This article is one of our favourites from around the web. We've included an excerpt below but do go and read the original!
Maintenance tasks have a frustrating habit of falling through the cracks. A preventive inspection gets postponed because production needs the equipment. Parts arrive late, delaying repairs. Before you know it, your carefully planned maintenance schedule is in chaos. According to industry research, preventive maintenance completion rates are the most widely tracked KPI by organisations, closely followed by work order backlog. These metrics matter because keeping tasks on track directly impacts equipment reliability, operational efficiency, and your bottom line. Here's how to ensure maintenance work gets completed as planned.
You can't keep tasks on track if you don't know what needs doing in the first place. Solid maintenance planning identifies which equipment requires attention, what work needs performing, and what resources are necessary to complete each task.
Create comprehensive task descriptions that detail exactly what needs to happen. Vague work orders like "check pump" lead to confusion and incomplete work. Instead, specify "inspect pump bearings for wear, check seal condition, verify alignment, and test vibration levels." Clear instructions ensure technicians understand expectations and complete tasks properly the first time.
Not every maintenance task carries equal weight. Critical equipment failures demand immediate attention, whilst routine inspections can often be rescheduled if necessary. Establish priority levels based on equipment criticality to production, safety implications, regulatory compliance requirements, and potential failure consequences.
Review your work order backlog regularly. Industry best practice suggests maintaining approximately two weeks' worth of pending work per technician. Less than this indicates possible overstaffing; significantly more suggests resource constraints or unrealistic scheduling.
Overly optimistic schedules guarantee disappointment. Realistic scheduling requires understanding how long tasks actually take, not how long you wish they'd take. Use historical data to inform time estimates - review past work orders for similar tasks and note actual completion times.
Account for variables like equipment location, technician skill level, and whether work occurs during normal operations or downtime. Build in buffer time for unexpected complications. Consider resource availability when scheduling, ensuring technicians with required skills are available, necessary parts and tools are on hand, and equipment will be accessible when needed.
Manual scheduling methods can't keep pace with modern maintenance demands. Digital work management platforms transform how tasks are managed, scheduled, and tracked. Platforms like HINDSITE centralise all maintenance information in one place, providing real-time visibility into work orders, equipment histories, and task status across your entire operation.
These systems automate recurring preventive maintenance schedules, generating work orders automatically based on time intervals. Automated reminders alert technicians and supervisors about upcoming work, reducing the risk of missed deadlines. Mobile capabilities ensure technicians can access work orders, update task status, and communicate with supervisors from anywhere - eliminating delays from returning to offices to update records.
HINDSITE provides instant visibility into what's completed, what's in progress, and what's encountering problems. This transparency enables supervisors to intervene proactively before small delays become major issues. Dashboard analytics reveal completion rates, schedule adherence, and backlog trends, helping you continuously refine scheduling processes based on real data rather than guesswork.
Communication breakdowns derail more maintenance schedules than any other factor. When operations doesn't know about planned maintenance, they schedule production during your maintenance window. When technicians don't know parts have arrived, equipment sits idle.
Establish clear communication protocols. Create standard processes for shift handovers, coordinate with operations to align maintenance windows with production schedules, and notify stakeholders promptly when schedules change. Use centralised platforms where all relevant parties can access current information rather than relying on email chains that leave people out of the loop.
Hold brief daily planning meetings where maintenance supervisors review the day's scheduled work with technicians. These 10-15 minute sessions ensure everyone knows their priorities, has necessary resources, and understands any changes from the original plan.
Without tracking completion rates and schedule adherence, you have no way to know whether your system is working. Monitor preventive maintenance compliance - the percentage of scheduled preventive tasks completed on time. Industry leaders maintain compliance rates above 90%. Track schedule compliance for all work orders. When technicians consistently miss scheduled completion dates, investigate whether time estimates are unrealistic, resources are inadequate, or priorities need clarification.
Measure work order backlog trends. Growing backlogs signal that work is being created faster than it's being completed—a warning sign requiring immediate attention. Use this data to refine your scheduling process continuously.
Rigid schedules break when reality intervenes. Equipment fails unexpectedly, parts don't arrive on time, or production demands change. Effective scheduling accommodates these realities through built-in flexibility.
Reserve capacity in your schedule for unplanned work. If you schedule technicians at 100% capacity, any emergency automatically pushes planned work aside. Maintaining 70-80% planned work capacity leaves room to address urgent issues whilst still completing most scheduled tasks.
Establish clear protocols for handling emergencies that minimise disruption to planned work. Define what constitutes a true emergency versus work that can wait, determine how emergency work gets prioritised against scheduled tasks, and document which scheduled work can be safely postponed and which cannot.
The people performing maintenance work have valuable insights into what works and what doesn't. Technicians who feel ownership over schedules are more committed to meeting them.
Seek technician input when estimating task duration and complexity. They often know better than anyone how long jobs actually take and what challenges to expect. Encourage feedback when schedules prove unrealistic or procedures need improvement. Create easy ways for technicians to report issues without fear of blame.
Recognise and celebrate when teams meet challenging schedule commitments. Acknowledgement reinforces desired behaviours and demonstrates that schedule adherence matters.
Keeping maintenance tasks on track requires systematic approaches to planning, prioritisation, scheduling, communication, and performance tracking. Modern work management platforms like HINDSITE provide the technological foundation for these systems, automating routine tasks whilst giving teams the visibility and tools they need to work efficiently. Start by addressing your biggest scheduling challenges first. Is communication breaking down? Implement better coordination protocols. Are time estimates unrealistic? Use historical data to improve accuracy. Is your backlog growing? Analyse capacity and adjust accordingly. Each improvement compounds, gradually transforming maintenance from a chaotic scramble into a well-oiled operation where tasks get completed as planned, equipment reliability improves, and your team can work proactively rather than reactively.
HINDSITE's work management platform that ensures the right job gets done, every time. Connect with our team today.
