MainBoss Newswire

May 2004

 

Topics:

  1. Did you know: How to successfully delete a task
  2. Benefits of using a maintenance assistant to operate MainBoss
  3. Upcoming Tradeshows

 

******************************************

1. Did you know: How to successfully delete a task?

Deleting any records in MainBoss can be tricky because you could potentially lose:

a)      historical information from your work orders and purchase orders and/or

b)      information from other tables that are linked to the record you are deleting.

When deleting a task, you have to be especially careful because so many records are linked together. Sometimes deleting a task becomes necessary, such as when you no longer have the equipment that the task is for, or the preventive maintenance work is no longer necessary because other tasks have been implemented. While you have the option to mark the task as “Do not use”, you can also delete a task entirely out of your database. When doing so, please be sure to follow these steps:

  1. Login as Administrator so that you have rights to delete records in MainBoss
  2. Go to Work Orders -> Browse Tasks and edit the task you wish to delete
  3. Go to the Assigned Units tab and edit the first assigned unit listed in that window
  4. Now you are in the Edit Assigned Unit window and you will see a button called Delete Schedule. Click this button to delete the schedule for this assigned unit
  5. If there is more than one schedule attached to this unit, delete the other ones as well
  6. Once all the schedules for this unit are deleted, you can now delete the unit itself by clicking on Delete Assigned Unit button at the bottom of the window
  7. After the assigned unit is deleted you will be back in the Edit Task window and if there are more units to delete, follow steps 3 to 6 in order to delete other units and their schedules
  8. Once all units are successfully deleted, you are now ready to delete the actual task. This can be done by clicking on Delete Task at the bottom of the Edit Task window

Important: In order to delete a task without causing internal problems to your database, you must delete the records in the above mentioned order. First, delete all the schedules for each assigned unit. When the schedules are gone, you can delete the assigned units. And only when all assigned units are deleted, can you then delete the actual task. The reason for this is that all records are interlinked. If you were to delete the task without first deleting the schedules and the assigned units, you will end up with lost links in your database structure, which will show up on your audit report and can cause operating errors within your database.

If you have any questions regarding deleting tasks or deleting any other records in MainBoss, please don’t hesitate to contact your MainBoss technical support representative.                                         

 

******************************************

2. Benefits of using a maintenance assistant to operate MainBoss

Recently, two separate companies within the educational sector purchased MainBoss CMMS. At the one company, the maintenance manager had an assistant who was to help him input data, print off and close work orders for the maintenance personnel and run reports. At the second company, the maintenance manager was planning to do all these tasks himself.

 

Several months later MainBoss head office contacted the two customers to see how they are progressing with their MainBoss implementation. The first company, where a maintenance assistant was employed, had most of their equipment and inventory entered, had generated over a thousand work orders and was also using MainBoss reports to make more informed decision. The second company had no inventory entered, had only a handful of work orders generated and were not even close to running MainBoss reports since there was insufficient data in their database to obtain meaningful information. The maintenance manager was overworked because aside from his regular full schedule, he was trying to implement a CMMS system. No matter how easy MainBoss is to use, he just did not have the time to get the program fully operational.

 

Comparing these two companies, who were similar in size, within the same industry and had equally competent people, it was realized that a CMMS implementation stands a much better chance if an assistant is hired to do all the paperwork that maintenance people generally don’t have the time to do. Activities like entering requests, printing new work orders, closing work orders, generating PM work orders and running reports are all tasks that can be easily taught to an assistant, even if he or she has little knowledge of maintenance activities. And often the cost of hiring such a person is far outweighed by the benefits derived from running a thoroughly and successfully implemented maintenance management software package.

 

******************************************

3. Upcoming Tradeshows

Thinkage will be attending the following tradeshows to demonstrate MainBoss:

·        BOMA International: North American Commercial Real Estate Congress and Office Building Show in Toronto, ON from June 27th to 29th, 2004. Visit us at booth 1730!

 

******************************************