About the Formal Planning Module

Formal planning can be very helpful with creating and scheduling work orders. For more details on what exactly formal planning is, see Formal Maintenance Work Order Planning and Scheduling.

NOTE: this module is for enterprise customers only.

This article describes each feature of the formal planning module. To access the module itself:

1. From the left menu select Maintenance, then Work Order, then Planning.
2. Below is a picture of what your screen should look like:

The Planning Menu for Unlocked Plans

The planning menu is where you can add or remove work orders to your plan. You may also edit and lock your plan here. 

Below the plan's description is where you can view the current work orders in the plan.

Editing Plans

The Edit function allows you to Edit the information in the Plan's header, such as its description, start date, end date, and the planner assigned to the plan. 

For more help, please see Editing a Work Order Plan.

Adding Work Orders 

The "Add Work Orders" function allows you to add work orders that you would like to be completed within the plan dates. 

For more help, please see Adding Work Orders to a Plan.

Removing Work Orders 

The "Remove Work Orders" function allows you to remove work orders from the plan.

For more help, please see Removing Work Orders from a Plan.

Locking or Unlocking Plans

After you have added all of the work orders you would like to be completed you should lock your plan. All of the work orders included in your locked plan will be marked as planned. After locking your plan, any other work orders you add will be marked as break-in work. 

Once you lock your plan the ribbon menu will change, and now you will be allowed to schedule your work orders.

There may be occasions where you have already locked your work order plan but have determined that you need to add other planned work orders. To do this, you will have to unlock your plan. 

For more help with both of these actions, please see Locking or Un-Locking the Work Order Plan.

The Planning Menu for Locked Plans

Scheduling Work Orders

After you have locked your work order plan you may add or remove schedules for the work orders in your plan. You must add a schedule in order for the work order to appear under the resource list or resource calendar tabs. If you do not they will not show up under these tabs as no resources have been assigned to them. 

For more help, please see Schedule Work Orders Plan Tab.

Adding Break-In Work

After you have locked your work order plan you can add additional work orders to your plan - these will be marked as break-in work. 

Break-in work orders are added, unscheduled work orders that are inserted into a plan after it has already been scheduled and locked. They may be necessary due to emergencies, unforeseen circumstances/events, asset downtime, or more. 

Because these Work Orders were added after the plan was locked, they will represent a deficiency to the work order plan's schedule compliance percentage as these Work Orders are taking time that was intended for Planned Work Orders. Remember just because you can add Break-In work does mean you should.

For more help, please see Adding Break-In Work.

Completing the Plan

After your work order plan's work orders have been completed or you have completed your plan's scheduled dates you should complete the work order plan itself. 

For more help, please see Completing a Work Order Plan.

The Resource List

Here is where you can view the scheduled work orders in your plan. Unscheduled work orders will not show up, as the resource list menu shows work orders by the Assigned User or date they are scheduled for.

This list provides information such as the employee, the ID and description, and the scheduled date and hours. You may edit the scheduled date and hours in this menu.

To see more information on updating the scheduled date or hours from the resource list tab please see Scheduling Work Orders - Resource List Tab.

Use the search and filter icons to broaden or refine your search. This is especially helpful if you have multiple pages of work orders to review. Use the group dropdown menu to switch between grouping work orders by date scheduled or by personnel. Select Export if you would like to export or print this list.

The Resource Calendar

The Resource Calendar provides the Work Order Plan Schedule Information in a calendar format. 

To see more information on how to use the resource calendar to update the scheduled date or hours with drag and drop features please see Scheduling Work Orders - Resource Calendar Tab.

Use the assigned dropdown menu to filter by personnel. Use the calendar format switch to view the calendar by months or weeks.

The Dashboard

This menu includes information about the progress of the plan, such as the percentage of your planned work orders completed:

It also provides graphs with information about estimated vs actual hours or the personnel on the work order: