denied if property damage results from neglect.

Common Types of Property Maintenance

Property maintenance consists of both proactive and reactive maintenance strategies, each serving different purposes for keeping properties safe and habitable.

Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance is a proactive strategy used to reduce the likelihood of failures before they happen. It typically includes inspections, replacing worn out parts, testing equipment, and addressing minor issues before they become more serious. Maintenance teams usually schedule tasks on time-based intervals, manufacturer recommendations, and equipment usage.

Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance is a reactive approach performed in response to problems after they have occurred. The goal is to restore assets to working condition as quickly as possible. Property maintenance teams typically learn about these issues through maintenance requests submitted by tenants or staff. Common examples include plumbing issues, electrical failures, broken appliances, and malfunctioning HVAC systems.

Learn more about FTMaintenance Select Maintenance Request Software

Protective Maintenance

Protective maintenance is a subset of preventive maintenance that focuses on shielding exterior surfaces and outdoor equipment from environmental wear and tear. It typically involves applying paints, sealants, and coatings to building exteriors to guard against weather damage, rust, and deterioration.  In property maintenance, this extends to outdoor features like patios, retaining walls, and fences, as well as protecting outdoor electrical equipment and other infrastructure through weatherproofing.

Condition-based Maintenance

Condition-based maintenance (CbM) is a proactive maintenance strategy in which maintenance tasks are triggered by an asset’s condition, rather than by strict calendar-based or time-based intervals. It typically arises from visual inspections, checklists, and routine evaluations. For example, periodic roof inspections might reveal early signs of water damage, missing shingles, clogged gutters, or other issues that can be addressed before they get worse.

Capital Improvements

While maintenance teams may not lead capital improvements, they often play a valuable supporting role. During the asset planning phase, they can provide insight about the reliability of existing assets, recurring maintenance challenges, and suggest upgrades that could reduce long-term maintenance costs.

Depending on the size and structure of the organization, maintenance teams may assist with or even carry out certain improvements, like replacing air handling units, renovating common areas, or painting. They may also work alongside contractors by preparing work areas and ensuring the safety of both workers and tenants during the project.

After upgrades are complete, the maintenance team is responsible for tracking the new assets and performing ongoing maintenance and repairs.

Learn more about asset lifecycle management.

Areas of Property Maintenance

Property maintenance covers more than just buildings – it includes all the systems, structures, and other spaces that keep a property functional, safe, and visually appealing. To understand the full scope of property maintenance, it can be broken down into three main categories: building systems, structures, and grounds.

Building Systems

Building systems are the “hidden” components that make up a property. They are interconnected systems that ensure a property’s functionality and safety. Major building systems include:

• Electrical systems: indoor/outdoor lighting, safety systems, and backup power generators
• Plumbing systems: toilets, sinks, hot water heaters, storm drainage, fire suppression, and irrigation. In hospitality settings, this may also include commercial kitchen plumbing and grease traps
• Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC): air handling equipment and climate control units
• Wastewater and water treatment: sewage, stormwater management, and filtration systems
• Elevators and escalators

Structures

Beyond internal systems, property maintenance also extends to the spaces where people live, gather, and use, along with the physical building itself. This includes:

• Interior maintenance: cleaning, trash removal, repainting, and repairing walls, flooring, windows, and fixtures
• Exterior maintenance: siding, roofing, sidewalks, foundations, exterior lighting, and signage
• Other structures: garages, clubhouses, pools, locker rooms, storage sheds, fences, gates, and outdoor stairways
• Back-of-house areas: laundry facilities, kitchens, staff rest areas, storage facilities

Grounds

Aside from building maintenance, property maintenance also focuses on keeping the surrounding land safe, attractive, and usable. Grounds maintenance may include:

• Landscaping: mowing, weeding, seasonal planting and seasonal cleanup, pest control
• Pavement care: resurfacing, sealcoating, pothole repair, lighting, and snow and ice removal
• Perimeter elements: fences, gates, and exterior signage
• Outdoor amenities: playgrounds, water parks, sports courts, walking paths, dog parks, and even golf courses, where applicable

Who is Responsible for Property Maintenance?

Property maintenance is a shared responsibility among several roles, each contributing in different ways based on their relationship to the property.

Owners

As the legal titleholder, the owner holds ultimate responsibility for ensuring a property is well-maintained and compliant. Owners typically hire property management companies or maintenance service providers to handle day-to-day maintenance operations. While not involved in daily tasks, owners retain control by approving maintenance budgets, setting spending limits, and authorizing major repairs and capital improvements.

Property Managers

Property managers are hired by owners to oversee day-to-day property maintenance while working within an approved budget. These responsibilities include responding to tenant maintenance requests, scheduling routine maintenance and inspections, and coordinating repairs with contractors. They also ensure tenants fulfill their maintenance-related responsibilities under the lease agreement.

Maintenance Technicians

Maintenance technicians perform maintenance and repairs according to the needs of the property and as assigned by the property manager. Tasks range from completing service requests to preventive maintenance activities such as performing inspections and replacing worn parts. Their work requires technical expertise in plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and other core building systems.

Janitorial Staff

Depending on the organization, janitorial staff may help support property maintenance by handling routine cleaning and sanitation tasks. Their responsibilities often include trash removal, vacuuming, surface cleaning, disinfecting shared spaces, and occasionally cleaning up biohazards like bodily fluids. By handling these essential day-to-day responsibilities, janitorial workers allow the maintenance team to focus on more technical repairs and maintenance issues.

Tenants

Tenants are responsible for minor repairs and upkeep, outlined in their lease. This may include tasks such as changing light bulbs, keeping units safe and sanitary, and in certain instances, controlling pests. Renters may also be responsible for lawn care and snow and ice removal, depending on the type of property and lease details.

Contractors

Owners or managers bring in contractors for large-scale projects or highly-technical tasks that exceed the capability or manpower of the in-house team. They are called in to perform specialized tasks such as landscaping, elevator repair, or other tasks where having a full-time professional on staff wouldn’t be practical.

Property Maintenance Standards

Property maintenance standards provide guidance and requirements to help property owners and managers maintain safe, sanitary, and livable properties. Whether voluntary or mandated by law, following these standards supports tenant well-being and regulatory compliance.

One of the most widely recognized sets of standards is the International Property Maintenance Codes (IPMC), published by the International Code Council (ICC). The ICC outlines the IPMC’s minimum requirements for maintenance of existing buildings.

In addition to IPMC, property maintenance must also comply with a variety of other codes and standards, including:

• Local housing codes developed by individual cities, counties, and states
• Building codes such as the ICC International Building Code (IBC)
• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes including:
  • NFPA 101 life safety code
  • NFPA 70B electrical maintenance program codes
  • NFPA 70E electrical safety codes
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace safety regulations
• Housing Quality Standards (HQS) issued by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• ASHRAE standard 180, covering HVAC inspection and maintenance, published by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)

Property Maintenance Software

Property maintenance operations account for a significant portion of a property’s operating expenses. Given its impact on property value, tenant satisfaction, and potential liability, property maintenance deserves a tool dedicated to manage day-to-day maintenance operations. That’s why many property managers choose to track maintenance activities in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

Though many property management solutions include basic work order management functionality, they often lack the depth and functionality needed to support properties with complex maintenance needs. Below are several ways a CMMS enables more effective property maintenance.

Maintenance Request Management

CMMS software provides tenants with access to an online portal to submit maintenance requests directly to the maintenance team. From the CMMS, property managers can review, prioritize, and assign maintenance tasks based on urgency. Features such as automatic notifications and status updates keep tenants in the loop about their requests, leading to higher satisfaction rates.

Learn more about FTMaintenance Select Maintenance Request Software

Asset and Equipment Management

Asset tracking features allow property maintenance managers to store detailed records about buildings, equipment, and other assets in a centralized system, providing a bird’s-eye view of all of your owned assets – and the relationships between them – making it easier to identify what assets you have, where they are located, service histories, and any upcoming maintenance needs.

Vendor Management

A CMMS helps manage the relationship with third-party service providers and parts suppliers. With vendor information stored in one place, maintenance teams can quickly coordinate repairs, source materials, and identify alternative vendors when needed.

Technician Skills and Credentials

In addition to tracking buildings and equipment, a CMMS can store important information about maintenance personnel, including their licenses, certifications, and other qualifications. This ensures work is assigned to technicians with the appropriate experience and credentials.

KPI Dashboards and Reports

Maintenance analytics give you insight into the overall performance and health of your maintenance operation. Using data-rich dashboards and reports, you can monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) related to request response times, maintenance costs, and technician productivity – often broken down by building or location.

Mobile Accessibility

Mobile accessibility is an especially valuable feature for property maintenance teams that work across large or multi-building properties. A mobile CMMS solution allows technicians to access your maintenance data from anywhere on your property. They can create and close work orders, review asset maintenance history for troubleshooting, and record preventive maintenance tasks all without returning to a desktop or office.

Protect Your Property Value with FTMaintenance Select

Property maintenance is more than routine upkeep – it’s a proactive strategy that preserves property value, ensures tenant satisfaction, and mitigates risk. From responding to tenant requests to protecting your property investments, effective maintenance plays a central role in real estate success.

FTMaintenance Select is a powerful CMMS solution designed to support the complex needs of property maintenance teams. Whether you’re managing a single rental or a wide portfolio of assets, FTMaintenance Select helps you streamline work orders, manage assets, track vendor activity, and make smarter, data-driven decisions. Request a demo today to see how FTMaintenance Select can support your property maintenance goals.

In addition to their standard maintenance work, maintenance teams must also address service requests from other departments, tenants, or customers. Your ability to properly manage service requests impacts your team’s efficiency and other’s satisfaction with the maintenance team. To improve your level of customer service, consider the following service request management best practices.

Why Following Service Request Management Best Practices is Important

It’s fairly common for maintenance service requests to be communicated through phone calls, hand written notes, emails, or text messages. This type of service request management is disorganized, inefficient, and makes it easy for requests to be ignored or forgotten.

Comparing your service request management practices against best practices helps you identify shortcomings and areas for improvement. While the best practices listed in this article may not apply to every organization or industry, they are intended to help guide the continuous improvement of your maintenance management process.

Service Request Management Best Practices

Below are multiple ways you can improve your service request management process.

Implement Service Request Management Software

As you may have already experienced, trying to manage service requests without a formal system in place is challenging, if not impossible. Service request management software provides a single system for submitting and managing service requests, benefitting both requesters and administrators alike. Maintenance teams commonly use the service request management features of computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software to manage requests.

For requesters, a CMMS provides a direct line of communication with the maintenance team. Requesters submit requests using a simple online form accessed from a web browser or mobile app. Some systems allow requesters to log in to check the status of their requests. Automatic notifications can also be configured to communicate a request’s status to requesters as it changes.

For the maintenance team, CMMS software creates a single channel for receiving service requests, reducing the amount of phone calls, emails, and other interruptions. The request form can be customized to capture the exact information needed to evaluate and prioritize the requested work, reducing the amount of back and forth between the maintenance team and requesters.

By managing service requests within a CMMS along with other maintenance data, you can make better decisions about fulfilling requests including how the work fits in with the rest of the maintenance schedule and who should perform the work. You can also use asset data to see the last time maintenance was performed on the asset, what was done, and decide whether changes are needed to the asset maintenance strategy.

Make Request Submission Easy

Provide requesters with an easy way to submit service requests to the maintenance team. We’ve already discussed using a CMMS for this purpose, but other methods may include using a standalone web form, PDF, or even paper form.

No matter the format, requesters should be able to easily complete the form with ease while also providing you with enough information needed to address the request. This can mean reducing the amount of information the requester has to provide. Some organizations only care to capture contact information and a description of the problem, for instance. Service request management software can automate some data entry based on information such as who is logged in and their location.

Automate Service Request Notifications

Communication is not a strength of many maintenance teams, especially when it comes to following up with requesters. People who need maintenance assistance want their request to be acknowledged and to know how close their request is to being completed. CMMS software automatically sends status update notifications to requesters, providing such transparency. Maintaining good communication builds trust between the maintenance department and requesters.

Notifications are useful for the maintenance team as well. Service request notifications can notify administrators when new service requests have been received, reviewed and approved, or rejected. Many systems automatically route the request to the appropriate administrator based on the asset or location identified in the request. Notifications also alert technicians when they are assigned to service requests (or work orders generated from service requests).

Prioritize Service Requests

Responding to service requests in the order in which they are received is not an effective use of maintenance resources. Managing requests on a “first come, first served” basis causes the maintenance team to focus on minor tasks when more urgent needs exist. Instead, prioritize requests based on their severity. Common priority levels include: emergency, high, medium, and low. Your organization should decide the requirements for each level.

Another way to prioritize requests is by the type of requester. Depending on your industry, you may treat requests from tenants, employees, or customers differently. Similarly, the type of asset may determine a request’s priority. For example, repairing production equipment takes precedence over an HVAC filter change.

Regularly Review Common Service Requests

Reviewing historical service requests in a CMMS makes it possible to look for patterns in what maintenance issues come up again and again. If the same issues arise multiple times, there is an opportunity to reduce them through increased preventive maintenance (PM). Having service request and preventive maintenance data together in a CMMS makes it easy to adjust the maintenance schedule to your needs.

Track Service Request Management KPIs

Maintenance management reports allow you to track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to your service request management process. Each organization may track different metrics related to their service requests. Examples of common service request KPIs are listed below:

• Average service request response time
• Number of service requests in the backlog (i.e., the number of open requests)
• Customer satisfaction rating
• Total number of completed service requests
• Percentage of service requests completed on time

Stay on Top of Service Requests with FTMaintenance Select

Service requests bring visibility to maintenance needs throughout the organization. Without an effective service request management system, it’s easy for requested maintenance work to fall by the wayside. FTMaintenance Select provides a powerful service request management platform for creating, managing, and fulfilling service requests. Schedule a demo to learn more.

The overarching goal of maintenance management is to minimize unexpected equipment failures in a cost-effective manner. Risk-based maintenance (RbM) is an approach that uses an asset’s risk of failure to allocate maintenance resources. This article provides an overview of risk-based maintenance.

What is Risk-based Maintenance?

Risk-based maintenance (RbM) is a maintenance methodology that uses risk assessment principles to optimize maintenance tasks and the allocation of resources. It involves systematically identifying an asset’s criticality, failure modes, and risk of failure to create a maintenance plan that minimizes the risk of failure.

Using a risk-based maintenance approach, maintenance efforts are redirected from assets with the lowest risk of failure to those assets with the greatest failure risk. High-risk assets vary by industry and organization. Examples include:

• Major systems (e.g., electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc.) in buildings and facilities
• Vital production lines in manufacturing plants
• Heavy equipment used in infrastructure construction and maintenance
• Fleet vehicles used to transport goods

Why Risk-based Maintenance is Important

Unplanned downtime is a major cost for businesses. In fact, studies have found that unplanned downtime events cost as much as $250,000 per hour and reduce productivity by as much as 20%!

To minimize such losses, maintenance teams employ a variety of maintenance strategies and techniques, but are pressured to do so at a low cost. This prompts organizations to evolve their maintenance strategies beyond traditional corrective maintenance (CM), time-based maintenance (TbM), and preventive maintenance (PM).

Risk-based maintenance provides organizations with a systematic way to determine the type and frequency of maintenance each asset receives. Instead of wasting time and energy maintaining equipment that doesn’t need it (which can actually do more harm than good), organizations can allocate sufficient maintenance resources to assets whose failures have the most impact on the organization.

Other Ways to Improve Reliability

There are many ways that organizations can improve reliability while also lowering maintenance costs. Risk-based maintenance is just one such approach. Others include:

• Condition-based maintenance (CbM)
• Predictive maintenance (PdM)
• Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)
• Total productive maintenance (TPM)
• Performing Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

Is Risk-based Maintenance Right for Me?

A risk-based maintenance approach might be a fit for your organization if it:

• Relies on highly expensive equipment that is difficult to replace
• Manages a tight maintenance budget or limited maintenance resources
• Owns remote assets that make regular maintenance difficult due to travel requirements
• Runs mission critical equipment where there are no viable alternatives or substitutes
• Wants to improve return on investment (ROI) by optimizing its current maintenance plan

How to Implement Risk-Based Maintenance

Conducting a risk-based maintenance assessment is a systematic process, meaning that there is a generally accepted sequence of steps to follow. The two main parts of this process are: 1) performing a criticality analysis, and 2) performing a risk assessment.

Before we start, it is important to note that implementing risk-based maintenance is a technical process that involves getting input from a cross-functional team including operations, maintenance, engineering, safety, and others.

The following steps outline a simplified version of a risk-based maintenance methodology. Readers seeking a more robust, thorough explanation should refer to the ISO 31000 standard on risk management or the United States Department of Defense standard MIL-STD-1629A.

Step 1: Gather Maintenance Data

 In order to implement risk-based maintenance, you need to gather asset data such as:

• Identity (i.e., asset name and number)
• Acquisition cost
• Age
• Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) history
• Mean Time to Repair(MTTR) history
• Cost of unplanned downtime
• Frequency of maintenance

This information is readily available in most computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software. If you are not familiar with what a CMMS is, read our What is a CMMS? article or view our handy infographic.

Step 2: Determine Asset Criticality

Risk-based maintenance prioritizes maintenance work to critical assets. Criticality is a measure of an asset’s importance to the organization. Critical assets generally affect an organization broadly or represent a single point of critical failure. For example, a boiler is critical to the operations of a facility.

Organizations use a criticality analysis to evaluate the severity asset failure has on the organization. A common tool for performing a criticality analysis is a criticality matrix, like the one shown below. Failure events are ranked on the matrix by severity in multiple categories such as safety, production, and cost.

Since there are multiple ways an asset can fail, each carrying a different amount of risk, you need to set a baseline. Choose one failure event that you deem plausible to occur and that has the most severe consequences. Use the matrix to rate the failure on each category.

(Click to enlarge)

These ratings are used to generate an asset criticality rating (ACR). The ACR can be calculated by multiplying the ranking in each category together, adding the scores together, or simply taking the highest score in any category.  For example, suppose the severity of a failure is rated as follows:

• Safety = 2
• Environmental = 1
• Production = 3
• Equipment = 1
• Cost = 1

Therefore, the ACR would be:

• 6, if multiplying (2 x 1 x 3 x 1 x 1 = 6)
• 8, if adding (2 + 1 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 8)
• 3, if taking the highest categorical rating (Production, in this example)

Whichever way you choose, a higher score means the asset is more critical, relative to the others you’ve analyzed. Record this score, as it will be used in a later step.

Step 3: Determine the Likelihood of Failure

Once criticality is known, you determine the probability of failure. As with criticality, rate the likelihood of failure on a scale of 1 to 5 (or use a larger scale if you prefer). The example below uses a 5-point scale, where:

• 1 = Very unlikely to fail (Expected to fail less than once every 2 years, on average)
• 2 = Unlikely to fail (Expected to fail less than once per year, on average)
• 3 = Occasional failure (Expected to fail 1 – 2 times per year, on average)
• 4 = Likely to fail (Expected to fail more than twice per year, on average)
• 5 = Fails frequently (Expected to fail frequently)

Record this score.

Step 4: Calculate the Risk Priority Number

A risk priority number (RPN) is a numerical value that quantifies an asset’s risk of failure. It is calculated by multiplying the asset criticality rating by the probability of failure rating. More advanced calculations also factor in a detection rating, which quantifies the likelihood of detecting an imminent failure before it occurs. For our purposes, we will ignore detection.

The table below shows the calculated risk priority number for 3 different assets.

In this example, the severity of failure was determined by using the highest severity rating score in any given category from the criticality matrix shown earlier. The probability of failure follows the 5-point scale from the previous step.

Step 5: Analyze Your Findings

 Based on the RPN calculations above, we can draw the following conclusions:

• Asset 1 is the most likely to fail, but the consequences are relatively minor. It is possible that reliability issues are due to aging equipment or inadequate preventive maintenance, but further investigation is needed.
• Based on its RPN, Asset 2 carries the least amount of risk. However, while the probability is low, the severity is high. In this case, the failure is worth preventing.
• Asset 3 carries the most risk, according to its RPN. Failure happens on a regular basis and leads to relatively severe consequences. You should prioritize this asset.

Step 6: Prioritize Asset Failures

Risk priority numbers make it easy to compare the risks that failures pose, relative to one another – but which failures require action? One tool that can be used is a risk matrix, like the one shown below.

This grid shows all possible risk priority number scores using a 5-point scale, color-coded by risk level. Find where your severity and probability ratings intersect to determine the RPN and observe the color code.

In this grid, scores in green represent assets with the lowest amount of risk and of low priority. Yellow and orange scores represent assets that are low to medium risk and medium to high risk, respectively. A score in red indicates that asset failure carries high risk and should be a priority for the maintenance team to address.

While the matrix is a useful decision-making tool, it should not replace other evaluation. Recall the RPN for Asset 2 from earlier. Asset 2 has an RPN rating of 5 which, according to the matrix, makes it low priority. However, its severity is rated as a 5. Even if you do not expect this failure to occur, it is still worth trying to prevent, especially if it may cause fatal injuries, destroy the equipment, or create an environmental crisis.

Step 7: Create a Risk Mitigation Plan

Now that you’ve identified which asset failures pose the biggest threat to the organization, it’s time to create a maintenance plan to prevent future failures. The most common maintenance techniques are:

• Corrective maintenance (CM)
• Preventive maintenance (PM)
• Condition-based Maintenance (CbM)
• Predictive Maintenance (PdM)

When deciding which technique to use, consider the following questions:

• What maintenance resources do I currently have?
• What are the manufacturer’s maintenance recommendations?
• How old is the asset and what is its life expectancy?
• What is the cost to replace the asset?
• Is it cost-effective to prevent the failure?
• What is the risk of not preventing this failure?
• What other changes do I need to make to support this strategy?

Read also: Keeping Assets Healthy: A Complete Guide to 4 Types of Maintenance

Step 8: Continuously Improve

Optimizing your maintenance program following a risk-based approach is not a one-time event. You should update criticality and risk ratings as your key asset management metrics improve. After you address assets with the highest risk, you’ll be able to turn your focus to new assets and repeat the process over and over again. This process can also be used to prioritize specific failure events within the same asset group.

Risk-based Maintenance and CMMS

CMMS software enables you to easily collect, store, and track maintenance data required to perform a risk-based maintenance assessment.

In terms of criticality, a CMMS provides access to asset service history, work orders, and historical performance data which help you select assets for analysis. Downtime tracking and maintenance reports provide further insight into the effects of failure. CMMS software also provides useful asset data including:

• The number of failures an asset has experienced
• The amount of unplanned downtime attributed to an asset
• Key performance indicators such as Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), preventive maintenance effectiveness, and work order performance
• Asset maintenance costs

In terms of risk, or the probability of failure, a CMMS provides useful information including historical asset data and measures of reliability such as Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) calculations.

Lower the Impact of Asset Failure with FTMaintenance Select

Risk-based maintenance provides a structured process for allocating maintenance resources to the failures that most threaten your organization. FTMaintenance Select provides a powerful platform for planning, managing, and tracking your maintenance program, enabling you to make data-driven decisions that lower the risk and reduce the consequences of asset failure. Request a demo today to learn more about how to get started with FTMaintenance Select.

Businesses of every size rely on fleet vehicles to conduct business. Whether they’re large semi-trucks or boats that deliver goods, buses and taxis that transport people, or farming equipment that harvests crops, the condition of fleet vehicles greatly impacts the bottom line. Without the right technology in place, fleet maintenance is challenging. This article provides an overview of fleet maintenance management and how it is made easier with computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software.

What is Fleet Maintenance Management?

Before launching into a discussion about fleet maintenance management, let’s first examine the broader scope of fleet management. Fleet management consists of actions taken to remove or minimize risks associated with fleet vehicle investment, improve efficiency and productivity, and reduce overall transportation costs. In general, any activity that relates to the value or use of vehicles can be considered fleet management. These activities include managing:

• Vehicle acquisition, sales, leasing and financing, and remarketing
• Maintenance and repair
• Fuel consumption and fuel costs
• Vehicle titles, licenses, and registration
• Electronic Logging Device (ELD) and Hours of Service (HOS) compliance
• Insurance and protection
• Driver safety and retention
• Fleet data collected through telematics systems
• Dispatching and route optimization

Fleet maintenance management is the process of maintaining and repairing vehicles in order to maximize availability, improve performance, and minimize costs. While the primary goal of fleet maintenance is to improve the effectiveness and safety of vehicles, it also has far-reaching effects in other aspects of fleet management. For example, well-maintained vehicles use fuel more efficiently, thereby reducing fuel consumption and costs.

Learn more about the benefits of using CMMS for fleet maintenance management

Importance of Fleet Maintenance Management

Today’s fleet management organizations face many challenges, including an increased focus on driver safety, the digitization of vehicles, fuel price volatility, and tightening regulatory requirements. Meeting these challenges requires

Keeping Drivers (and Others) Safe

A properly maintained vehicle is safer for drivers as well as others with whom they share the road. Drivers feel more comfortable and confident knowing their vehicle has been inspected and will work predictably (barring any unexpected events).

A well-thought-out fleet maintenance schedule reduces the likelihood of breakdowns and accidents. Many common causes of vehicle crashes, such as blown tires, can be prevented through proper fleet maintenance.

Fleet maintenance also helps organizations comply with regulatory requirements from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation related to pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and air quality among other safety issues. These standards help ensure a safe and clean environment for current and future generations.

Lowering Operational Costs

When vehicles aren’t on the road, the organization isn’t making money. Vehicles that experience downtime due to unscheduled repairs, emergency service, or accidents cannot service the organization. This leads to the risk of late deliveries and tarnishes the reputation of the business. Frequent, unplanned maintenance issues also affect the longevity of vehicles, which may require them to be replaced sooner than expected.

Scheduled maintenance activities reduce operational costs by helping organizations avoid more costly repairs. Regular preventive maintenance (PM) is much easier to carry out, cheaper in the long run, and can help catch small issues before they evolve into more serious problems. Further, well-maintained vehicles will have a longer life span, spend more time on the road, and increase fuel economy.

In addition, vehicles that undergo regular maintenance have a better chance of getting good results and safety approvals following inspections and testing, shielding the organization from compliance issues.

Boosting Profitability

Any number of variables can affect the bottom line, but many of them lead back to the quality of fleet maintenance. Managing a fleet of reliable, well-looked-after vehicles helps you maximize productivity and profitability.

Organizations that deliver goods on time and dispatch service quickly, while keeping their employees and others safe, build better reputations and trust with their business partners and consumers. Maximal operations combined with lowered operational costs leads to higher profit overall.

What Industries Practice Fleet Maintenance Management?

Any organization that relies on vehicles to do business engages in some sort of fleet maintenance management. Examples include:

• Trucking companies
• Car rental services
• Construction companies
• Specialty vehicle and equipment contractors
• Farmers
• Home repair and maintenance service providers
• Government and public works
• Mining and natural resources harvesters

Fleet Maintenance Management Roles and Responsibilities

There are many stakeholders who contribute to successful fleet maintenance: fleet managers, drivers, and maintenance technicians/mechanics.

Fleet Managers

Among their many responsibilities, fleet managers are responsible for developing maintenance plans for fleet vehicles such as trucks, boats, and buses. Each type of vehicle requires unique maintenance tasks on specific schedules. The maintenance plan must also be flexible to account for maintenance needs discovered by drivers, through telematics systems, or through other planned maintenance activities.

Drivers

Because drivers spend most of their time in the vehicle, they are the most familiar with how it should function. They are best equipped to notify the fleet manager or maintenance team of any abnormalities, warnings, or signs of wear. Drivers also assist with identifying maintenance needs by performing frequent visual inspections and reporting any issues they discover. If not done automatically, drivers may record mileage for runtime-based preventive maintenance.

Maintenance Technicians/Mechanics

The most prominent role in fleet maintenance management is of course, the fleet mechanic or maintenance technician. People in this role are responsible for performing repairs and maintenance on fleet vehicles.

Mechanics may be internal or external to the organization. Larger organizations may benefit from having one or more dedicated fleet maintenance personnel on staff. On the other hand, fleet maintenance functions may be outsourced to another organization that specializes in fleet maintenance or the maintenance of certain vehicle types or manufacturers.

Fleet Maintenance Management Software

Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software is one tool fleet maintenance organizations use to manage fleet maintenance. Using CMMS for fleet maintenance management provides many benefits.

Improve Maintenance Planning and Scheduling

CMMS software stores critical information about vehicle assets, including their related parts and maintenance tasks. With all information together in a single platform, fleet managers can easily view what assets are available for maintenance, which required parts are in stock, and who is qualified to perform the job. Technicians also have access to maintenance history to troubleshoot non-standard maintenance issues.

Scheduling functionality allows you to view upcoming maintenance activities, and decide when work should be done and who will do it. Many systems allow maintenance to be scheduled based on calendar date, runtime (or mileage), or a combination of both.

Streamline Preventive Maintenance Procedures

CMMS software for fleet maintenance management allows for the creation of reusable preventive maintenance (PM) work order templates. These templates allow you to enter the work order details once, and automatically generate future work orders complete with all relevant information. This is especially helpful when creating work orders for recurring maintenance tasks such as inspections.

Reusable tasks also make it easy to create and update maintenance procedures. Providing technicians with step-by-step instructions for performing fleet maintenance ensures that work is performed the same way each time, no matter who is doing it. If changes are needed, updates can be made once and applied system-wide.

Simplify Spare Parts Management

Effective MRO inventory management is a key element of a cost effective fleet maintenance program. A CMMS automates inventory counts, helping fleet managers forecast demand and ensure parts are in stock when needed. The system also stores information about parts suppliers and service providers, making it quick and easy to reorder parts when needed.

Track Employee Qualifications

CMMS software tracks valuable data about your biggest assets – your people! Fleet managers can track auto mechanic certification levels, ensuring that technicians are qualified to perform required maintenance work. In addition, organizations can store employee pay rate information, useful when billing clients for fleet management services.

Quickly Access Maintenance Documentation

Vehicles are complex machinery. Being able to access owner’s manuals and maintenance documentation is a boon to mechanics. A CMMS allows you to create a digital maintenance library containing quick access to important maintenance and safety documentation. In addition, technicians are able to add images and videos to supplement text-based work order or asset documentation.

Make Better Repair vs. Replace Decisions

Fleet maintenance software such as a CMMS system helps fleet managers gain visibility into vehicle condition operations through data analysis and reporting. The software leverages comprehensive data on assets to generate maintenance reports that allow you to assess vehicle condition, justify replacement, or modify the maintenance schedule.

Keep Vehicles Ready for the Road with FTMaintenance Select

Proper fleet maintenance management is necessary for any organization that relies on vehicles, from a small business with a handful of delivery vehicles to large corporations that maintain an entire fleet. CMMS software like FTMaintenance Select is an essential tool for tracking, documenting, and managing fleet maintenance. Schedule a demo today to learn more about how FTMaintenance Select makes fleet maintenance more efficient and effective.

Food and beverage manufacturers must comply with myriad food safety and quality requirements. In addition to regulations required by law, organizations throughout the food supply chain are also required to meet additional food safety standards in order to do business. Safe Quality Food (SQF) is one such example. This article provides an overview of SQF and how computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software can help organizations achieve SQF certification.

What is Safe Quality Food (SQF)?

Safe Quality Food is a food safety management certification used to control food safety risks, and is managed by the Safe Quality Food Institute, a division of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). SQF standards are based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) guidelines, which focus on analyzing and controlling food safety hazards. In addition, SQF incorporates principles laid out in the ISO 9001 standards, the international standards and requirements for quality management systems (QMS).

Originally developed in Australia in 1994 as one set of food safety standards, SQF has evolved into a suite of standards that encompass the entire food supply chain including:

• Food, ingredient, and food packaging manufacturing
• Consumer products packaging
• Animal feed and pet food manufacturing
• Storage, transportation, distribution, and logistics
• Catering operations
• Agricultural packing and farming

Today, SQF standards are recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) as a benchmark certification program for the food and beverage industry. While it is not required by law to obtain SQF certification, many retailers and manufacturers require it from their business partners.

SQF Certification

SQF-certified organizations are ones that have successfully implemented a food safety and quality program that meets SQF standards. Organizations can obtain 3 levels of certification, described below. Note that each higher certification level encompasses all the standards and requirements of that level and the level below it.

• Level 1 SQF certification addresses issues related to basic food safety, and covers Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and Good Distribution Practices (GDPs).
• Level 2 SQF certification covers HACCP-based food safety planning.
• Level 3 SQF certification focuses on food quality as well as food safety.

As mentioned earlier, SQF certification is typically required by an organization’s business partners. They dictate the level of certification needed. Therefore, it is important for organizations to know their firmographic (basic information about their business-to-business partners and vendors), and requirements of other companies with whom they work.

SQF Certification Process

According to the Safe Quality Food Institute, the SQF certification process involves the following steps:

1. Learn about the SQF code
2. Register your company in the SQF assessment database
3. Designate an SQF practitioner
4. Choose the level of certification
5. Obtain proposal from SQF-licensed certification bodies
6. Conduct a pre-assessment (optional)
7. Choose a certification body and schedule an audit
8. Conduct the certification audit

Since the results of SQF certification are tied to food safety, the certification process is necessarily rigorous, taking between 6 months and 2 years. This timeline depends on many factors including existing certifications, level of certification to be achieved, training, dedicated resources, and availability of outside assistance, if necessary.

The Role of Maintenance in SQF Certification

By nature, maintenance activities introduce multiple risks to food safety and quality. For example, employees may contaminate equipment surfaces that touch food. Parts, tools, or debris can fall into product if equipment and openings are not properly covered. Bacteria or pests may make their way into food production or storage areas if not properly managed.

To help their organization meet SQF and other quality management requirements, maintenance departments must carefully plan, schedule, perform, and document maintenance work. These tasks are especially challenging for organizations that rely on manual maintenance tracking systems, which is common in the maintenance industry.  However, the SQF certification process necessitates the implementation of a well-organized maintenance management system, such as computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software.

Further Reading: Why Food and Beverage Manufacturers Need to Invest in a CMMS

CMMS and Safe Quality Food Compliance

CMMS software addresses many maintenance management needs of organizations pursuing SQF certification.  Let’s take a look at a few examples from the SQF Food Safety Code for Manufacturing, Edition 9, Part B, Module 11, Section 11.2 and discuss how a CMMS can be used to meet the standard. The latest SQF codes are available on the SQFI website.

11.2.1.2: Routine maintenance of plant and equipment in any food processing, handling, or storage areas shall be performed according to a maintenance control schedule and recorded. The maintenance schedule shall be prepared to include buildings, equipment, and other areas of the premises critical to the maintenance of product safety.

This standard has to do with preventive maintenance (PM). It says that routine maintenance for food manufacturing assets should be scheduled and documented. CMMS software offers powerful work order scheduling functionality, with the ability to customize maintenance schedules to virtually any date-based or run-time based schedule. When work orders are completed, the system automatically creates a maintenance history for the asset.

11.2.1.3: Failures of plant and equipment in any food processing, handling, or storage areas shall be documented and reviewed, and their repair(s) incorporated into the maintenance control schedule.

This standard addresses how to manage asset failures. In addition to planned maintenance, CMMS software tracks corrective maintenance (CM) events as well. Unplanned CM is carried out in response to failures, with the work order serving as documentation of such failures. Organizations that perform advanced failure analysis may also track asset failures using CMMS failure codes.

The second part of this standard states that the resolution of a failure must be worked into the maintenance schedule. This work usually takes the form of a proactive maintenance technique such as preventive or predictive maintenance (PdM). CMMS software makes it easy to create new recurring work orders and adjust future schedules accordingly.

11.2.2.3: Maintenance staff and contractors shall remove all tools and debris from any maintenance activity once it has been completed, and inform the area supervisor and maintenance supervisor, so appropriate hygiene and sanitation can be conducted and a pre-operational inspection completed prior to the restarting of site operations.

As described earlier, maintenance personnel present a high risk of contaminating food products simply by doing their jobs. Standard 11.2.2.3 addresses issues that may arise after maintenance work is complete. It requires technicians to check the area for any parts and tools involved in the repair, clean any dirt or debris from the asset, and notify another person when work is complete. Organizations may document clean-up procedures by creating PM tasks or attaching relevant documentation to work orders.

Achieve SQF Certification with the Help of FTMaintenance Select

FTMaintenance Select allows organizations in the food and beverage industry to maintain their equipment and facility assets while ensuring the safety and quality of food products. It provides a single platform for planning, scheduling, documenting, and optimizing maintenance activities and tracking maintenance resources. Schedule a demo today to learn more about how FTMaintenance Select can help you meet SQF requirements.