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A work order may contain various pieces of information, such as a description of the task, the name of the person to complete the job and an estimated completion date. Furthermore, a work order will also specify where the work is routed and provide detailed run times, along with a bill of materials (BOM).
Missing information on work orders can cause significant problems, resulting in technicians being unable to complete tasks and production line stalls. In this article, you’ll learn how missing documents and data can be costly for your business and what you can do to improve the manufacturing process.
What is a Work Order?
A work order summarizes the process for completing manufacturing maintenance tasks and contains vital information to manage and track the task’s progress. For example, routing tasks consumes capacity at the required work center, and the bill of materials indicates which materials are required to complete the job.
The information on a work order is vital to the success of the production and maintenance process, as capacity requirements can be used to schedule production and material requirements help to understand which materials will be used from inventory.
What Happens When Information Is Missing or Incorrect on a Work Order?
On average, a technician will spend around 25-35% of their time working on the assigned equipment, and the remainder of the time will be spent on activities such as work orders. When information is missing or incomplete on a work order, it can negatively impact the wrench time and decrease how effective the plant maintenance process is.
If a work order contains the wrong information, it can also lead to incorrect fixes or incomplete work. For example, a tech completes maintenance on the wrong piece of equipment or uses unsuitable parts, which results in production line stalls.
Work Order Automation
Another key benefit of automating the work order management process is reducing the possibility of missed tasks and lost revenue. The automation process works by retrieving vital information such as the completion date, replacement part numbers and essential compliance data and then outputs that data to a sequenced easy-to-read format.
Speak with an expert at SEAL Systems to learn how we can improve your manufacturing process to help you cut costs.