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Maintenance / Preventive Maintenance / Maintenance Manager

Understanding the Scheduling Options

Interval Type and Time Frame

When setting the schedule with the Define PM Schedules task, you can specify an interval type (miles, meters, days, months, weeks, and so on) and then complete the Interval fields to specify how often the work should be executed (such as every 2 weeks). The system provides several options for controlling the ways in which the schedule is generated:

You can define the interval in terms of various time periods (such as days, weeks, months, and years).
You can also base the interval on meter readings, such as miles. With this option, the system generates schedules based on the meter reading recorded as part of the work order close-out process.
You can select either fixed scheduling or floating scheduling to specify how you want to generate the next due date for a PM schedule. See the discussion below for details.
Although preventive maintenance should be executed according to a schedule, you can manually pick an exact date for executing a PM schedule. For example, it may be important to immediately execute a PM schedule that has somehow been ignored; similarly, you may need to temporarily postpone PM work.

Recurrence Pattern

As another option, you can specify a recurrence pattern, which outlines that work is due according to a specific pattern. For example, you might specify a pattern such as the first Monday of the month beginning in April and ending in September, every week on each Thursday. Recurrence patterns generally apply to fixed schedules.

Multiple Intervals

Based on current conditions, available resources, or other factors, you may wish to change the frequency for executing a task. For example, you may choose to define a basic schedule, with an alternate, less frequent schedule that you can execute when resources are low. Similarly, you may wish to have multiple schedules that are based on the season.

For example, suppose you require three different schedules for checking your heating system: for winter, you check it every 10 days; for summer, you check it every 90 days, and for fall and spring you check it every 30 days. To set this up, you would complete Frequency 1 Interval with 10, Frequency 2 Interval with 90, and Frequency 3 Interval with 30. At different times during the year, you tell the system which Frequency Interval to use to schedule work by setting the Current Frequency field; for example, when generating the schedule for the winter months, you would set Current Frequency to 1.

When using both a recurrence pattern or an interval type (months, meters, days, etc.), you can set up to four intervals. For a recurrence pattern, multiple intervals only apply if you are setting a seasonal schedule. See Define PM Schedules: Using a Recurrence Pattern.

Fixed and Floating Scheduling

Fixed scheduling sets the execution of a PM procedure according to the scheduled first execution date, instead of the actual completion date of the last PM work order. Floating scheduling, on the other hand, schedules a PM procedure’s execution date according to the actual completion date of the last PM work order.

For example, suppose you set a PM procedure to be executed on the first day of each month. However, because of a holiday, work scheduled for January 1, 2019 is not executed until January 5, 2019. With fixed scheduling, the next due date for the PM procedure is February 1, 2019—one month from its scheduled execution date. With floating scheduling, the next due date is February 5, 2019—one month from the actual completion date.