What is in the template
One row per record; the first row holds the column names and stays as it is. The grey rows are examples to replace or delete. The whole workbook has five sheets (all of them); this page is about the Work orders sheet.
| external_ref | Your own number for the job (WO-1042). Importing the same file again updates the row instead of making a copy. |
|---|---|
| title | What was, or is to be, done. |
| asset_code | The code of the machine, as in the equipment list. |
| type | corrective, preventive, inspection or other (drop-down). |
| priority | low, medium, high or critical. |
| status | open, done or closed; done and closed rows are history and notify nobody on import. |
| reported_at, due_at, closed_at | When it was reported (date, or date and time), when it is due, when it was finished. |
| assignee_email | Who did it, by e-mail, as in the People sheet. |
| category | Mechanical, Electrical, Pneumatics… |
| description, cause, action | What was wrong, why, and what was done about it: the three lines that make a log worth reading a year later. |
| labour_hours, parts_cost, other_cost | Hours of work (2.5), the cost of parts used, other costs such as a contractor. |
How it works in Excel
- Codes stay text. The code columns are formatted as text, so 007 stays 007 and a code with a slash is not turned into a date.
- A header that stays put. Row 1 is frozen and carries a filter, so you can sort by any column and still see the names.
- Drop-downs, not guesswork. Where LineKeeper Up takes a fixed set of words, the cell offers them; the importer also understands the Spanish words (operativo, máquina, semana).
- Dates that stay dates. Reported and closed take a date and a time, due a date; they sort and filter as dates and import as YYYY-MM-DD whatever your Excel's language.
- Overdue in red. An open row whose due date is before today is highlighted; filter on status = open and the red cells are your backlog.
- Numbers you can add up. Hours and costs are numbers, not text, so a SUM at the bottom or a pivot by machine works from day one.
When the sheet is not enough: into LK Up in three steps
A sheet has no phone on the floor, no QR label on the machine, no photo on a problem report and no reminder that fires by itself. When that starts to hurt, the same file moves into a system in an evening.
- Install LK Up. It is free and runs on your own Mac or Windows PC (download, about half an hour to the first work order). Phones use the web app, offline too.
- Choose the workbook. Work orders → Import, pick the file. The Work orders sheet is chosen by its name; the Preview shows each row's action and any problem before anything is written. Columns need no mapping: the sheet's headers are the importer's own.
- Press Import. Then the other sheets, each from its own page: Assets, Parts, People, PM schedules, Work orders, in that order. Importing the same file again updates the records instead of duplicating them (choose «update it from the file»), so you can keep working in Excel for a while and import again.
Why we built it this way
- Cause and action, every time. A log that only says «fixed» teaches nothing. Two short columns, what was wrong and what was done, are what turns a log into the history a new technician can learn from.
- Your numbers survive the move. The external ref is kept as the work order's reference in LK Up; the old paper and the new system agree on what WO-1042 was.
- History is quiet. Done and closed rows import as history: no notifications, no open work for anyone. Open rows become live work orders, with their due dates.
Why it is free. LK Up comes from years of field service in plants that kept their maintenance in a spreadsheet or in nobody's head. The templates are the first step of that road and cost nothing; the system they lead to is free for every person in your plant, with nothing held back, and leaving is as easy as arriving. Missing a column your plant needs? Write to us. What LK Up is →