When it comes to the term: “best preventative maintenance Excel” template, or the “best preventative maintenance Excel template,” a couple of different scenarios come into mind.
Facility managers would agree to that, to say the least.
It always seems like assets & equipment break down and go offline when you have the most guests at your establishment.
Whether you are hosting a VIP celebration, event, or industry conference, the timing of equipment failures never ceases to amaze me. But what if it could all be prevented? Or at least proactively managed? That’s where preventative maintenance (“PM”) comes in.
Priced on per user or per location basis
Available on iOS, Android and Web
Defining “Best Preventative Maintenance Excel Template”
The definition is in the name itself, and it’s really simple: proactively manage your assets and equipment based on scheduled timelines and detailed step-by-step maintenance procedures to prevent equipment downtime at your hotel, restaurant, or property.
But how do we build a preventative maintenance schedule for over 100+ assets & equipment across your organization?
That’s where an advanced Excel tool can greatly benefit any Facility or Maintenance Manager.
A spreadsheet-like tool can help you track important scheduled maintenance dates in a visually appealing Calendar or Gantt chart view.
The problem with most Excel files and project management tools is they aren’t truly dedicated to asset maintenance.
They may enable you to track basic planned tasks but do not fully integrate the Asset historical activity, useful life, PM checklist submission reports, images, cost, receipts/invoices, owner’s manuals, vendor contacts, and more.
That is where a robust preventative maintenance software can be a game-changer for your facility management processes.
Through these tools, you can leverage mobile-first capabilities to capture and report asset issues, scan QR codes to view historical activity and recent PM checklist submissions, and generate advanced reports on cost by asset by unit/location/site, open work orders, and more.
If you are managing multiple facilities or sites, an Excel tool is a great starting point, however, a more comprehensive maintenance management system should definitely be on your radar.
Without further ado, let’s dive right in and get your Preventive Maintenance process locked and loaded.
What is a Preventative Maintenance Excel Tool?
A Preventative Maintenance Excel Tool contains a column-style data table where you can enter all of your Assets, their next scheduled maintenance task, status, and assignee/vendor. From here, a calendar and schedule view is automatically generated, giving you a visual representation of your upcoming maintenance tasks and longer-term PM program.
From this Excel tool, you can transparently track:
- Completed asset logs & PM checklist responses
- Employee workload distribution
- Critical severity asset issues
- One-off work orders and quick repairs
- Vendor contact details
- Outstanding / not approved Maintenance Requests
- Monthly, quarterly, and annual maintenance checks (if you need to track asset PMs on a weekly basis, just add more columns!)
Whether you have to routinely check the HVAC system on Floor 3, or check that the refrigerator water filter has been replaced every 3 months, a Preventative Maintenance Excel tool can be a cost-effective way to keep your PM programs running smoothly and transparently.
The Importance of Preventative Maintenance in the Hospitality & Food/Beverage Industries
Some organizations may make excuses, such as saying that our company is too small to implement a preventative maintenance program, but then quickly adopt one after one piece of equipment breaks down and costs the company not only a ton of money to repair the equipment under short order but also lost revenue from guest dissatisfaction and poor reputation.
Sometimes a lack of preventative maintenance processes can put your guests in dangerous situations or present more frequent safety issues within your facility.
The last thing an Area General Manager wants to deal with is a lawsuit at one of their 100+ locations.
Adopting a PM tool (whether Excel-based or software-based) can put you 1 step in the right direction to delivering high-quality guest experiences, protecting your brand reputation, and managing unforeseen variable costs.
Digital record keeping to abide by health and safety regulations across the hospitality & food/beverage industries!
Say goodbye to loose-leaf papers and endless binders. A simple, yet powerful Preventative Maintenance Excel tool can eliminate those manual processes entirely.
At your next third-party/external inspection, have peace of mind knowing that all your data is shareable with the inspector and digitally tracked in a thorough yet simplified way.
Hotel-Specific PMs:
- Health and Safety
- HVAC
- Elevator
Restaurant / Food & Beverage Specific PMs:
- Refrigerator
- Chiller / Freezer
Key Components of a Preventative Maintenance Excel Template
- When using this Excel Template, make a note of these important fields that are used to generate your PM plan:
- Status Types
- Work Order / Activity Types
- Staff Members / Assignees
- Activity Start Date and Due Times
- Holiday and Block-Out Periods
The above components enable you to automatically generate your PM Calendar and manage your maintenance tasks in our Excel Tool. For each planned maintenance task, make sure you provide these details otherwise your PM Calendar will not generate properly.
How to Conduct a Preventative Maintenance Schedule, Task, or Work Order (within Excel Tool)
Plan and execute, plan and execute, that is the name of the PM game. But when you are planning to manage a large number of assets, manual paper/pencil won’t do the job. A PM Excel Tool can allow you to delegate important tasks efficiently and track them through completion. However, in order to execute this, you need to:
- Put together a list of Assets that you want to conduct Preventative Maintenance with.
- Determine which employees our team members will be responsible for which types of tasks
- Ensure you clearly define start and due dates. Some PM tasks may take longer than others, so employees should be aware of when to start more time-consuming tasks to ensure no delays.
- Update the Status: After tasks are completed, make sure you update the status of the task. If you don’t do this, you will build a backlog of tasks that need to be updated. At some point, the Excel tool will become unmanageable.
Who Uses a Preventative Maintenance Excel Template?
Primary Users
- SMBs
- Single Location Hospitality General Managers, Heads of Engineering, Maintenance Managers
- Multi-Location Hotel Maintenance & Facility Managers
- Restaurant Owners
Secondary Users
- Maintenance Technicians
Tertiary Users
- Portfolio Managers: Ideally a Preventative Maintenance Excel Template can create efficient & transparent data connections between senior executives and “boots-on-the-ground” personnel.
Best Preventative Maintenance Excel File: Free Template
Download this Preventative Maintenance Excel File now to get started creating your own PM Asset programs, planned inspections, and detailed checklists!
This template includes some of the most common information and formulas to conduct & track simple PM tasks.
You can download and edit the template to suit your specific needs, and if you’re using Xenia, you can instantly start using your work order management system to track maintenance tasks and requests across your hotels, all on the go.
Download your free Preventative Maintenance Excel Tool here.
Frequently Asked Questions: Preventative Maintenance Excel Template
Does this tool work for complex PM programs with many assets and tasks?
The Excel tool is great for starters, but with growing needs, it can become bulky and prone to errors. Xenia’s Preventative Maintenance (“PM”) software seamlessly handles complex plans with advanced features.
Can I track recurring tasks and set reminders?
You can set basic reminders, but it requires manual management. Xenia automates recurring tasks, sends notifications, and tracks completion history for better control.
I have checklists that I want my team members to fill out during a Preventative Maintenance task. Can I add this to the Excel file?
No, this Excel tool doesn’t factor in PM checklists. However, with Xenia’s PM tool, you can create recurring maintenance work orders and attach PM checklists for team members to fill out.
I find data entry and updates in the Excel tool time-consuming. Is there a faster way?
Xenia eliminates manual data entry with features like QR code scanning for asset details and mobile checklists for instant updates.
Can I collaborate with my team using the Excel tool?
Yes, you can collaborate with your team using this Excel tool. However, there are limitations to the tool, such as single assignee only, no team/group assignments, etc.
Does the tool generate reports on maintenance costs and performance?
Basic reporting is possible, but formatting and analysis are manual. Xenia’s software app provides customizable reports with insights into costs, efficiency, and areas for improvement.
I want to track maintenance history and trends for individual assets. Is that possible?
Both the Excel tool and Xenia’s state-of-the-art preventative maintenance template platform offer maintenance history tracking.
For visual analytics on historical trends, you would need to build a few manual charts, however, the data is tracked in our Excel tool. Xenia’s PM software offers customizable reports where you can build your own charts and graphs inside of the App.
My maintenance needs vary across different locations. Can the Excel tool handle that?
Managing multiple locations in Excel can be messy. Xenia offers centralized control with location-specific views and task management. If you are tracking 100+ assets across multiple locations, you may want to graduate from an Excel tool to a more comprehensive software solution.
I'm concerned about data security and access control in the Excel tool.
Excel files are vulnerable to accidental edits and unauthorized access. Xenia ensures secure cloud storage, user roles, and audit trails for complete data protection.
I'm ready to upgrade my Preventative Maintenance system. How easy is it to migrate data from Excel to Xenia?
Xenia provides smooth data import tools to effortlessly transition your existing data from Excel, ensuring a seamless switch. We also have a Data Team that can help transition your data as well.
In addition to that, Xenia maintains an non-exhaustive list of some of the best facility operations management templates, inclusive of the best preventive maintenance Excel template that you can download, customize and apply to any number of use-cases.
What more could you ask for?