As a field service engineer, you are responsible for maintaining, repairing, and installing various types of equipment at your clients' sites. To ensure quality, safety, and compliance, you need to document and report your equipment maintenance activities accurately and efficiently. In this article, you will learn how to do that using some best practices and tools.
Documenting and reporting your equipment maintenance activities is not only a professional duty, but also a legal requirement in some industries and regions. By keeping detailed records of what you did, when, and why, you can demonstrate your compliance with standards, regulations, and contracts. You can also provide evidence of your work performance, identify issues and trends, and communicate with your clients and managers.
Having unit numbers or equipment numbers for each individual piece, as well as having a category number built in for each number, helps ensure repairs, parts, and maintenance reports are being recorded accurately and efficiently for each piece of equipment. For example, all dozers could start with 22, and followed by their own number, 2203, 2204 and so on, while an excavator could start with 33, 3302, 3303 and so on. Having accurate information for individual equipment allows insightful information in regard to value, repair costs, depreciation and maintenance program efficiency.
Always kept a maintenance log, with each entry initialed and time and details included. This left in machine to aid in scheduled upkeep as most times there is a team that reviews collected info as a guide to machines needs.
Documenting and reporting equipment maintenance activities is crucial for ensuring proper equipment functioning, minimizing downtime, and maintaining compliance. Implement a maintenance documentation system, create maintenance request forms, generate work orders, document maintenance activities, capture replacement parts, document completion and outcomes, generate maintenance reports, store records securely, utilize reporting tools, and review and update procedures.
Or imagine a qr code that you can scan with your device, it then automatically opens up your cmms page. Allows you to see past notes, troubleshooting steps, service manual, etc. ??
Reporting on assets develops the history of equipment and buildings, which serves multiple purposes. 1) Enables techs to evaluate equipment based on the WO s history. 2) Enables CRM to plan for the future based on lifecycle of assets. 3) Shows compliance with regulatory standards. How we track history begins in the ASSET Data Base and how you identify your assets. In my case we use a 8 digit code (9). 1'st 2 digits Identify location. 2'nd 2 digits identify the System,(heat cool ect). 3'rd 2 digits identify asset group (fans, pumps, ect. Last 2 digits are unique identifier of that asset. After that QR codes were made and attached to all identified assets. Now technicians just scan the QR code and get all available information of the asset.
When it comes to equipment maintenance activities, documenting and reporting different kinds of information is essential depending on the type and scope. Common elements that should always be included are the equipment identification, location, and status; the date and time of the maintenance activity; the type and purpose of the maintenance activity; the steps and procedures followed; the tools and materials used; the results and outcomes of the maintenance activity; any recommendations or actions for further maintenance or improvement; and your signature and contact details, as well as those of the client.
In regard to information on equipment maintenance, more information the better, repair information, failure information, time tracking, maintenance tracking. All of this information is critical in decision making on equipment assets, from selling, salvaging and purchasing equipment. Failures happen and cannot be predicted; however, maintenance is predictable, and lack of maintenance can cause failures, this is why maintenance tracking and accuracy is key to managing and maintaining a fleet of equipment with minimal downtime.
When using the cmms, we put on the closing comments everything we performed on the equipment including spareparts, manhours, tools etc. That way it would easily be found on the equipments history. It is always good to have a cmms in place .
No matter which method and format you use for documenting and reporting your equipment maintenance activities, such as paper forms, digital files, or online platforms, you should always use clear, concise, and consistent language. Additionally, it is important to use standard units, symbols, and abbreviations when applicable. To better illustrate your data, consider using tables, charts, diagrams, or photos. Furthermore, checklists, templates, or forms can help organize your information. Lastly, secure and reliable storage and backup systems should be used along with encryption and authentication to protect your data.
In my point of view, important thing is to define the equipment together with its equipment tagging which is leading me to find where it is located. There may be same equipments in the plant, but under different conditions such as ambient temperature, operating conditions, indoor or outdoor, close to hot area etc. With this knowledge, i can go into detail about possible effect of the failure.
In my experience, the type of files we use to document and report our activities are a Planner and Maximo. With the Planner, you can show management which activities maintenance will perform on specific dates and how the activities are progressing. For example, shutdowns, weekends, nonproduction days. With Maximo, you can show management that the activities have been performed by creating urgent work orders or corrective work orders. In addition, you can show the MCPU (Maintenance Cost Per Unit) because you can add the spare part used and the labor cost per hour.
For a smoother and quicker documentation and reporting process, field service engineers can use tools designed for their needs. Mobile apps can be used to fill out forms, take photos, scan barcodes, or record voice notes on smartphones or tablets. Software can be used to create, edit, and export reports in various formats such as PDF, Word, Excel. Cloud-based platforms enable data access, updates, and synchronization across multiple devices and locations. Furthermore, CRM or ERP systems allow for data integration with clients' and managers' systems.
To ensure that your documentation and reporting process is effective and efficient, you should plan it before beginning your equipment maintenance activities. It is important to document and report your activities as soon as possible after you finish them, while also verifying the data for accuracy and completeness. Additionally, you should follow the documentation and reporting guidelines and policies of your clients and managers, as well as seek feedback from them for improvement opportunities. By following these best practices based on industry standards, you can document and report your equipment maintenance activities in a professional and compliant manner. This will help you improve your quality, safety, customer satisfaction, reputation, and career prospects.