Job Cal Plus is a scheduling program that displays jobs (work orders) on a calendar on the date they need to be done.  The terms work order and job are interchangeable.  A job has a task (work to be done) on a specific piece of equipment for a specific date.  A task is a function to be performed; for example changing oil would be a task.  Equipment are objects that you want to perform tasks on. 

Once you have a task set up, you assign pieces of equipment to the task.  For example, you could assign a truck and a car to the task “Change Oil”.  When you assign equipment to a task, you set up a schedule of when you want the task performed on that equipment.  For example, the truck could be scheduled every 5000 miles and the car could be scheduled every 90 days.  Once you have accomplished this, the system automatically generates work orders for the task and updates the calendar. 

Once the work orders are placed on the calendar they can be closed (marked as completed), rescheduled, modified, skipped, printed, etc.  The closed job information is placed in history and reports access this data to give you historical information.   Work Orders can also be printed.  See Printing Work Orders

There are two types of jobs: Preventative or Corrective.

Preventative Jobs are scheduled work orders for tasks that occur regularly.  Job Cal Plus then places these jobs on your calendar.  For example, changing the oil in a truck every three months is Preventative Maintenance. A Corrective Job is a job that occurs once. For example, your truck won't start so you put in a Corrective Work Order to get it fixed.

There are 3 methods to schedule Preventative Jobs:

• Schedule By Days
• Schedule By Meter
• Schedule By Days/Meter.

Schedule By Days.  This method generates work orders by using dates only. Schedule by Days allows you to choose between fixed or floating as the schedule type.  For example:

Fixed Jobs

If a job is fixed and is scheduled every 30 days, Job Cal Plus would schedule jobs on June 22nd, July 22nd, August 21st, etc… If the first work order is closed on June 29th (7 days late), the other work orders won't be affected because they are fixed in place.

Floating Jobs

The first work order was closed 7 days later than it was due, the other work orders will have their due dates changed to be 7 days later because the jobs float (i.e. the next job would be due on July 29th instead of July 22nd).

Schedule By Meter.  This method generates work orders by using meter readings only.  In order to schedule a job by Meter or Days/Meter the equipment must be metered (the Metered checkbox must be checked on the equipment record).  If there has been a meter reading entered there will either be 1 open job and 1 estimated job or else just 1 estimated job on the screen for any task and equipment combination.  Job Cal Plus automatically monitors the meter readings and if the meter reading comes due, the task is scheduled (changed from estimated to scheduled) and a new estimated job is also created.  With this method the only schedule type is floating.

Schedule By Days/Meter generates a work order based on the “which ever comes first” rule.  For example, you need to change the oil every 5000 miles or every 6 months which ever comes first. With this method the only schedule type is floating. 

Should a task be fixed or floating? 

It depends on the task.  The following examples illustrate when to use fixed and floating.

• Fixed Example:  Hanging Christmas lights.  The task is scheduled for Dec 10th.  If you do not hang the lights until Dec 24th this year, you would still want the job scheduled for Dec 10th the next year.
  
• Float Example:  Change Oil every 60 days.  The job is scheduled for June 5th, August 4th, etc… If you change the oil on July 10th instead of June 5th you would not want to change the oil again on August 4th. If the task is float, Job Cal Plus will automatically adjust the August 4th due date to September 9th.

Corrective Jobs are one-time or emergency work such as changing a flat tire on a truck.  Corrective information is often entered for the purpose of keeping a good equipment record file.