Equipment Management - Part 5 - Maintenance and Breakdowns

Equipment Maintenance and Breakdowns

This article outlines the procedures for managing equipment maintenance and addressing breakdowns.:

• Maintenance
  • Scheduling Maintenance
  • Managing Maintenance Types
  • Completing a Maintenance Task
• Equipment Log tab
  • Recording a Breakdown

Maintenance

Equipment pieces can be scheduled for maintenance within the equipment record. It is possible to arrange maintenance weeks and months in advance and it can be set up to happen periodically. The process is task driven to ensure it’s not ignored.

All maintenance scheduled in iPassport is displayed on the calendar and email notifications can be received based on users’ task preferences.

Scheduling Maintenance

To schedule maintenance for a piece of equipment:

1. Click the Maintenance tab.
   This tab is only shown to users with the Equipment:Schedule Maintenance Events permission for the equipment’s organisational unit.
   
   
2. Click the [+] Add Maintenance Event link to expand the area.
   This link is not shown if the equipment record is disabled.
   
   
3. Select a Maintenance Type from the dropdown menu.
   Maintenance types are user defined; for information on how to manage them, please see below
   
   
4. Select a Due Date from the pop-up calendar provided.
   This is the date when the maintenance should be carried out. A date in the past is accepted.
   
   
5. Select an Active Date if required from the pop-up calendar provided.
   This is the date when the task will be released to the person assigned; it’s mostly used when the maintenance ‘due date’ is far in the future so the task can be issued closer to the date.
   The Active Date cannot be in the past and cannot be after the Due Date. Once an Active Date has been set it cannot be removed by editing the event; to release the task early, expand it in the equipment record’s Tasks tab and click Activate Task.
   
   

   Info

   If an ‘Active Date’ is not set then the maintenance task becomes active as soon as the maintenance event has been created, regardless of how far in the future the maintenance event is scheduled for.

   
   

6. Click the Assigned To field and use the smart search tool to search as you type the name of the person to perform the maintenance. Click the name when it appears in the dropdown menu to select it. Only this person will receive the task but other users can be copied in.
   
   
7. A Priority level can be selected; the default is Low and the other options are, Medium, High or URGENT.
   
   
8. A free text field is available to add a Maintenance Contact Number, which can then be accessed in the maintenance record.
   
   
9. Other users can be selected to receive a notification of this task if their personal preferences are set up to do so. Tick the checkboxes by their names in the multi-select tool marked, ‘Copy users into this task?’.
   Copied users are informed of updates and the task appears in their task list, but they cannot complete it. Copied users are carried over to each following task when the maintenance is recurring.
   
   
10. The Frequency field is set to Non-Recurring by default but it can be adjusted to one of the options provided, which range from Daily to Quinquennial. The options are Non-Recurring, Daily, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Bi-Monthly, Quarterly, Six Months, Annually, Bi-Annually, Tri-Annually and Quinquennial. Please note that Bi-Annually means every two years and Tri-Annually means every three years (not twice or three times a year).
    When this maintenance task is completed, the system will immediately generate a task for the next maintenance if the setting is other than Non-Recurring. The next due date is calculated from the current task’s due date, not from the date the task was completed. The next task is not generated if the equipment record has been disabled by the time the task is completed.
     

    Note

    When maintenance tasks are recurring, the 'Active Date' field helps ensure they are released closer to their due date, reducing the risk of them being overlooked. The system calculates the time gap between the initial 'Active Date' and the 'Due Date', and applies this same interval to future tasks in the series. For example, if the frequency of a maintenance task is 6 months, and if the first 'Due Date' is 5-Dec and the 'Active Date' is 1-Dec, then the next maintenance task will be due on 5-Jun and it will be released (activated) on 1-Jun. If the calculated Active Date for the next task falls on or before today, it is not used and the next task becomes active immediately. If the first task had no 'Active Date', the following tasks will not have one either.

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. The Company field doesn’t accept free text and a company record must be created in the Companies section under Laboratory Management before it becomes available in the search-as-you-type tool.
    
    

    Info

    If a company is not available on the list then it is not on the system yet. To add one, navigate to Laboratory Management > Companies > New Company, where only a name is initially required to create the record.

    
    

12. A Description is required as no default text is added to explain the nature of the task.
    
    
13. Click the Create button to complete the setup of a maintenance event.

An editable record will be available under the Maintenance tab until the task is completed. After that, it will be moved to the Log tab, where all previously completed maintenance tasks are kept.

Managing Maintenance Types

This is one of iPassport’s user configurable lists of options which can be edited when the spanner/wrench icon is visible next to the field.

Instructions on how to manage this configurable look-up field can be found in the article, Managing Configurable Look-up Lists.

Completing a Maintenance Task

A maintenance task is issued on the activation date entered or immediately, if no activation date is used. This task is displayed (and can always be found) in the Tasks tab of the equipment record. Active maintenance tasks assigned to you are also shown in a panel on the equipment record’s General tab. Like all tasks, it is also visible in the task lists for the user it has been assigned to.

To complete the task:

1. Click the Done button in the maintenance task panel on the equipment record’s General tab, or expand the task in the Tasks tab and click Complete Task. Both open the same Complete Equipment Maintenance Task pop-up window.
   Only the user the task is assigned to can complete it; copied users cannot. If the task is not assigned to anyone, Accept Task is shown instead (see the tip above).
   
   [[SCREENSHOT NEEDED: Equipment record → Tasks tab with an active maintenance task assigned to the current user expanded, showing the Complete Task button]]
2. Add comments in the Completed Note field, if required
   When a recurring frequency has been selected, completing the task creates the next event. The Complete Equipment Maintenance Task pop-up window displays a note with the next task’s due date.
   
   
3. Click the Next Step button
   
   
   
4. Attachments can be added by clicking Choose File and selecting one from the browser that opens
5. Click Upload to complete the attachment addition
   • PLEASE NOTE THE WARNING: "Once the task has been completed, the attachment(s) cannot be edited.

     Please ensure you upload the correct attachment(s)."

6. Click Complete Task

Completing the maintenance task moves the current maintenance event to the Log tab in the equipment’s record.

Equipment Log tab

The ‘Log’ tab has two sections, Maintenance Events (the default view filter) and Breakdown & Repair. All completed maintenance events are listed in the first section. Clicking on the row or the magnifying glass in the Actions column, allows a user to see further details and any attachments uploaded as part of the task completion.

Recording a Breakdown

Adding breakdown logs, and the magnifying glass, paper clip and spanner/wrench icons in the Actions column, are only available to users with the Equipment:Report Breakdowns permission. The (+) Add Breakdown Log link is not shown if the equipment record is disabled.

To record a breakdown:

1. Click the Breakdown & Repair filter
2. Click (+) Add Breakdown Log
   
   
   
3. Add a Title for the breakdown event (required; each breakdown on the same equipment item must have a different title)
4. Select dates from the pop-up calendars in the fields, Reported On (Required) and Breakdown Date (If Known) (dates in the future are not accepted). The Breakdown Date is optional; if it is entered, the Reported On date cannot be before it.
5. Select a user in the search-as-you-type field, Reported By
6. A Description of the failure must be entered
7. Attachments can be added by clicking in the dotted rectangle marked, “Click here to add an attachment.” (a browser search-and-select window will open); files can be dragged and dropped in the dotted area as well
8. Click Save Breakdown

A breakdown can only be edited while it has not been repaired, by users with permission to edit the equipment record, and only if the equipment record is not disabled.

Details of breakdown logs can be viewed using the magnifying glass in the Actions column. If no repair has been reported, a spanner/wrench icon is also displayed and the row is highlighted in pink. A paper clip icon appears in the Actions column when an attachment has been added.

Clicking the spanner/wrench icon, opens the Repair Log pop-up window, which allows a user to report when the breakdown was fixed. Supporting documents can be attached here as well. The Repair Log has the fields Repaired By (free text), Repaired On (required) and Repair Notes. The Repaired On date cannot be in the future, or before the Reported On or Breakdown Date. Once the repair has been saved, the spanner/wrench icon is no longer shown and the breakdown can no longer be edited or have further attachments uploaded.

Note

Any attachments added are listed at the bottom of the pop-up windows which open when clicking a magnifying glass icon (?) in the Actions column. It’s possible to open these pop-ups just to manage attachments and then click the “X” in the top right corner to close them. For more information on the attachment icons, please refer to the user guide, Attachment Management.

Next step:

The next article covers Equipment Importer

Previous step:

The previous article covers Managing Equipment Records