Basic Description
The process to identify, plan, schedule, manage, execute, and document work.
Work management in the context of maintenance refers to the structured process of planning, scheduling, executing, and closing out maintenance activities to ensure equipment reliability, operational efficiency, and optimal use of resources. It provides a disciplined framework that turns maintenance needs into well-defined, prioritized work that is executed efficiently and effectively. At its core, work management ensures that the right work is done at the right time, by the right people, with the right materials and tools.
A strong work management process typically includes steps such as work identification, work prioritization (often based on asset criticality), detailed planning, scheduling, execution, and feedback through work order completion and analysis. This closed-loop system enables continuous improvement by capturing data on failure causes, work quality, and performance, which feeds back into planning and reliability improvement efforts. When properly implemented, work management reduces downtime, increases wrench time (the amount of time technicians spend performing actual maintenance), improves safety, and supports proactive asset care.