The Five Ws (and one H) of Every Work Order

Who, What, Where, When, What and How! The Five Ws and one H. From elementary school we are told to ask these questions. When we step back and ask these questions about the work orders we’re completing for our facility it looks something like this:

WHO is the assigned technician?
WHAT is the technician to do?
WHEN will the technician do it?
WHERE are the shutoff valves?
WHY do the work?
HOW do you do the work?

Makes sense, right? We are so programmed to answer these questions that we naturally can answer these questions for everything we do in our facility.

Now let’s look at this from a different perspective: Your facility is completing hundreds of work orders every month, and to make sure that work is completed we utilize technology: your CMMS. Knowing that the CMMS is the backbone to every work order we complete, let’s look at these questions in terms of what does the CMMS actually assist with?

CMMS Question
YES WHO is the assigned technician?
YES WHAT is the technician to do?
YES WHEN will the technician do it?
NO WHERE are the shutoff valves?
YES WHY do the work?
NO HOW do you do the work?

CMMS systems do not provide you with the details of WHERE the equipment is or HOW to actually do the work. Basically, your CMMS system only helps you with 2/3rds of the work order, and those 2/3rds are actually the least time-consuming pieces of the work order. The WHERE and HOW are 85% of the time spent completing the work order.

We’re not saying that your CMMS isn’t valuable, it’s a very important cog in the wheel of facilities management, but it’s only one piece. The other cog, Fasttac, completes the process by helping with the Where and the How. Fasttac shows you where that shutoff valve is and gives you all of the information you need to complete the work order (exploded parts diagrams, O&M manuals, change history, etc.).

Let’s look at the Five Ws and one H when you have your CMMS and Fasttac working to help you complete your work orders:

Solution Question
CMMS WHO is the assigned technician?
CMMS WHAT is the technician to do?
CMMS WHEN will the technician do it?
FASTTAC WHERE are the shutoff valves?
CMMS WHY do the work?
FASTTAC HOW do you do the work?

There you have it – your CMMS + Fasttac is a full solution for your facility, working together to make sure you complete work orders more efficiently and more effectively!