Overview
Preventive maintenance is an essential part of running any facility. It helps ensure that your equipment is always in the best possible condition and minimizes lengthy downtime due to unforeseen breakdowns.
Creating preventive maintenance (PM) templates in Limble automates scheduling, making it easy and seamless for technicians to complete preventive maintenance tasks.
In this article, we’ll teach you how to create a PM template by creating a sample template using basic instructions and subinstructions.
Table of Contents
Create & Name Your PM Template
Create & Name Your PM Template
To create a PM template, go to Locations > Select Your Location > PMs.
Click “New PM Template.”
In the pop-up, name your PM template. We recommend using a descriptive name so you and your team can quickly identify the task and which asset is associated with it.
Choose the template you want to create. By default, “Blank Template” is selected. If you have an existing template you’d like to use, select “Copy from an existing Template.”
Click “Create.”
Assign an Asset
Assign an Asset
Before adding instructions, assign an asset to the PM template. Associating an asset allows you to track performance metrics and work history.
Find the Asset column and click “+.”
In the pop-up, click on the desired asset, then “Select.”
From here, your PM template is ready to customize.
Add PM Instructions
Add PM Instructions
To add instructions and customize your template, click on the PM name.
In the pop-up, create a description of your task.
Next, add instructions by clicking “Add Instruction.”
There are several basic and advanced instruction types to choose from to build out your task. You can further organize with subinstructions.
Subinstructions are actions layered within an instruction to add conditional steps or more specificity to a procedure.
(Note: you can also create instruction set templates that can be imported into multiple PMs, saving you setup time!)
For this example, we will create:
Instruction 1 – A check box instruction that includes a user manual
Instruction 2 – An option list instruction that includes conditional procedures based on the user's response
Instruction 1 - A check box instruction that includes a user manual
Instruction 1 - A check box instruction that includes a user manual
Create an instruction by clicking the desired instruction type and “Select.”
Once it generates, change the instructions in the text box.
You can also upload documents or images to help your technicians access manuals or instructional documents.
Include a document by clicking the paper icon.
Then, upload the document from your local files.
A link to the file will generate.
Instruction 2 - An option list instruction that includes conditional procedures based on the user's response
Instruction 2 - An option list instruction that includes conditional procedures based on the user's response
Add subinstructions to the first instruction by selecting the “+” under the instruction.
(Note: make sure to continue to choose the + icon directly under the instruction you want to create a subinstruction for. Every subinstruction you create will have one, so your subinstructions can have infinite subinstructions!)
In order to create conditional steps with subinstructions, use the dropdown list or option list instruction type.
Click the desired instruction type and “Select.”
In this example, we'll create conditional "yes" and "no" subinstructions with additional procedures based on the response.
To add the "yes" and "no" subinstructions, click the “+” button under the recently added instruction.
To add the procedure based on the conditional subinstructions, click “+” under the "Yes" subinstruction.
Click the desired instruction type and “Select.”
The instruction should look like this:
Associate Parts
Associate Parts
Associating parts with PMs can support parts usage forecasting and help your technicians gather what they need ahead of time.
From the PM template, select “Add Part.”
From the pop-up, select the desired part, then click "Add Part."
In the text box, enter the estimated number of parts needed to complete the task.
When the user logs time or completes the task, they will enter the actual total used.
Set Up a PM Schedule
Set Up a PM Schedule
After you’ve set up your instructions, and associated parts, you’ll want to set up a schedule for your PMs to generate.
Go to the Schedules column for the desired PM template and click on the calendar icon.
In the pop-up, click "Add Schedule."
Limble allows you to choose between a variety of scheduling options to meet your unique needs.
In this example, this is a monthly PM that we’ll schedule for every 1st Monday of the month.
To choose a desired start date, find the date picker next to “Starts on” and select a start date.
Once you’ve chosen your desired schedule, click “Save.”
Depending on when you add a schedule to your PM template, you may be brought to another pop-up screen to add additional schedule changes. If you have nothing else to edit, click “X” to exit the set recurrence pop-up.
Assign a User or Team
Assign a User or Team
The final part of setting up your PM template is assigning a user or team. Assignments save you the hassle of manually assigning the task each time it spawns.
Go to the Assigned To column for the desired PM template and click "Unassigned."
From the pop-up, select the desired team or user you’d like assigned to the task and “Select.”
Selecting a team will assign the PM to all users on the team.
Selecting a user will assign the task to one user.
Preview Your PM
Preview Your PM
You can preview your PM at any time to see how the task will look.
Click on the desired PM name.
In the new window, click “Preview.”
Now you can test out the instructions.
To make any changes, go back to editing by clicking “Build This Task.”
If you’re satisfied with how everything looks, click anywhere outside of the pop-up to exit.
Watch the Video Tutorial
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Still don’t see what you’re looking for? Check out our YouTube channel for more tips and tricks! You can also reach out to us anytime at support@limblecmms.com.