Weekly Scheduling Made Easy

Scheduling, Asset Management and Reliability go Together

Asset reliability depends on the right maintenance strategies being performed. Asset reliability also depends on doing this service/inspect work at the right time, coupled with periodic repair work. Successful backlog management requires a scheduling process that works for organizations of any size.

What Type of Scheduling is our Focus?

When asked, leadership generally would like to have a schedule of work. Otherwise it is simply a free-for-all whereby work comes in, and work goes out. Any maintenance supervisor should be able to generate a maintenance schedule with one click.

So when someone says, "We want to perform scheduling, what exactly do they mean?" Do they mean to create a Daily Plan? an Outage Schedule? From a maintenance management viewpoint, the weekly schedule is most significant. Having a set of work prescribed for the week allows leadership to control scope, establish optimum craft coordination/preparation, and at the same time, ensure maximum backlog reduction.

Additional information on a T4 countdown process can be found here.

All the Data should be Right There inside the CMMS

There is absolutely no reason why the weekly schedule cannot be directly run from the CMMS. All the required data is right there, such as a prioritized backlog, craft estimates, and craft availability. By implementing a routine that creates a quick rough estimate, 100% of the backlog can be "available for calculations". The rough estimate enables other benefits too such as backlog growth/size trending, and in this case, resource leveling.

Generate a Weekly Schedule inside the CMMS using an Order of Fire

Explaining the Order of Fire Concept

You can put several Select Statements together and bring them into a scheduling tool. But then what? If you plan on manually leveling work, then no worries. But, if you plan on performing an automatic leveling, then this becomes a worry. The problem lies in the Sort Criteria. You cannot (or should not) sort all Select Statements the same way. The Order of Fire design provides individual Sorts for each Select Statement. Otherwise you are forced to sort everything using the same variable, e.g. WO priority, WO report date, or Target Start Date. And what about work that started last week and is still in progress, or work the contractor said he is showing up on Wednesday of next week? Each of the above needs a specific select-sort criteria.

In a Perfect World

But this isn't a Perfect World

There are many sites that have no planner/scheduler positions. And even when they do, this staff is overwhelmed by the volume of work and the technology. On top of that, the majority of all sites have a backlog which is growing and lacks craft estimates. So the question is this, "Is there any hope for these sites? Will they ever get better? Are they doomed to remain in an unplanned/unscheduled domain? Will they ever be able to create a weekly schedule stating what work should be done next week?"

The Order of Fire Design Enables Multiple Selects with Individual Sorts

This unique design allows any industry and any size to create a weekly schedule inside the CMMS. Plus there is no add-on software. With basic configuration, and a one time installation, you are one click away from creating a resource-leveled weekly schedule by anyone who has authorization.

6 Distinguishing Features

1. Specific SQL select statements with specific sort criteria. and controlled processing order
2. Capture and use of Estimate to Complete (ETC). Progress reporting for carryover work (spanning the weekend) is an important factor.
3. Every open work order missing a WPLABOR record will be given one during initial set up. The rough estimate will be applied to this new line or existing line using new fields.
4. User controlled Calculated Priority formula (create your own formula)
5. Application of craft efficiency factor
6. Allowance for planned absences