How do I get best results when scheduling preventive maintenance by meter reading?
Scheduling the Job: MainBoss Basic always schedules PM jobs to begin on a particular date. This is the "Work Start" date that is set during the PM generation process. Jobs are scheduled for specific dates, even when they are scheduled by meter.
For example, suppose that the next oil change for a car should take place when the car's mileage meter reaches 50,000. When MainBoss generates PM work orders, it looks at past meter readings for the car and predicts when the car will reach the specified mileage. In other words, it uses the car's past history to estimate the day when the mileage will reach 50,000 and the next oil change should take place. This day will be the suggested "Work Start" day put on the generated work order.
When the Work is Done: When you close the PM work order, it's important to set the "Work End" to the date on which the work was actually finished. For example, if an oil change was originally scheduled for May 1 but you didn't get around to doing it until May 8, you should set "Work End" to May 8.
Why? Because in most cases, that's when you want to "start the clock" for the next oil change. If you don't tell MainBoss when the work was actually done, the software assumes the job was done when originally scheduled (May 1). Therefore, MainBoss will schedule the next oil change based on the mileage (known or estimated) for May 1 rather than May 8.
Note that specifying the actual "Work End" date is also important with PM jobs that are scheduled by date rather than meter. For example, if a job is supposed to be scheduled every 30 days but was delayed (or moved up) for some reason, you usually want the next job to be scheduled for 30 days after the previous job was actually done. Therefore, you should make sure to record the real "Work End" date.
Meter Readings on Closing: When you close a PM work order, you have the option of recording meter readings for the unit. This is merely a convenience—readings recorded on a work order are just added to the collection of readings for that meter, and do not have any special significance in job scheduling.
For example, suppose an oil change was scheduled for May 1 when a car's mileage was expected to be 50,000. The oil change was actually done on May 8 when the car's mileage was 50,500. If you use the work order to record that the car's mileage was 50,500 on May 8, that does not automatically tell MainBoss to schedule the next oil change based on the 50,500 mileage. You must also set the work order's "Work End" date to May 8. As noted above, the "Work End" date is what really determines when MainBoss "starts the clock" for the next job.
The next time MainBoss generates PM work orders, it will check when the last oil change was done for the car. The "Work End" on the previous oil change job says May 8. MainBoss then determines what the car's mileage was on May 8. Since there's a record saying the mileage was 50,500 on May 8, MainBoss will base its future forecasts on that figure. If there wasn't any mileage recorded for May 8, MainBoss would estimate the May 8 mileage based on whatever meter readings are available. Either way, MainBoss begins its calculations by looking at the "Work End" date for the previous work order, not at any meter readings that might have been recorded on the work order.
Summary: For best results, always record the correct "Work End" date when you close a work order.
