When it comes to serving customers well, the work order provides a continuous link for all departments to read from. The work order identifies the customer, lets you know what they need, and what they have already received. However, if you do not have a work order management system in place, it is far more likely that work orders are being lost or forgotten, allowing customers to fall through the cracks. Work Order Management software allows you to organize and prioritize work orders, while also taking into account available resources. It is capable of overhauling your entire work order process to make the most of your labor hours, tools and more.
Managing Your Work Orders
If you have been using manual work orders to handle tasks, it's time to do away with the pen and paper. Digitized work orders can easily be entered and edited using a mobile device or tablet. Once they are in the system, it can give you instant feedback for scheduling jobs based on all other work orders currently in the queue. More importantly, it will allow you to designate different types of work order requests, whether they are simple service calls or complex installations, to make sure that the team members and resources are available to complete the tasks required. You can assign work orders to specific individuals within your organization, including technicians and account managers and prioritize customers when necessary. Jobs that will require parts to be ordered can be delayed until all parts have arrived, while other jobs can be moved up when there is a gap in the schedule or a cancellation. Your customers will appreciate your ability to reach them sooner whenever the opportunity arises.
Scheduling Tools
The scheduling tools required to effectively and efficiently manage your work orders have improved drastically with time. Today it is possible to use your work order management software to connect work orders, phone calls, contacts, billable time, and task details to customers, sales orders, serialized whole goods, time-card detail, and jobs to track labor. The more accurate your system is, the higher your customer satisfaction ratings will be. The ability to access field service technicians, see service details, and more from a phone, tablet, or other portable devices provides flexibility throughout the day, not to mention helps eliminate clerical.
Budgeting Features
Material planning is one of the most important features of work order management. This allows you to see current tasks and work orders as they stand. You can also calculate the value of performed tasks, see your labor hours, track materials used to date, set goals and monitor KPIs, and leave notes for future reference. With these budgeting features in place, you can be sure that every second and penny is well spent. You can identify red flags or projects that may be problematic, and work to cut down on waste whenever possible. The more information you have, the easier it will be to set goals that are both reasonable and attainable. In addition, you will have the means to measure progress from your dashboard so you won't have to waste time digging and creating reports.
Material resource planning software is a critical component of work order management. Without it, your team is losing valuable time by working haphazardly and without the insights needed to properly direct resources in the right order. You can eliminate the confusion both with your technicians and your customers by using work order management to precisely track progress and keep all parties up to date on the latest developments. If you have been working blindly in the past, now is the time to bring your system up to date. Customers are demanding more and more information from vendors at the time they open a work order, and they expect you to have a timeline available so they can plan accordingly.
For more information about how work order management software can change the way you do business from top to bottom, contact Eagle Business Software today. We can help you choose software that closely meets the needs of your company and customers to deliver better results all around.
Kelsey Stout is the Head of HR & Marketing at Koble. She loves helping people build strong and lasting businesses with meaningful work, the right systems in place, and a strong approach to culture. When not telling Koble stories, Kelsey can be found writing children's fiction, spending time with family, or playing the guitar (poorly but enthusiastically).
