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Smart Time Estimates

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Platform:WebMobile
Plan Type:BasicEssentialPremiumEnterprise
User Type:RequesterFull UserAdministrator

AI-powered smart time estimates use data from past work orders to automatically estimate how long it should take to complete a new work order.

Using smart time estimates can help you:

  • Understand how long it takes to complete work.
  • Maximize your maintenance team's capacity: avoid unplanned overtime and downtime.
  • Generate better inputs for the Workload view, so you can plan work effectively (See Schedule Work in the Workload view).

How to Use Smart Time Estimates​

Smart time estimates don't need any special action on your part. As soon as you turn them on (See Turn Smart Time Estimates On and Off), MaintainX calculates them automatically for new work orders. You can choose whether to add them to the Estimated Time for new work orders by default, or display them so you can decide whether to add them (See Set the Default Behavior for Smart Time Estimates).

MaintainX generates a smart time estimate when you first create a new work order. If you edit the work order later, and add or update a value in any field that smart time estimates uses, MaintainX updates the estimate.

If the AI model can't find enough data to generate a smart time estimate for a new work order, it displays a notification in the work order form.

How MaintainX Generates Smart Time Estimates​

To generate a smart time estimate for a new work order, the AI model first finds past work orders for the same work, and then analyzes them to estimate how long the work usually takes.

Finding Past Work Orders​

For the AI model to find past work orders for the same work, your new work order must have at least two of the following fields filled out:

  • Asset (required)
  • Procedure
  • Assigned to
  • Categories

When you create the new work order, the model analyzes past work orders that have exactly the same combination values in those key fields.

For example, let’s say you create a work order for maintenance on a forklift.

  • If you fill in the Asset and Assign to fields, but don’t add a procedure or category, the model will look for other work orders with exactly that combination: the forklift asset, the same assignee, but no procedure or category.
  • If you add a Procedure, the model will now look for work orders with the new combination instead: the forklift asset, the same assignee and the same procedure.
note

When you create a new work order with a new combination of values, MaintainX cannot generate a smart estimate right away.

For example, if you’ve always assigned work orders for maintenance on your forklift to the same person, but one day you change the assignee, the AI model won’t find any past work orders with the new combination, and won’t be able to generate a smart time estimate.

Finding Time Data​

After the AI model finds past work orders to analyze, it looks at time data to help it determine how long it usually takes to complete the work. In order of priority, it looks at:

  • Time you added to the work order (in the Time & Cost Tracking section).
  • Estimated Time you added to the work order.
  • The time the work order spent In Progress (calculated automatically based on status changes).
  • The time it took to complete the work order (calculated automatically based on the time the work order was created and the time it was completed).

For each past work order, the model uses the first data that it finds to create the smart time estimate. For example, if a past work order has both estimated time and time added by the technician who did the work, it will use the time added, but not the estimated time.

The model gives more weight to work orders with higher-priority time data. For example, it weights a past work order with time tracking data more highly than one with only estimated time.