Industry coding standard helps technicians ensure maintenance data integrity
There’s an old saying: “It all starts on the shop floor.” When it comes to equipment repair orders, these words ring true. In order for a fleet to operate smoothly, maintenance data must be precise and repair orders complete.
The responsibility for timely and accurate service information starts with technicians. They are a maintenance operation’s first and best hope in collecting the correct data. If the wrong information is collected on the repair order, eventually the wrong information will end up as being factual. Garbage in, garbage out.
Fleets cannot maintain their equipment with anecdotal information. Facts are needed to ensure proper business decisions. Fortunately, there’s an industry standard that helps take the guesswork out of collecting maintenance repair data on the floor.
The Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards (VMRS) were developed more than 40 years ago as a standard coding convention for universally tracking maintenance costs and functions. In other words, it was intended to be the “shorthand” of maintenance reporting.
Developed under the auspices of the American Trucking Associations and managed by its Technology & Maintenance Council, VMRS puts everyone on the same page and speaking the same language. VMRS can help any maintenance shop reach its full potential and profitability.
Clarity in Reporting
Clarity is extremely important when it comes to equipment maintenance reporting. There are numerous ways to describe what work was performed and why a certain part failed. Most employees prefer a short, precise method when entering data on a repair order.
Technicians are paid to repair equipment, not dwell on filling out complicated repair orders. VMRS can help speed up the process.
The VMRS codes help eliminate the need for extensive written communications with all the inherent problems of miscommunication normally associated with the written word. The coding structure encompasses most equipment found within today’s transportation activities, including trucks, tractors, trailers, forklifts, shop equipment, off-road and utility vehicles. If it needs maintenance, VMRS can help.
Describing the work performed on a repair order can be a difficult task for many technicians. Too many choices can lead to frustration and incorrect data. VMRS brings continuity to the repair order process. With VMRS, a fleet can operate multiple maintenance shops and receive consistent data throughout the organization.
Code Keys
VMRS is organized into code keys, which are data sets/elements or “buckets” of individual codes that describe a given function. For example, one such “bucket,” Code Key 18: Technician Failure Code, contains more than 90 codes that alphanumerically describe the apparent failure of a suspect component as determined by the technician /supervisor. These include:
- 04 Dented.
- 10 Bent.
- 14 Cracked.
- 18 Leaking.
- 21 Misadjusted.
- 25 Out of Balance.
- 27 Overheating.
- 95 Requires Program Update.
Code Key 15: Work Accomplished Code contains more than 45 codes used to describe the labor that was performed. There are also codes for preventive maintenance (PM) levels. A few of these code examples are:
- 01 Adjust.
- 03 Replace with New.
- 32 Torque.
- 33 Tighten.
- 45 Resurface.
- 46 Regenerate on Vehicle.
Code Key 33: Component Code, a nine-digit number, describes any part imaginable on a vehicle, no matter how small or large. The first three numbers identify its originating system; next three, its assembly; and last three, the part itself.
Technicians can use VMRS to make an alphanumerical coded sentence, usually as part of a maintenance management software program. For example, suppose the technician spots a manually-adjusted front wheel bearing that’s out of adjustment and then adjusts it to within 0.001” to 0.005” endplay as per OEM specification. VMRS describes that consistently using Code Keys 15, 18 and 33 (component) in just 13 digits: 018-001-002 21 01.
What is it? Code Key 33: Component Code 018-001-002; stands for Bearing Assembly, Cup and Cone – Front Steer Wheel, Outer.
What’s wrong with it? Code Key 18: Technician Failure Code 21; stands for Misadjusted.
What was the correction? Code Key 15: Work Accomplished 01; stands for Adjust.
The codes are a brief description of labor tasks that make it easy for a technician to choose the proper work that was performed on any type of equipment.
Control of Costs
Jarit Cornelius, director of maintenance for Nashville-based truckload carrier Sharp Transport – a panelist on the VMRS Study Group session at the 2015 TMC Annual Meeting in Nashville – explained that VMRS is the ideal tool to help fleets gain complete control of their costs.
He stated that VMRS allows the user to precisely track repair data for use in forecasting, set a realistic budget, identify if and where training is needed for technicians, proactively schedule maintenance procedures and identify key costs to effectively reduce expenses and increase the bottom line.
Cornelius said Sharp Transport views VMRS as its number one tool responsible for leading the improvement in efficiency of its maintenance department. The fleet has created best practices, developed reports and implemented solutions through VMRS that continue to contribute to fleet operations and its bottom line.
Also on the panel was Michael Riemer, vice president of products and channel marketing for Decisiv, a provider of Service Relationship Management (SRM) solutions for commercial assets. He said VMRS can help sort Big Data – the collection and sifting of large amounts of information – which can become confusing and chaotic if you don’t have structure to it. Trying to understand unstructured information is extremely difficult but VMRS provides a solution.
He added that VMRS is not just for components, but also can explain a fleet’s assets, service events, repair operations, as well as the physical components that are being impacted. Moreover, Riemer said Decisiv applies VMRS to the practical application of regular business activities, increasing the ability for the manager to “slice and dice” data across a wide variety of areas, and that provides a better overall picture of a shop’s capacity and total efficiency.
Consistency
VMRS provides consistency throughout any maintenance operation, whether you have one shop or 20. Think of VMRS as the musical notes of maintenance repairs, it puts everyone on the same page, playing the same notes. It has been the standard since its introduction in 1970 and continues to be an integral part of all types of maintenance related businesses.
VMRS is much more than numbers. It’s a standard method of recording daily maintenance operations that helps save them time and complete a repair order in a standard fashion.
Gone are the days of confusing labor descriptions and different descriptions of the parts used on a repair. VMRS cuts through the jargon that can hinder any maintenance operation. VMRS is the known advantage in collecting maintenance information.
Jack Poster is the VMRS services manager for TMC (www.trucking.org/Technology_Council.aspx), North America’s premier technical society for truck equipment technology and maintenance. As such, he is caretaker of the VMRS coding convention, working with fleets, OEMs, software firms and all users of VMRS to ensure the integrity of the codes. TMC is a technical council of American Trucking Associations (www.trucking.org) – the largest national trade association for the trucking industry.
