Tasks

< Previous section | Table of Contents | Index | Next section >

Tasks are lists of instructions needed to carry out scheduled maintenance. For example, you might create a task describing everything that should be done for monthly maintenance on a forklift truck. This task description might include such details as:

The personnel who are usually assigned to the task
The expected time to perform the task
The materials that are usually required
Estimates for labor and materials costs

Often the same task can be applied to several maintenance units. For example, if your organization has several forklift trucks of the same model, the task describing monthly maintenance can be applied to each of the trucks. Similarly, a task describing yearly inspections on heating ducts might be appropriate for every space in each of your buildings.

MainBoss uses the information in task descriptions to create work orders. For example, MainBoss can automatically create work orders calling for monthly maintenance on each of the company's forklift trucks, using the personnel, materials, and other information from the task description. The work orders generated in this way can be edited afterwards, if necessary; for example, if one of the people normally assigned to a task will be on vacation the next time that task is scheduled, you can edit the work order to assign the job to someone else (or perhaps to reschedule the job to a date when the regular worker will be back from holiday).

In addition to "general" tasks, MainBoss lets you define specific tasks for a single unit. For example, suppose you have a number of forklift trucks and all of them need to have their oil changed every three months. Furthermore, one of the trucks needs some kind of extra servicing at the same time as the oil change. In this case, you would create one task for the trucks in general, plus a specialized task description for the truck that needs extra servicing. This specialized task description is called an assigned unit task.