The first time you access the Equipment PM Schedule you will be given a choice of how the initial dates for the maintenance tasks will be set. There are two options in the Hotel PM program for setting the initial dates for your equipment maintenance tasks. The first is to use the Default dates and the second is to set your own dates. A dialog box similar to the one below will appear the first time you access the Equipment PM Schedule.
You have three choices here; Do this later, use Default dates, set Your Own dates. Let's look at each choice and see how they impact the process of scheduling equipment maintenance.
I will do this later -- This choice simply allows you to postpone the decision. No equipment maintenance can be scheduled until you select one of the other two options.
Use the Default Dates -- A set of previously established start dates is stored within the Hotel PM program. These dates are set when a multiple hotel install is scheduled. This option is intended for use when existing maintenance records are outdated or missing. All equipment maintenance tasks are scheduled to occur within a two to three week period. In essence we are telling the program that everything is behind schedule and you want to get to it as soon as possible. Do not use this option if you have manually entered the equipment for your hotel.
Set Your Own Dates -- When you have existing maintenance records and a schedule in place use this option. Here you can use a spread sheet like data entry form to put the next service date in for each equipment maintenance task. We will look at this option in greater detail below. If you have manually entered the hotel equipment into the database, you will want to use this option. Doing so will preserve any dates you entered in the equipment records.
In the long run either choice will work. Once you have worked your way through a complete maintenance cycle the starting option won't matter. The benefit of setting your own dates is that then the schedule in the program can be set to match your existing schedule. Click the radio button for the appropriate choice and the click on the Proceed button.
When you choose the Default dates all equipment maintenance tasks are set to the default dates. Please note that default dates are only available for tasks that use the Standard Maintenance Tasks. If you have custom tasks you will have to manually assign the Next Service dates for those tasks. In this case the Initialization screen described below will be displayed with the effected maintenance tasks.
Setting Your Own Service Dates
If you have chosen to set your own dates, a window like the one below will be displayed. On this screen the maintenance tasks for each piece of equipment is listed. The tasks are arranged by equipment name/number and then by frequency; with the shorter frequencies (monthly) first followed by the longer frequencies.
The important thing to notice here is that the "Next Service" column is empty. The Hotel PM program won't know when to schedule a maintenance task until this date has been specified. From this screen you can quickly enter the Next Service date, the Last Service date, and the Service Time if you desire. You can move from cell to cell using the mouse or the cursor keys. Only these three fields can be editted from this screen. The figure below shows a partially completed view of the grid.
Looking at the partially completed grid you should take note of two things. First the Next Service date should be filled in for all of the maintenance tasks in the grid. Second the Last Service date can be filled in but it is not required. Once you begin issuing and completing maintenance tasks with in the Hotel PM program it will automatically set the Last and Next service dates each time a work order is completed.
When you have entered all of the Next Service dates click the Proceed to Schedule button to activate the maintenance task assignment window. If by some chance you do not have the necessary information or have to attend to other maters you can click the Proceed to Schedule button before all the information has been entered. This will save the information that has been entered and make those tasks available for scheduling. The next time you access the Equipment PM Schedule the Initialization grid will display the task that do not yet have a Next Service date specified. We recommend that you complete the process of entering Next Service dates in as few sessions as possible.
Clicking the Close button will close the grid without saving any of the information that was entered into the grid! Do not click the Close button unless that is what you intend.