Before you start: four decisions
- Who owns the tenancy? For a portfolio, the asset owner should, with providers working inside it.
- What is an asset? Decide the depth of the hierarchy now. Container, rack and module is a different programme from site and inverter.
- Which programmes are contractual? Separate what you must evidence from what you do because it is sensible.
- What does done look like? Define the evidence a completed job must carry before you build a single form.
Data to gather
- Site list with client, country, capacity and technology.
- Asset register with hierarchy, serial numbers, install dates and warranty dates.
- Maintenance programmes with frequencies and their source, whether OEM, contract or practice.
- Spare parts master, with the contracted holding per site.
- People: roles, sites they cover, certifications and expiry dates.
Perfect data is not the entry price. A register that is ninety per cent right and in use beats a perfect one still being cleansed in a spreadsheet.
A sensible sequence
| Stage | Do | Postpone |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Sites, assets, users, roles. One pilot site. | Integrations, custom reports. |
| Week 2 | Corrective work orders and the mobile form. Get technicians using it for real jobs. | The full preventive programme. |
| Week 3 | Preventive schedules and job forms. Permits if the site needs them. | Historic data migration. |
| Week 4 | Parts, reporting and the owner portal. Roll out to remaining sites. | Anything nobody has asked for twice. |
Getting technicians to use it
- Train on their own jobs, on their own phones, not on a projector.
- Kill the parallel system on a named date. Running both guarantees neither is trusted.
- Fix the first three complaints immediately and visibly. Adoption is decided in week one.
- Show them something back: history, previous fixes, fewer phone calls asking where they are.
Signs it is working
Within a month you should see jobs closed from the field rather than the office, photographs attached without being chased, and the planner spending mornings on exceptions rather than on assembling a picture. If that is not happening, the problem is usually a form that is too long or a plan nobody agreed with.
Common questions
Should we migrate historic work orders?
Usually not all of them. Bring the asset register, warranties and open work. Archive the rest and keep it accessible.
How many people do we need internally?
One decision maker who can settle scope, and one operational lead who knows how the work really runs. More people slow it down.
Related
See it running on your own asset types
Thirty minutes, no slides. We set up your site structure and show you the product doing the job you actually need it to do. Most teams are live within weeks.
Book a demo