Having equipment failing is no fun thing. It delays work, makes the company lose money, and it can even represent a hazard for people operating it.
That’s why making inspections and avoiding, or in the last instance, addressing any issue as soon as possible is such an important part of keeping a business alive. But it’s not just about making maintenance and move on.
If you just do things to check a to-do list, you might end up wasting resources or even addressing symptoms instead of the real problem. To avoid this, today we will talk about how to make a maintenance report.
How to Make a Maintenance Report
Maintenance reports help companies to keep their businesses healthy. If the people working are the soul of the company, then its equipment makes its body. And just like with personal health, making routine inspections helps avoid future problems and helps address malfunctions before they become a bigger issue. But to make sure the actions that were taken bear fruits, maintenance reports come in place.
These are documents presenting details on past maintenance actions on each piece of equipment, and the effects of such maintenance. With them, the company will be able to identify defective machinery or even poor usage of it and correct it as needed. To create a helpful maintenance report, it is important to make it concise, but without omitting any information; it has to be fact-based, collecting the information of the equipment performance since the last maintenance report, and it needs to have in mind the context of those facts to make a proper diagnosis.
Let’s take a look at the step-by-step process to make a thorough maintenance report.
Data Management Practices
You can create these reports either by using software or manually. No matter the tools you chose, there are a few things you can do to make sure you are working with the data you require. Nothing more nor less.
Only Track What You Need
You could collect an enormous amount of information. But if you don’t use it, then what is the point? Identify the data that will best serve the company. If the company only uses an asset in certain seasons, winter, for example, it might not be worthy to collect data on the performance of such equipment during the summer.
Have a Data Entry Guideline
Especially if you are collecting data manually. This will make sure that when comparing different reports or if there is more than one person making the maintenance report, the data stays consistent, and everyone can understand, no matter who made the maintenance report. With a software, like OneView, data will always be consistent.
Maintenance Report Data
While some information will vary depending on the equipment you are operating with, there is some standard data to include in your maintenance report:
- Organization information (name, logo, address, telephone, e-mail, etc).
- Report’s type (maintenance cost, asset history report, work order report, performance report, etc.)
- Timeframe for which the report is being made
- Report details with all the data outlined
- Additional information specific to this particular report
Maintenance Report Step-by-Step
Step 1. Know the Type of Report to Make
As stated before, there are many types of maintenance reports and each of them will gather different data to analyze. That’s why the first step is to know the type of report needed at the time.
Step 2. Outline a Process to Inspect the Asset for the Maintenance Report
If maintenance reports have been done in the past, the maintenance planner can and will use past procedures as guidelines. If there are other people involved in the reporting and use of the asset, it is best to get everyone involved.
Step 3. Data Collection
Take note of the initial state of the asset when inspecting it. If possible, take pictures. Make a list of all the components and the state they are in.
Step 4. Maintenance Tasks and Reparations Needed
Having done all the inspections, make a list of all the maintenance tasks that need to be performed on the equipment and the pieces and supplies that need to be replaced and refurnished. Don’t forget to add the cost of the maintenance procedures, if done by en external agent, and the supplies that have to be bought, along with the timeframe expected for each part to be completed.
Step 5. Analyze Data
If this is the first time performing a maintenance report, then there won’t be anything to compare the data with, but after the second maintenance report, comparing the current maintenance report with the previous one is a must.
This will indicate if the previous maintenance tasks that were suggested after last report were productive, if there is an asset that is presenting problems on a regular basis, and if this is the case, if that problem is due to the asset itself or to something else.
When you are able to compare all this data is when you start to see the benefits of making maintenance records for your company. They will tell you a big deal about the general and specific health of the company.
Step 6. Repeat Periodically
You will be making maintenance reports for different assets and equipments from your company, and each one of them will need for you to make these reports at different intervals. But make sure to repeat the process periodically, so you can take the biggest advantage of the procedure.
This is when a SaaS —Software as a Service— comes in handy. With OneView you will be able to have all your maintenance reports in one place, making the whole process of dong maintenance reports and analyzing them a lot easier and faster.
Take a look at OneView’s features, and start centralizing all your maintenance reports in one place.
