Pencil whipping is a manufacturing term that refers to hastily signing off on work orders or other tasks that have not been properly completed. This can increase your organization’s risk of equipment breakdowns, inventory issues, safety hazards, and more.
Some common tasks that suffer from pencil whipping include Preventive Maintenance (PM), inventory checks, shipment sign offs, safety inspections, and training certifications.
The Risks of Pencil Whipping
Pencil whipping may seem harmless. But if the practice becomes commonplace, it can snowball, causing serious problems for your organization.
For instance, inadequate inspections can result in unexpected and costly repairs, missed deadlines, low-quality products, and angry customers. At worst, pencil whipping may even lead to catastrophic equipment failures that put employee safety at risk.
If left unchecked, pencil whipping can also cause problems related to regulatory compliance, job losses, expensive fines, or even legal trouble.
What Are the Causes of Pencil Whipping?
Pencil whipping can occur for a variety of reasons – and it is often not the result of worker laziness.
Overworked Employees
When too few workers are assigned too many tasks, they often prioritize based on what they think is most important. This can result in pencil whipping the work they perceive as low priority or low risk. Work order software is an excellent way to streamline workflows and automate recordkeeping, freeing up more time for your employees to complete all their scheduled maintenance tasks.
Ineffective Management
Technicians and other workers involved in preventive maintenance work should know why they are completing the tasks assigned to them – and this is the responsibility of their managers. Work order software allows for the creation of customizable templates that describe exactly how and why specific work should be completed, helping your employees stay informed and up-to-date on shifting priorities while ensuring common standards are followed by everyone.
Pressure for Metric Improvement
Workers may feel pressure to hit what they feel are unattainable performance metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), sometimes leading to pencil whipping. With work order software, your company can automatically audit and analyze all maintenance activity, helping you identify potential areas of improvement, as well as set realistic and achievable goals for your maintenance team.
Work Culture Problem
No matter the cause, if pencil whipping is a common practice at your company, it can quickly spread, leading to breakdowns, lost productivity, and wasted money. That’s why processes must be put in place to ensure your workers have the tools they need to easily complete and document all of their preventive maintenance work. With work order software, employees can quickly submit electronic signatures, fill out customizable forms, keep track of their maintenance tasks, and more.
How to Avoid Pencil Whipping
The best way to prevent pencil whipping is to encourage responsibility, transparency, and feedback from all your employees.
When workers know exactly what’s expected of them, have the resources they need to complete their tasks, and have tools that let them easily communicate with management, they are more productive, feel more valued, and are less likely to turn to pencil whipping.
Powerful work order software, like that that comes as part of the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) from eMaint, makes managing your maintenance team a breeze. With all information organized and accessible in real time from any smart device, leadership can quickly identify and address potential shortcomings in current maintenance practices.
How a CMMS Can Prevent Pencil Whipping
Combating pencil whipping with the help of work order software will help your organization quickly and correctly carry out critical maintenance tasks, thus maximizing the productivity and effectiveness of your maintenance team.
Plus, with the robust reporting capabilities of eMaint CMMS, you get peace of mind knowing you have accurate, up-to-date records that are compliant with any relevant standards. That’s because with work order software, every activity is documented and time-stamped electronically so it can be easily retrieved in the case of an audit.
By increasing asset uptime, decreasing unplanned downtime, minimizing maintenance expenses, and automating recordkeeping, work order software quickly pays for itself.
Don’t wait, get eMaint to easily ensure your work orders aren’t pencil whipped today.