Get started with Maintenance
The order in which to set up Maintenance before the first request, work order or preventive plan.
Before you begin
You need the permission to configure maintenance (maintenance.configure). The first time anyone opens the Configuration lists, the system fills them with starter values: 15 asset types, 8 asset categories, 11 maintenance types, 8 failure codes, 7 root causes, 8 meter types, 4 warranty types, 7 cost categories, 5 downtime reasons, 6 skills and 4 inspection templates. You only add what is missing.
Steps
- Open Administration > Applications > Maintenance and go to Features. Leave on only what you will use: Inspections, Calibration, Warranty and claims, Service contracts and vendor visits, Meters and condition monitoring. Requests and work orders is always on.
- In the same place open Fields and decide for each of Asset manufacturer, Asset serial number, Request location, Warranty reference and Calibration certificate whether it is Normal, Hidden or Required.
- Open Maintenance > Configuration > Maintenance Settings and set the company rules (see the table below). Click Save.
- Open Maintenance > Configuration > Asset Types and Asset Categories. Add anything missing with Add (code, name, Arabic name). Untick Active to retire a value.
- Open Maintenance > Assets > Locations and add your sites, buildings, floors, areas and rooms. Use the Inside field to nest them.
- Open Maintenance > Configuration > Maintenance Teams and click New for each team (code, name, leader).
- Open Maintenance > Configuration > Technicians and click New. Choose the employee, the team, skills, shift and, if you may see costs, the hourly cost.
- Open Maintenance > Configuration > Failure Codes and Root Cause Codes. Add the failures you want to count in reports.
- Check Maintenance > Configuration > Inspection Templates and add your own checklists if the four starter ones do not fit.
- Create your first asset: Register and manage assets.
- Give people their roles in the security settings (see below), then report a test issue to try the flow.
The settings that change how work flows
| Setting | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Requests need approval before a work order is made | On | Off lets New or Review requests be converted directly. |
| Work orders need approval before they are scheduled or started | Off | On blocks scheduling, assigning and starting a Draft job. |
| A failed inspection raises a maintenance request | On | One request per failed inspection. |
| A work order is closed only with its costs recorded | Off | On refuses Close when the total cost is 0. |
| Post parts issues to accounting | On | Off moves stock but posts no journal. |
| Default Warehouse for Parts | none | Pre-fills the warehouse on part lines. |
| Due Soon Window (days) | 14 | Used by the Preventive Due tile and the asset Due Soon figure. |
| Default Labor Rate / hour, Downtime Cost / hour | 0 | Used when a technician has no hourly cost, and to cost downtime. Visible only with cost permission. |
Permissions to hand out
| Permission | Allows |
|---|---|
maintenance.view | See screens, dashboards and reports (without costs). |
maintenance.request.create | Report an issue. |
maintenance.request.approve | Review, approve, reject and close requests; approve work orders. |
maintenance.workorder.create | Create work orders, generate preventive jobs, cancel. |
maintenance.workorder.assign | Schedule and assign. |
maintenance.workorder.start | Start, pause, wait and resume. |
maintenance.workorder.complete | Complete and reopen. |
maintenance.workorder.close | Close (this also lets the person see costs). |
maintenance.parts.issue | Reserve, issue and return parts, request a shortage. |
maintenance.edit | Edit assets, log readings, inspections, downtime. |
maintenance.plan.edit | Create and switch preventive plans. |
maintenance.calibration | Record calibrations. |
maintenance.cost.view | See and enter money amounts. |
maintenance.configure | Change setup. |
The system checks that a person holds the permission, but it does not stop one person from holding both the request-approval and request-creation permissions, or both the complete and close permissions. To keep approvals independent, give those permissions to different people.
What happens next
The module is ready for real work. A good first week: load assets, add technicians, set up two or three preventive plans, and ask staff to use Report Issue for every fault. See Report an issue and handle requests.