Using VUEWorks to manage and map Preventative Maintenance work orders without an asset inventory in GIS.

It is a common misconception that you must have an established asset inventory in a database or GIS in order to schedule, track and manage preventative maintenance activities for a specific asset. Although it is very desirable and useful to have all your assets in a GIS inventory, sometimes that is not the reality you are faced with.

When you cannot start with the ideal (and yet you need to start), you must start with the practical. That can be as simple as creating and tracking recurring work orders by a location for key assets and expanding from there.

Recurring work orders are work orders that are created in the VUEWorks Work Order module for an activity that you set to automatically reschedule itself for a user-defined date or timeframe into the future.

Managing and mapping a recurring preventative maintenance activity for an asset can be as simple as creating a work order record in the VUEWorks Work Order module and clicking the work order to the assets location on an ArcGIS Online Street or aerial map. If you have your own street and aerial maps, so much the better!

A work order pin on the map for monthly debris cleaning for an unmapped culvert.

The preventative maintenance work order can be tailored to a specific activity and/or type of asset even if you do not have the asset in an Esri ArcGIS Feature Service or a VUEWorks Facilities module. The work order can be identified as Preventative Maintenance using the “Type” field.

Preventative maintenance work orders can be created as a onetime event or they can be scheduled to recur on a user defined basis. Each work order being set to recur can have its own timing, patterns and date ranges in which they recur.

A recurring preventative maintenance work order for debris removal from unmapped culvert.

Work orders can then be assigned for execution by field crews using MobileVUE. Upon completion of the work order, VUEWorks will automatically reschedule the work order based on the user defined parameters. VUEWorks allows you to include time periods and specific days of the week to schedule out your preventative maintenance, which allows you to balance your workload by spreading it out over specific days and timeframes.

If you are just starting out with proactively scheduling your preventative maintenance work orders, you may want to consider starting slow. This way, you do not overwhelm yourself by scheduling more PM’s than your limited resources may permit you to complete. In keeping with our culvert work order, you may have hundreds (or thousands) of culverts along your roadways you would ideally clean on a regular and frequent basis, but resources may not permit that. So what do you do?

First, start by prioritizing your assets within an asset class, like culverts. As you prioritize your individual assets, two to four levels of priority should emerge- these will be based upon past experience and your ability to maintain them. Your most critical assets are those that have repeated service requests, create known problems, or are in high-use areas.

For example, a smaller culvert that causes flooding (due to frequently trapped debris) is a higher priority and will require more frequent touches. Whereas a larger culver in a less densely traveled area requires less frequent maintenance. With the VUEWorks recurring work order function, you can schedule routine bi-monthly debris cleaning for the smaller culvert, and an annual debris cleaning for the larger culvert.

Once you have your preventative maintenance programs configured as recurring work orders in VUEWorks, you will be able to manage your workload through VUEWorks Work Order Calendar. You will also be able to manage other PM’s, requested work and capital projects.

Preventative maintenance work order- along with other types of work orders in VUEWorks Work Order Calendar.

Are you ready for the best part? This same concept applies whether you have an asset inventory or not. If you are fortunate enough to have an asset inventory in ArcGIS or VUEWorks Facilities, simply associate the asset inventory record to the recurring preventative maintenance work order.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss how your organization can begin scheduling recurring preventative maintenance work orders using VUEWorks, call one of our Subject Matter Experts at 407-382-5222.