Introduction to Maintenance Management

Modified on Tue, 18 Nov at 11:09 AM

Introduction to Maintenance Management

Overview

ARMOR's Maintenance Management system helps you track preventative maintenance schedules for your fleet, reducing unexpected breakdowns and extending equipment life. By automatically monitoring runtime, distance, and calendar time, ARMOR alerts you when maintenance is due—before costly failures occur.

What is Maintenance Management?

Maintenance Management automates the tracking of service schedules for your assets. Instead of manually tracking oil changes, filter replacements, inspections, and other routine maintenance in spreadsheets, ARMOR monitors telemetry data and sends alerts when service is needed.

Key Benefits

Reduce downtime: Catch maintenance needs before equipment fails
Extend asset life: Proper preventative maintenance protects your investment
Lower repair costs: Scheduled maintenance is cheaper than emergency repairs
Stay compliant: Never miss manufacturer-required service intervals
Improve efficiency: Automated tracking eliminates manual spreadsheet maintenance

How Maintenance Management Works

The system tracks three types of triggers that determine when maintenance is due:

Trigger Type	What It Monitors	Example
Time-Based	Calendar days since last service	Annual inspection every 365 days
Usage-Based (Runtime)	Operating hours accumulated	Oil change every 250 hours
Usage-Based (Distance)	Miles or kilometers traveled	Tire rotation every 5,000 miles

Maintenance Lifecycle

      1. Configuration: Create maintenance rule (e.g., "Oil
      Change every 250 hours")
    
      2. Initialization: Set starting point (reset to 0 or use
      current value)
    
      3. Monitoring: ARMOR tracks telemetry data automatically
    
      4. Alert Generation: When threshold reached, maintenance
      alert is created
    
      5. Notification: Users receive email/SMS alerts about due
      maintenance
    
      6. Completion: Technician marks maintenance complete,
      counter resets
    
7. Repeat: Cycle begins again

Real-World Example

Let's walk through a typical scenario:

Scenario: You have 50 floor scrubbers that need oil changes every 300 hours of runtime.

Without ARMOR Maintenance Management:

Manually track runtime for each machine in a spreadsheet
Review spreadsheet weekly to identify machines near 300 hours
Risk missing maintenance windows → engine damage
No visibility into fleet-wide maintenance needs

With ARMOR Maintenance Management:

Create one maintenance rule: "Oil Change - 300 hour intervals"
Apply to all scrubbers (or just specific models)
ARMOR automatically monitors runtime from telemetry
Alerts appear on dashboard and via email when machines hit 300 hours
Technician completes service, marks maintenance done → counter resets to 0
Next alert triggers automatically at next 300-hour mark

Key Concepts

Maintenance Rules

A Maintenance Rule defines what needs to be done and when. Each rule includes:

Name: Description of the maintenance task (e.g., "Oil Change")
Data Field: What to monitor (runtime, distance, or calendar time)
Threshold: When to trigger alert (e.g., 250 hours, 5000 miles, 365 days)
Scope: Which assets the rule applies to (all, sites, specific assets, or tag-based)
Messages: Custom alert text when maintenance is due or completed

Maintenance Definitions vs. Rules

Understanding the difference:

Definition: The technical specification (data field, threshold, units). Created by you when setting up a rule.
Rule: The definition + scope (which assets it applies to). A single definition can be used in multiple rules with different scopes.

Initialization Modes

When you create a maintenance rule for existing equipment, you choose how to initialize counters:

Zero Mode: Start fresh at 0 hours/miles (use if maintenance was just performed)
Current Mode: Start from current telemetry values (use if you want to phase in gradually)

Scope Options

Rules can apply to:

Account-wide: All assets in your organization
Site-based: All assets at specific sites
Asset-specific: Individual assets selected manually
Tag-based: All assets with specific tags (e.g., "Manufacturer:Kaivac" AND "Model:17CC")

Common Use Cases

1. Standard Preventative Maintenance

Challenge: Track oil changes, filter replacements, and routine service for entire fleet.

Solution: Create maintenance rules for each service interval (250 hours, 500 hours, 1000 hours), apply to all assets.

2. Manufacturer-Required Service

Challenge: Equipment warranty requires specific maintenance at defined intervals.

Solution: Create rules matching manufacturer specs, ensuring compliance and preserving warranty.

3. Annual Inspections

Challenge: Safety inspections required yearly regardless of usage.

Solution: Create time-based rule (365 days max), no runtime/distance threshold.

4. High-Use Equipment Monitoring

Challenge: Some assets run constantly, others rarely—need different schedules.

Solution: Use tag-based scoping to apply aggressive maintenance schedules to high-use assets, standard schedules to others.

5. Fleet-Wide Battery Maintenance

Challenge: Electric assets need battery maintenance based on charge cycles.

Solution: Create maintenance rule tracking charge/discharge cycles, apply to all battery-powered equipment.

Where to Access Maintenance Management

Administration Portal

Log into ARMOR web portal
Navigate to Administration → Maintenance Management
View list of all maintenance rules
Create, edit, or delete rules

Asset Detail Pages

On each asset's detail page, you'll see:

Maintenance Status Widget: Current status of all applicable maintenance items
Progress Bars: Visual indicators showing how close maintenance is to being due
Alerts Section: Active maintenance alerts for this asset
Complete Maintenance Button: Quick action to mark maintenance done

Alerts & Notifications

Maintenance alerts appear in:

Alerts Dashboard: Centralized view of all active maintenance alerts
Email Notifications: Automatic emails when maintenance comes due
Mobile App: Push notifications for maintenance alerts (if enabled)
Reports: Maintenance summary reports (upcoming, overdue, completed)

Maintenance vs. Goals: What's the Difference?

ARMOR has both Maintenance Management and Goal Management. Here's how they differ:

Feature	Maintenance Management	Goal Management
Purpose	Track service schedules	Monitor performance targets
Trigger	Accumulation (hours add up to threshold)	Comparison (daily/weekly value vs. target)
Reset	Manual (mark complete to reset counter)	Automatic (resets daily/weekly/monthly)
Example	"Oil change every 250 hours"	"Asset should run at least 6 hours per day"
Use Case	Preventative maintenance tracking	Utilization and performance monitoring

You can use both together! For example, use Maintenance Management to track oil changes, and Goals to ensure assets are being utilized enough to justify maintenance costs.

Permission Requirements

To use Maintenance Management features, your user account needs specific roles:

Action	Required Role
Create/edit/delete maintenance rules	Admin or Super
View maintenance status on assets	Any user role
Mark maintenance complete	User, Admin, or Super
View maintenance alerts	Any user role

Getting Started Checklist

Ready to implement Maintenance Management? Follow this checklist:

☐ Identify maintenance needs: List all maintenance tasks your fleet requires (oil changes, inspections, etc.)
☐ Determine intervals: Define thresholds for each task (hours, miles, or days)
☐ Create maintenance rules: Set up rules in Administration → Maintenance Management
☐ Define scope: Apply rules to appropriate assets (all, sites, or specific equipment)
☐ Initialize counters: Choose zero mode (fresh start) or current mode (phase in gradually)
☐ Test on pilot assets: Verify rules work correctly on a few assets before rolling out fleet-wide
☐ Train technicians: Ensure team knows how to mark maintenance complete
☐ Monitor alerts: Check Alerts dashboard regularly for due maintenance
☐ Review quarterly: Adjust thresholds based on actual maintenance needs

What's Next?

Now that you understand the basics, explore these topics:

Types of Maintenance (Scheduled vs Trigger-Based) - Deep dive into maintenance trigger types
Understanding Maintenance Rules - Detailed guide to rule configuration
Creating a Maintenance Plan - Step-by-step instructions to create your first rule
Auto-Scheduling Maintenance From Runtime/Hours - Advanced usage-based scheduling

Getting Help

If you need assistance setting up Maintenance Management, contact the ARMOR Support Team or browse related articles in this category.