Work orders are the operational currency of IBM Maximo. Every maintenance action — whether a routine inspection, an emergency repair, or a complex shutdown — flows through the work order module. Mastering work order management in Maximo means understanding its type structure, status lifecycle, planning and actuals data model, workflow automation, and mobile execution capabilities. This guide covers all of these areas for both Maximo 7.6 and MAS Manage.

Work Order Types in Maximo

IBM Maximo defines multiple record types within the Work Order Tracking application. Understanding when to use each type prevents data fragmentation and enables accurate reporting.

Work Order (WO) is the most common type. It covers corrective maintenance (repairing a broken asset), planned maintenance (replacing a component before failure), and project-based work. Most organizations process 70–90% of their volume as standard work orders.

Preventive Maintenance (PM) records are templates, not executable work orders. They define the task, frequency, and asset for scheduled maintenance. When a PM’s frequency trigger fires — whether time-based (every 90 days) or meter-based (every 5,000 operating hours) — Maximo automatically generates a child work order. PM frequency can be configured with seasonality adjustments and nested frequencies for complex maintenance plans. The PM generation run is scheduled through the Cron Task Infrastructure.

Change work orders manage formal changes to assets, systems, or infrastructure configurations. They typically include additional approval steps and risk assessment fields, making them appropriate for IT change management use cases or regulated industries where unauthorized asset modifications carry compliance risk.

Release work orders function as parent containers for grouping related child work orders into a single package. They are used for complex shutdowns, turnarounds, or project-based maintenance where multiple teams and trades must coordinate. Release orders provide a single point for scheduling and cost tracking across the package.

Activity records are sub-tasks within a parent work order. When a single job requires sequential or parallel tasks performed by different crafts — for example, electrical isolation followed by mechanical repair followed by reinstatement — activities allow each to be tracked independently while remaining linked to the parent cost and schedule.

The Work Order Status Lifecycle

The status lifecycle is one of the most important design decisions in any Maximo implementation. Out of the box, Maximo provides a standard set of statuses, but organizations frequently add custom statuses or restrict transitions to match their approval and scheduling processes.

WAPPR (Waiting Approval) is the initial status for most work orders created through service requests or by non-planners. Work orders in WAPPR are visible but not yet authorized for labor or material expenditure.

APPR (Approved) indicates that the work order has been reviewed and authorized. This is the key status gate — only APPR work orders should appear on planning boards and technician task lists. The transition from WAPPR to APPR is where workflow automation adds the most value, routing work orders to the appropriate manager based on asset criticality, estimated cost, or work type.

WMATL (Waiting Materials) signals that all parts required for the job have not yet been confirmed as available in the storeroom. This status triggers purchasing to expedite or reserve the missing items. Organizations with high PM compliance rates use this status actively to prevent technicians from starting jobs without complete material kits.

WSCH (Waiting to be Scheduled) indicates that materials are confirmed but a specific execution time slot has not yet been assigned. The Maximo Scheduler add-on provides a graphical drag-and-drop interface to move work orders from WSCH into technician schedules.

INPRG (In Progress) is set when a technician begins executing the work. This status is often set automatically by Maximo Mobile when a technician taps “Start Work.” Time tracking against the work order begins at this point.

COMP (Completed) is applied when the work is physically finished. Before closing, technicians should record actuals (labor hours, materials used, failure codes) and complete any attached job plan checkpoints.

CLOSE (Closed) is the final administrative status, typically applied by a planner or supervisor after reviewing the completed actuals. Closed work orders contribute to asset history, failure analysis, and cost reports but cannot be reopened without supervisor authorization.

Creating and Approving Work Orders

Work orders enter Maximo through three primary channels: direct creation by a planner or supervisor in the Work Order Tracking application, generation from a Service Request submitted by an operator or end user, and automatic generation from a PM record.

When creating a work order manually, the minimum required fields are: Work Order number (auto-generated), Description, Status (defaults to WAPPR), and either an Asset or a Location. Additional key fields include:

  • Work Type: used to distinguish corrective, preventive, inspection, and capital work for reporting and KPI calculations
  • Priority: numeric value (1 = highest) used by schedulers to sequence the backlog
  • Job Plan: links a pre-defined task list, estimated hours, and standard materials to the work order
  • Target Start and Finish Dates: planning targets, distinct from the actual scheduled dates
  • Failure Class: enables structured failure reporting at completion

Approval is either manual (supervisor logs in and changes status from WAPPR to APPR) or automated through Maximo Workflow. An automated approval workflow evaluates rules — such as estimated cost thresholds or asset criticality scores — and routes the work order to the appropriate approver or approves it automatically if the criteria are met.

Adding Labor, Materials, and Tools

The Plans tab of a work order contains the estimated resources needed to complete the job. These estimates come from the linked job plan or are entered manually by the planner. Estimates form the baseline for cost variance analysis.

The Actuals tab records what was actually consumed during execution. This is where the real-world maintenance cost data lives.

Labor actuals are entered as labor transactions: employee or craft, regular hours, overtime hours, work date, and transaction type (internal labor vs. contractor). Multiple labor transactions can be recorded for a single work order when a job spans multiple shifts or involves multiple crafts. Maximo applies labor rates from the Craft application to calculate actual labor costs.

Materials actuals are recorded as material usage transactions. When a technician issues a part from a storeroom, the system generates a material transaction linked to both the work order and the inventory record. This simultaneously records the cost on the work order and reduces the storeroom inventory balance. Unplanned materials (parts not on the job plan) can be added ad hoc, but they appear as variances in planning efficiency reports.

Tools actuals track equipment and specialized tools used during the job. Tool transactions record the tool, the rate per use, and the quantity used, contributing to the total cost of the work order.

The combination of planned-versus-actual data across labor, materials, and tools gives planners the variance data they need to improve job plan accuracy over time — a continuous improvement process that distinguishes mature Maximo implementations from basic ones.

Failure Codes and Completion Reporting

Failure reporting at work order completion is one of the most underutilized features in Maximo implementations, yet it is the foundation of reliability analysis. The failure code hierarchy operates at four levels:

Failure Class groups assets into categories that share a common failure mode vocabulary. For example, all rotating machinery might share a “ROTATING” failure class with codes for bearing failure, imbalance, and seal leak.

Problem describes the symptom observed by the requester or technician: vibration, overheating, leakage, or noise.

Cause identifies the root mechanism behind the problem: wear, corrosion, improper installation, or operating outside design parameters.

Remedy records what was done to restore the asset: replaced bearing, adjusted alignment, repaired seal, cleaned heat exchanger.

When technicians consistently complete failure codes at work order closure, the cumulative data supports failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), PM frequency optimization, and spare parts stocking decisions. Organizations that invest in failure code discipline see a measurable reduction in repeat failures within 12–18 months.

Mobile Access: Maximo Anywhere and MAS Mobile

Maximo 7.6 includes Maximo Anywhere, a hybrid mobile application built on IBM MobileFirst Platform. Anywhere provides technicians with a subset of work order functions optimized for smartphone and tablet use: receiving assigned work, updating status, recording labor and materials, capturing signatures, and completing checklists.

MAS introduces a rebuilt mobile experience called Maximo Mobile (application name: Technician). It runs natively on iOS and Android and communicates with MAS Manage via REST API. Key improvements over Maximo Anywhere include offline-first architecture (work orders cached on the device survive connectivity loss), map-based work order navigation, and native integration with MAS Monitor alert-generated work orders.

For organizations on Maximo 7.6 evaluating MAS, the mobile experience improvement is frequently cited as a primary motivation for migration, particularly in field-intensive industries such as utilities and transportation. The Maximo to MAS migration path provides guidance on planning this transition.

Work Order Automation with Job Plans and PM

Job Plans are reusable task templates that attach to work orders. A well-designed job plan library significantly reduces planner effort and improves consistency. Each job plan contains:

  • A sequential or unordered task list with estimated labor hours per task
  • A materials list with item numbers, quantities, and storeroom source
  • Tool requirements
  • Safety instructions and lock-out/tag-out procedures
  • Applicable meters to record at completion

When a job plan is associated with a PM record, every generated work order inherits the full task list, materials, and safety instructions automatically. This is the mechanism that transforms Maximo from a reactive work tracking tool into a proactive maintenance management system. Organizations targeting a 70–80% planned work ratio rely on a robust job plan library as the core of their reliability program.

Reporting on Work Order Performance

Work order data feeds all key maintenance KPIs. The most important metrics derived from Maximo work orders include:

PM Compliance: the percentage of PM work orders completed within the scheduled window. Industry best practice targets 80%+ monthly PM compliance. Low compliance signals scheduling inefficiency, material delays, or inadequate staffing.

Backlog: the volume of approved but not yet scheduled work orders, measured in total estimated labor hours. A growing backlog without a corresponding staffing increase indicates a maintenance organization losing ground to demand.

MTTR (Mean Time to Repair): calculated from the difference between work order creation time and completion time for corrective work orders. Reducing MTTR improves production availability.

Actual vs. Estimated Cost Variance: comparing planned costs from job plans against actual costs from labor and material transactions identifies estimating errors and unplanned scope growth.

These KPIs are accessible through Maximo’s built-in reporting tools and more powerfully through Cognos Analytics in MAS. The Maximo Reporting Guide details how to configure these reports and build maintenance dashboards; for broader context on how connected maintenance systems are evolving, Industrie du Futur tracks the integration of EAM platforms with Industry 4.0 programs.