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How to Set Up Planned Maintenance Schedules

xAssets Planned Maintenance User Guide
How To

How to Set Up Planned Maintenance Schedules

This page walks through the complete process of setting up planned maintenance schedules in xAssets, from initial configuration through to generating your first work orders. The process follows three steps: create a Service Process, create Service Plans for your assets, and generate work orders.

Prerequisites

  • You must have access to the Maintenance menu in xAssets.
  • The Planned Maintenance module must be enabled.
  • Maintenance Settings must be configured (particularly GENERATEWORKORDERSFORWARD and GENERATEWORKORDERSTOLERANCE).
  • Service Interval Units must be set up for your organisation's needs (e.g., Months, Years, Miles, Hours).
  • For consumption-based schedules (e.g., every 10,000 miles), assets must have clock readings populated.

Step 1: Configure Maintenance Settings

Before creating any schedules, review the Maintenance Setup screen to ensure settings are correct for your organisation.

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Maintenance Setup.
  2. Review and set the following:
    • GENERATEWORKORDERSFORWARD -- the look-ahead period in days. Set this to match how far ahead you want work orders generated (e.g., 30 days, 90 days).
    • GENERATEWORKORDERSTOLERANCE -- the percentage tolerance for triggering early service on consumption-based plans (default is 5%).
    • TASKALLOCATION -- whether work orders are automatically assigned to individuals or work centres.
  3. Save your settings.

See Maintenance Setup for full details on each setting.

Step 2: Create a Service Process

A Service Process is a reusable template describing what the service involves. Create one per type of maintenance activity.

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Service Process > Create a New Service Process.
  2. Fill in the fields:
    • Description -- a clear name for the service (e.g., "Annual PAT Test", "HVAC Filter Replacement").
    • Service Procedures -- detailed steps for the technician to follow.
    • Default Status and Priority -- applied to generated work orders.
    • Employee, Supplier, or Work Centre -- default assignments for who performs the service.
    • Work Order Reference Template -- optional naming pattern using $ID$ and $REF$ placeholders.
  3. Save the Service Process.

See Creating a Service Process for full details.

Step 3: Create Service Plans

A Service Plan links a Service Process to one or more assets and defines how often the service should occur.

For a Single Asset

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Service Plans > Create a new Service Plan for an Asset.
  2. Select the Asset and the Service Process.
  3. Set the schedule:
    • Service Every -- a number paired with a Service Interval Unit (e.g., "12 Months" or "1 Year").
    • Alternative schedule (optional) -- a second interval so the service triggers on whichever comes first (e.g., every 10,000 miles OR every 12 months).
    • Start Date (time-based only) -- delays work order generation until this date.
    • Service Immediately -- check this if the asset needs servicing right away.
  4. Save the Service Plan.

For Multiple Assets at Once

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Service Process > Manage Service Processes.
  2. Select the Service Process you want to deploy.
  3. Click Deploy as a Service Plan.
  4. Select the Categories and Locations of the assets to include.
  5. The system creates a Service Plan for every matching asset.

Tip: When deploying to many assets at once, leave "Service Immediately" unchecked unless all those assets genuinely need servicing right away -- otherwise the system will generate a large batch of work orders immediately.

See Creating a Service Plan for full details.

Step 4: Generate Work Orders

With Service Processes and Service Plans in place, generate work orders for all services that fall due within your look-ahead period.

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Work Orders > Generate Work Orders.
  2. The system calculates which assets are due for service within the GENERATEWORKORDERSFORWARD period.
  3. Review the generated work orders.
  4. Work orders are assigned to the individuals or work centres specified in the Service Process.

See Generating Work Orders and How to Generate Work Orders Automatically for details.

Step 5: Set Up Automatic Generation (Optional)

To generate work orders on a regular schedule without manual intervention:

  1. Navigate to Admin > Batch Jobs.
  2. Create a batch job that runs the work order generation transformation at your desired frequency (e.g., weekly).
  3. Set the GENERATEWORKORDERSFORWARD value to match the batch job frequency to avoid gaps or duplicate work orders.

Tips

  • Start with one Service Process and a small group of assets to validate your setup before rolling out to the full asset base.
  • For consumption-based plans, ensure asset clock readings are updated regularly (manually or via automated data collection).
  • Review the Tolerance in Servicing Plans page to understand how tolerance triggers early service for assets near their threshold.