quote:

The proposed CMMS is to be integrated to a separate Finance package which has a payroll module for timesheet entry

Depending on the business, this can be good or bad. We strive for 100% maintenance work coverage by workorders.
In the CMMS we need information for actual job hours (wrench time), for planning and historical purpose. Also on an 8 hours workday we can cover 7 hours with work. Arrival, lunch breaks, departure.
If the guys know that there pay will be based what is entered in the CMMS, magically everyone will have 8 hours sharp everyday.
The industrial high average is 4 hours of wrench time. The most common is 2 hours of work/day. In cases of projects/turnarounds with a sharp deadline, strong supervision, closed monitoring planning progress, lots of overtime, you wil reach the mark of 7+ hours.
But still you will have some individuals who will have a low work mark.
Example: fork-lift truck drivers, who are in charge of supplying parts in the field, at all locations. Maybe he will be contributing to 40 different workorders everyday. I don't think that the driver will ride with a list: "please write your work order, start time, finish time and sign here"
Other candidates: riggers and crane operators.
What about the equipment coordinator? A guy in the field, with a radio coordinating, the cranes, trucks, jib trucks, forklifts to the places where needed?
Welders: the free welders which are supporting other jobs?
The lead mechanic who also pokes around in the CMMS looking for parts/alternatives and who is 50% physically on the job, the other 50% is preparation, obtaining permits etc..

I would ty the payroll account to the gate entrance, not to the CMMS.

Although we require the daily worksheet and shift time accounted for in work orders, we apply that for crew members (mechanics, electricians, building maintenance, instrument technicians). The stockroom personnel (fork mlift drivers) are not required to track against work orders served their time. They are assigned by week or other periods to differents tasks: dispathing parts, receiving process, cycle counting, CMMS data maintenance, etc.
However, if a mechanic will be driving a forklift during the execution of a job(s), then he has to record his/her time against the respective work order(s).

Eugene my answer must be seen in the context of using the CMMS for the payroll.
I have different crews and I have an all-terrain telescoop boom truck. (which can be seen like an advanced forklift truck).
I have 6-drivers pool, where two mechanics are from the maintenance force. These guys have also other duties (looking at the toolroom, millwright, mechanic..).
There are days when the boom truck doesn't rest, transporting pumps, transporting chemicals to field, riding scaffolding etc..
If I have to tie the pay of the guy (8 hours) to what is entered in the CMMS, and keep track of every 15 minute job, I will need more staffing to enter data in the CMMS, validating data, somehow put the the time they need to sweep the floor, safety talks, sick leave, vacation all in the CMMS. Ultimately we will have a lot of computers and clerks, and the work is not getting done, because we will be too busy with paperwork.
All these wasted manhours could be used to work

This message has been edited. Last edited by: svanels,

We also make use of contractors, we pay their boss a tarif based on the time they clock in and out.
If the guy enters 7:30 and leave 15:30, I will be paying for 8 hours.
If the guy takes a nap in a container, because the workload is low, I am the ass if I do not put him to work. His boss will demand pay for 8 hours.

quote:

To explain, I work in small town local government maintaining roads, bridges, drinking water, sewers, drainage, sports grounds, buildings, (ie. mainly civil maintenance). Our existing CMMS is antiquated and did not create Work Orders. We are evaluating a new work order CMMS package which allows one (and only one) activity type and asset on each Work Order. The proposed CMMS is to be integrated to a separate Finance package which has a payroll module for timesheet entry. The CMMS software vendor insists that to capture costs of each maintenance job, the staff must put each Work Order number on their weekly timesheets plus (obviously) the amount of materials, labor and vehicle time spent on each job. Is this how everyone else out there uses Work Orders to capture costs?

Elle,

In my opinion, the answer you are looking for is the definition of what specifically do YOU want to accomplish (not the CMMS software vendor's opinion). This will vary according to what you are trying to accomplish. My situation is an asset intensive manufacturing process; therefore, the information that I need to collect is pretty detailed. If you are doing mainly "civil maintenance" on roads, bridges,drinking water systems, public works and etc.....I would think that your requirements could be much less intense than mine for many of your assets and maybe just as intensive or more for a few of your critical assets. We try to feed our reliability engineers and process owners with detailed information surrounding each maintenance event and manage our pm system.....plus more. Hours and material charges to individual work orders are very valuable to us. It takes longer for our guys to type in the event than to enter their time. However, we do have some routine work...or repetive work that is captured on a single work order that may remain open for a period as long as a month...rounds, safety meetings, janitorial duties...etc. If you are generating 65-70 work order per day, there may be some repetive type work that you may be able to address in simpler method that would not comprimise your objective and could cut down on the administration. My example would be things like road maintenance...your road crew may have a list of work orders for different roads that they use to patch potholes...you may not need a work order for every repair, if all you wanted to capture was how much time/materials did you use on this section of road in the last month/quarter/year...etc..you could design your work flow to capture this amount of detail with a minimum amount of admin support.

Having your system designed to eliminate (should read automate) the timesheets may cost some money up front, but should save you alot of money in terms of quality data, ease of use = increased buy in, increased efficiency, and avoided administration costs. All of this is certainly just my opinion and I certainly do not know what your goals are, but it has been my experience that if you have a significant number of employees on a timesheet system (say greater than 40 for arguement sake)...and depending on the complexity of your time keeping rules...you could really be in a system that can cost you as much as the value you are looking to add or more.