Managing Work Orders: Transitioning from Sub Work Orders to Operations in SAP-PM

Question:

For the past 3 years, our company has been utilizing SAP-PM for managing work orders. One challenge we are facing involves transitioning from generating sub-work orders in Maximo to assigning operations to a crew ID in SAPPM. The goal is to streamline the process and avoid sub-work orders, but we are seeking a way to categorize order types within the work orders. In SAP, once an order has been assigned an order type in the operation, it cannot be changed. Our company's preferred approach is to consolidate all work, including assigned and reactive tasks, within a single order to simplify cost tracking. However, this poses reporting challenges when distinguishing between reactive and scheduled tasks. While it is possible to report on the crew ID, it does not accurately reflect whether the order was an emergency or priority within a scheduled task. Any suggestions or solutions for effectively categorizing order types without solely relying on keywords from the operations would be greatly appreciated.

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You can consolidate the costs of all sub work orders into the main work order, allowing you to utilize the main work order for cost tracking and the sub work orders for scheduling and reactive maintenance. Best regards, Tehsin.

I am unclear about the connection between Maximo and SAP, but key fields to consider for SAP operations include the Control Key and Activity Type. The Control Key poses a limitation as confirmations entered against an operation cannot be altered afterwards, which can be either a disadvantage or an advantage. Conversely, the Activity Type allows those entering confirmations to override the setting in the work order operation. It is recommended to initially focus on the Control Key. Additionally, the Standard Text Key field is another viable option to explore.

You could consider using User Status Profiles in SAP PM to tackle this challenge. These profiles offer a great degree of flexibility, allowing you to track different stages of your work orders and denote order types that may be distinct to your company's needs. You can create custom User Statuses to reflect reactive or scheduled tasks, emergency or priority situations. While not a direct replacement for order types, User Statuses can be updated at any stage throughout the work order lifecycle, without being locked in once assigned. If the statuses are carefully managed and used consistently, they could boost your reporting capability by offering a more precise reflection of order priority or reactive/scheduled dichotomy. Just a thought!

The challenge you're facing is indeed common when transitioning from a system like Maximo to SAP-PM. One possible solution could be implementing User-Statuses for your work orders. This could offer a way to distinguish between reactive and scheduled tasks without changing the order type post creation. These User-Statuses can be appended as your work order moves through its life cycle, enabling you to categorize and differentiate tasks. Another avenue could be utilizing Operation/Activity Types in conjunction with Work Center/Crew ID. These Activity Types can be customized within SAP to suit your organizational needs. This way, you can maintain a single order for cost tracking, but have a deeper level of categorization beneath that. With this approach, you can generate reports based on these activity types, aiding you to separate emergency and priority tasks. A combination of these two strategies might enable better categorization and reporting to meet your company's needs.

You've presented a common challenge many organizations face when trying to streamline their work orders in SAP-PM. One plausible solution might be to use order-type-dependent parameters that are tied into a custom-built decision matrix. This matrix can manage the overarching order-type categorizations while offering increased flexibility within operation types. Furthermore, consider the use of User-Statuses to categorize orders beyond their initial types. You can create custom statuses to indicate if work orders are reactive, assigned, or scheduled. Integrating this with your existing cost-tracking methods could aid in better distinguishing between task types for more accurate reporting. Remember, the key here will be your teams' consistent use and adherence to these new parameters to ensure their success.

This sounds like a tricky situation! One potential solution could be to implement a custom field or use a user-exit in SAP PM that allows you to tag or classify work orders based on their nature (reactive vs. scheduled) at the point of creation. While this won't change the order type once assigned, it could provide a way to filter and report on the data later. Additionally, consider setting up a consistent naming convention for work orders or leveraging status fields that might help clarify the urgency level. This way, you can maintain some granularity in your reporting without relying solely on keyword searches. It might take some extra setup, but it could really help with clarity in the long run!

It sounds like you're in a bit of a tough spot with that transition! One approach you might consider is adding custom fields or user-defined attributes to your work orders in SAP-PM that can track the nature of the tasks (like reactive versus scheduled) without changing the order types themselves. This way, you can maintain the consolidation for cost tracking while also capturing the critical information for reporting purposes. Another option could be to revise your workflow to incorporate a preliminary screening process where crews can flag work orders based on their urgency before they become finalized. This could help maintain clarity in your reporting without overcomplicating the order process. It would be great to hear if anyone else has tackled a similar challenge!

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

FAQ: 1. How can we effectively categorize order types in SAP-PM without solely relying on keywords from the operations?

Answer: - One possible solution could be to utilize user-defined fields or custom fields within the work order to categorize different types of orders. This way, you can have a specific field indicating whether the task is reactive, scheduled, emergency, or priority. 2. Is it possible to streamline the process and avoid sub-work orders in SAP-PM while consolidating all work within a single order? - Yes, it is possible to consolidate all work, including assigned and reactive tasks, within a single order in SAP-PM. By properly categorizing order types and utilizing custom fields, you can simplify cost tracking and reporting while avoiding the need for sub-work orders.

FAQ: 3. How can we distinguish between reactive and scheduled tasks in SAP-PM when consolidating all work within a single order?

Answer: - To distinguish between reactive and scheduled tasks, you can use specific indicators or fields within the work order to denote the nature of the task. This can help in accurately tracking and reporting on different types of tasks within the consolidated order structure.

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