Work Management
What this domain tests
Work management tests the work-order lifecycle: identification, prioritization, planning, scheduling, execution, recording, and closeout. Expect questions on backlog, wrench time, kitting, schedule compliance, break-in work, and shutdown coordination.
Core rules and concepts
- Work order types should separate corrective, preventive, predictive, emergency, and project work so metrics are meaningful.
- Planning defines scope, methods, labor, materials, tools, permits, and duration before scheduling. Scheduling assigns the work to a time and crew.
- Priority is based on consequence and risk, not on who calls loudest.
- Measure backlog in craft-hours or crew-weeks, not raw work-order count. A common target is 2–4 weeks of ready backlog.
- Schedule compliance = scheduled work completed ÷ scheduled work, usually measured weekly. A frozen schedule protects execution.
- Wrench time is time on tools. Planning, kitting, and coordination raise it by reducing waiting and searching.
Worked example
A maintenance backlog contains 2,400 craft-hours. Ten technicians each provide 40 productive hours per week, so capacity is 400 hours per week. Backlog = 2,400 ÷ 400 = 6 weeks. The target is 2–4 weeks. The reasoning: six weeks means priority work waits too long and scope grows. The response is not simply to add overtime; first remove low-value PM tasks, improve planning so jobs are ready, and reduce break-in work. If 30% of capacity is consumed by emergency work, the effective backlog is worse than the raw number suggests.
Traps that cost marks
Counting work orders instead of hours. Scheduling without materials or permits. Letting planners perform reactive work. Measuring compliance against a schedule that changes daily. Treating all break-in work as unavoidable. Closing work orders without failure or labor history.
Exam tip
If backlog is high, check whether it is a capacity problem or a readiness problem. Unplanned, unkitted work inflates backlog and destroys schedule compliance.