Before you begin
Permissions: Access to scheduled maintenance
Time-based triggers and meter reading triggers can either be fixed or floating:
- Fixed triggers generate work orders on a fixed schedule, regardless of when the previous work order was generated or closed.
- Floating triggers generate work orders depending on the specified interval and when the previous work order was generated or closed.
Some example situations recommended for each trigger type can be found in the Use cases section.
Fixed triggers
Fixed triggers occur on a set schedule which does not consider any other other factors. For example, the following meter reading trigger is set to occur every 500 kilometers, starting with a reading of 0 km:
This trigger will strictly generate work orders at 500 km, 1000 km, 1500 km, and so on, even if the previous work order was closed at different readings.
Weekly time-based triggers are fixed by default. The following trigger is set to occur every Monday, and will generate a work order every Monday regardless of which day the previous work order was closed.
Floating triggers
Floating triggers have moving schedules that depend on when the previous work order was generated. For example, the following meter-based trigger is set to generate a work order every 500 km, starting with a reading of 0 km:
The first work order is set to generate at 500 km. However, perhaps the first meter reading entered was 700 km. Accordingly, the work order is generated at 700 km, which now becomes the new start reading. The next trigger threshold will be 700 km (the new start reading) + 500 km (the set interval) = 1200 km. In other words, any subsequent reading equal to or greater than 1200 km will generate the next work order.
Note
If you select the By Work Order Closed checkbox (only available for meter reading triggers), the trigger will use the reading logged when the work order is closed instead of when it was generated as the new start reading.
Use cases
Fixed and floating triggers are each better suited to different use cases. The table below lists some scenarios and the recommended trigger type:
| Scenario | Recommended trigger type |
|---|---|
|
You want to easily check how many generated work orders were missed. |
Fixed |
|
Your organization has many scheduled maintenance records that need to be spread out evenly. |
Fixed |
|
Your need shorter intervals between work orders (for example, daily and weekly for time-based triggers). |
Fixed |
|
You want to more strongly encourage compliance by making maintenance harder to postpone. |
Fixed |
|
You want to enforce warranty requirements by regularly maintaining equipment as recommended by the manufacturer. |
Fixed |
|
You need longer intervals in between work orders that won't cause any major damage or safety risks when delayed. |
Floating |
|
You have low-priority, regular tasks that do not necessarily need to be completed on time. |
Floating |