Equipment Maintenance

Track and forecast calibration and maintenance of your equipment. Find, sort, prompt and understand the equipment tracking requirements of each piece of equipment or a defined group. Record the justification to return equipment to an “In Service” status. Includes electronic signatures, intuitive scheduling and easily retrievable records. Every employee with database access can quickly look up the status of their equipment and any scheduled service. Highly configurable reports can show you what’s going on with a piece of equipment, a grouping or designated equipment over a date range.

Managing your equipment maintenance is easy once you have populated your equipment database. Records are managed according to your set schedule, and will prompt you to take action. Equipment should be organized according to how you do business Initial data entry can be accomplished in one of two ways. When you already have data stored in another format or database, the easiest way is to import the data from a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet should include all or most of the data you wish to include in your database. Note however, that there is a minimum amount of data required for an equipment maintenance record to be useful. This data includes:

• Primary ID Number (can be automatically assigned by the database) or Secondary ID Number (serial number)
• Manufacturer
• Model
• Status

Note that if you exclude any data, the database will treat the field as a blank when sorting. For example, if you enter a digital caliper and leave the field, “Steward” empty, the “Steward” sort function will not list the caliper.

MAIN EQUIPMENT FORM

The main Equipment form becomes active upon opening the database. Equipment is listed on the left side of the form according to the sort by method. Details appear on the right, depending if you have a header or an equipment detail highlighted. You can list equipment by any or all of the following:

• Primary ID Alias (i.e., Asset Number)
• Secondary ID Alias (i.e., Serial Number)
• Manufacturer
• Model
• Equipment Type
• Location
• Status
• Steward

ADD SERVICE FORM

The Add Service form allows you to add individual services required for an equipment item. It includes the service type, such as calibration, oil change, wipe down, tool change or etc. A service interval is entered if the service is meant to be recurring. A supplier name is entered, along with next due date and how long the equipment is expected to be out. The form also allows you to enter instructions for accomplishing the service.

SEND OUT FORM

Let’s say that you’re looking in the database for equipment that is due for service. Click “Due date” in the “List By” field of the main Equipment form and your database will show a collapsed list of equipment, by due date type. Click the item on the list named, “Due Within 2 Weeks.”

• The right side of the main Equipment form lists the equipment maintenance currently due within 2 weeks. It will also show any equipment that is past due.
• If you click on one of the items on the right side of the form (the field with blue text), the detail for that one item will appear in its place.
• Similarly, if you expand the “Due Within 2 Weeks” list on the left (by clicking the expand button “+” or by double-clicking the “Due Within 2 Weeks” header) and then highlight one of the expanded items below the header, the detail for that item will appear on the right.

To send equipment out for maintenance or service, click the blue text (hyperlink) under the heading, “Service Required” to bring up the Send Out form. Note that if the equipment’s service item has already been sent out for service, there will be an S icon just to the left of the service item hyperlink. Additionally, if the S icon is visible, by clicking on the service item hyperlink, instead of invoking the Send Out form, the Complete Service form will appear.

• Verify that the service by, date and expected days out fields are correct. If the estimated return date isn’t right, it can be changed manually. You can also add (or modify existing) instructions for the people who will carry out the equipment service.
• If this equipment service is performed by an outside supplier, then you may wish to add or modify instructions that remain attached to the service item each and every time the equipment is sent out for service for this service type. You can also add instructions that apply only to this one instance of service.
• If this equipment service is performed in-house, you may wish to add or modify instructions for the person performing the in-house service.

SERVICE COMPLETE FORM

To enter a completion date for a specific maintenance item, click the blue hyperlink text under the heading, “Service Required” of the main Equipment form to bring up the Service Complete form. Note that the Send Out form will appear instead, if the equipment service item has not already been sent out for service.

• Enter the actual completion date that the service was performed. Note that the database will default to today’s date.
• Verify the service interval. If the interval is not correct, you can change it here. For some equipment service items, their may not be a service interval. This is called “one time” service only.
• If your procedures require you to rationalize any changes in the service interval, complete the rationale field.
• Verify who serviced the equipment. Change the default from the pull down as required to correctly record the service supplier.

SERVICE HISTORY FORM

The Service History form allows you to look at the service history for any equipment. Service history is listed in descending order with the most recent completed service at the top. The Service History form can be sorted to show only one type of service, if desired. Each service record has a hyperlink field for you to add or edit a link to certificates and reports, (or their scanned images). It is good practice to organize all service certificates and reports on your local network for safe storage and easy retrieval. Users with QA permission level are able to edit service history records to correct a known error.