Maintenance Backlog

Maintenance & work orders

Scheduling & planning

Reporting & dashboards

Work order management guide

Work Order

A work order is a formal document or digital record that authorises and tracks a specific maintenance task. It typically includes the asset identification, description of work required, priority, assigned technician, parts needed, safety requirements, and completion details. Work orders provide a structured workflow from request through approval, execution, and closeout.

Maintenance Scheduling

Maintenance scheduling is the process of planning when maintenance tasks will be performed, assigning resources (technicians, parts, equipment), and sequencing work to minimise disruption to operations. Effective scheduling balances preventive maintenance intervals, corrective work priorities, resource availability, and production demands. It transforms a backlog of work orders into an executable plan.

Planned Maintenance

Planned maintenance is the umbrella term for all maintenance work that is scheduled and prepared in advance, as opposed to reactive repairs after a breakdown. It encompasses preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, condition-based maintenance, and any other proactive approach where the work is identified, resourced, and timetabled before it is carried out. The goal is to maximise the proportion of work that is planned rather than reactive.

Autonomous Maintenance

Autonomous maintenance is the practice of training and empowering equipment operators to take responsibility for basic, routine maintenance tasks such as cleaning, lubrication, tightening, and inspection. It is one of the core pillars of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and follows a structured seven-step implementation process: initial cleaning, eliminating sources of contamination, establishing cleaning and lubrication standards, general inspection training, autonomous inspection, workplace organisation, and full autonomous management. The philosophy recognises that operators interact with equipment more frequently than anyone else and are therefore best placed to detect early signs of deterioration such as unusual vibrations, leaks, abnormal sounds, or temperature changes. Successful autonomous maintenance programmes require clear task standards documented in visual checklists, hands-on training that builds operator confidence, management support that allocates time for operator inspections, and a feedback loop where operator-identified issues are acted upon promptly by the maintenance team to maintain trust in the process and sustain long-term engagement.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Root cause analysis is a structured investigation method used to identify the fundamental reason a failure, defect, or incident occurred rather than simply addressing the visible symptoms. RCA traces the chain of events backwards from the observed problem to the deepest organisational, process, or design factor that, if corrected, would prevent recurrence. Common RCA techniques include the 5 Whys, fishbone (Ishikawa) diagrams, fault tree analysis, and barrier analysis. In maintenance contexts, RCA is typically triggered after a significant equipment failure, a safety incident, or a recurring defect that standard corrective actions have failed to resolve. The output of an RCA is a set of corrective and preventive actions assigned to responsible parties with target completion dates. A well-executed RCA also documents the investigation methodology, the evidence reviewed, and the logic connecting the root cause to the observed failure, creating a reference that can be applied to similar assets and situations across the organisation.