The Technician Workbench

Typically, after the scheduler schedules work order tasks for a work order, technicians can access the Technician Workbench and search for their assigned tasks. You can customize which fields appear and the order that they appear in to meet your organization's specific needs. To simplify the task of locating assigned work order tasks, you can set up and save search criteria for later use. You can then review the task information and complete the task.

Note:

Schedulers can also skip online labor assignments and print a hard copy to give to the technicians assigned to the work order task.

Using the Technician Workbench, the technician or an authorized maintenance administrator can:

  • Access the technician's monthly, weekly, and daily calendar.

  • Enter labor time spent on the task, personal (non-work order related) time, or both.

  • Enter quantities used and manage the pickup and return of inventory materials for the task.

    Note:

    Use the link to Inventory, Fulfill Work Orders, Issue to Work Orders component to issue materials for work orders.

  • Enter the tools to be used for the task.

  • Review and modify the check list and attachments, and review the instructions associated with a work order task.

  • Enter meter readings for the asset that is being maintained or repaired.

  • Enter any causal parts related to the task.

  • Report crew assignment time for tasks assigned to crews.

  • Access a GIS map location for a work order task.

    This activity is only possible you selected the GIS Integration check box in the work order business unit and completed the set up requirements for integration with ESRI.

    Note:

    The integration with ESRI ARCGIS (Geographic Information System) and Asset Lifecycle Management is no longer supported as of FSCM Update Image 9.2.055.

  • Change the status of one work order task or multiple work order tasks at the same time.

  • Print assignments and informational reports.

  • Access a specific work order or task in the work order component.

  • Update the location, area, or offline status of an asset.

  • Add notes to the task.

  • View and update supplemental data associated with a task.

  • Enter or modify actual start and end dates and time for a selected work order task or multiple work order tasks at the same time.

  • If authorized, enter planned and actual downtime for the asset being repaired or maintained.

  • Enter or modify problem, cause, and resolution (PCR) codes for a selected work order task or multiple work order tasks at the same time.

Note:

The level of security set up for a user determines the user's level of access to the Scheduling page. Technicians normally do not have access to modify schedules.

The each work order task by selecting each tab in the Work Order Tasks grid. These tabs include:

  • A Details tab on which you can:

    • Directly access the Scheduling page for a work order task, and add or modify the task and the resource schedules.

    • View details about the work order and the work order task.

    • Determine whether the asset is being installed, removed, or retired.

    • Review the status of the task.

  • A Details 2 tab on which you can view the:

    • Assignment.

    • Scheduled and required start and end dates and times.

    • Asset business unit and location.

    • Project information about the work order.

    • Names of the supervisor, lead person, and scheduler for the task.

  • A Full Description tab on which you can view the full description that was entered for each work order and the full description for each work order task.

  • A Task Actual Dates/Times tab on which you can enter the actual start and end dates and times for each task, and click a link that enables you to enter, modify, and review planned and actual downtime for the asset associated with each task.

    You can also make mass changes to actual dates for multiple tasks by selecting the Mass Change button, which displays a secondary page that enables you to perform mass changes to actual dates, times, and PCR data.

  • A Failure Reporting tab, where you can select a problem group PCR for each task if this information was not entered on the work order task Requirements page.

    You can override any default PCR values derived from the work order task requirements. You can also click the Mass Change button to access a secondary page, where you can make mass changes to PCR codes for more than one task.

    Important:

    Click the Customize link on the Work Order Tasks group box bar to access the Personalize Column and Sort Order page on which you can customize columns that appear on each tab and select the sort order of the data as ascending or descending.

    Note:

    Use the Work Progress Tracking Inquiry to track the progress of a work order.

    See Using the Work Progress Tracking Inquiry.

Status Transitions

Technicians can change the status of assigned tasks on the Technician Workbench. You can select multiple tasks and select a status in the Change Status field. The selected status applies the tasks selected on the Technician Workbench. You can also leave the Change Status field blank and change each status individually. When you click the Go button, a Change Status page appears, where you can change each of the individual task statuses for selected tasks. You can also review editing errors, add notes, and notify the scheduler about the status change.

Users (technicians and schedulers) must be set up in User Preferences as authorized to complete and close a work order task or work order before they can change the status of a work order task or work order to Complete or Closed. Authorized users can return a Closed task to a status of Complete. Authorized users can return a Complete task to Open - Incomplete. You cannot cancel tasks from the Technician Workbench or the Work Order Workbench. Canceled and Closed tasks are display-only. A status that is set up with an internal status of Cancel will not appear on the list of available statuses in the Technician Workbench.

Edits exist that prevent you from changing the status of a work order task to Complete if the work order has inventory on a pick plan or it has an open peg. The task statuses are not actually changed until you select OK from the task status change page.

Important:

The sample data that accompanies your PeopleSoft Maintenance Management application contains a user-defined status of Incomplete with an internal status of Open. If Set completed WO to Incomplete is enabled in User Preferences, you can reverse a task status from Complete to Incomplete.

You may notice that the sample data that accompanies your PeopleSoft Maintenance Management application displays a user-defined status of Canceled - Work started but no longer needed. However, if you review the setup of this status in Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, and then Product Related, and then Maintenance Management, and then Setup, and then MM Work Order Status you will see that the internal status is Complete.

Service Requests

When technicians access their work order task assignments in the Technician Workbench, a link that appears at the top of the page indicates a specific number of open service requests that are assigned to them. The link only appears if they have at least one open service request assigned.

Agents can assign service requests to technicians with or without a work order. When an agent assigns a technician to a service request that is not associated with a work order, the technician does not record labor time or material and tool usage. In many organizations, any routine task that takes less than 15 minutes to complete is a simple service request and does not require the creation of a work order. In this instance, the technician accesses the service request and changes the status to Complete once the work is done. This link in the Technician Workbench enables a user to access all service requests assigned to the resource, regardless of whether they are associated with a work order.