Service forms
Each asset has its own form — the checklist and questions a worker fills in on every visit. This is where you encode what a good service run looks like, so it does not have to live in one person's head.
The two kinds of item
- Checklist items
- Things to tick off. “Filter cleaned?”, “Belt inspected?”. One tap each. Use these for the bulk of the routine.
- Questions
- Things that need an answer, not just a tick. Use these when you need a reading, a photo, or a judgment.
Question types
- Text
- Free text. A reading, a part number, an observation.
- Multiple choice
- One answer from a list you define. “Yes / No / Needs attention”.
- Checkboxes
- Any number of answers from a list.
- Photo
- Requires the worker to take a picture. Usually the most useful field on the form: a photo of the part in question answers later questions that text does not.
- Rating scale
- A 1–5 rating. Condition, wear, cleanliness.
- Date
- A date picker.
- Time
- A time picker.
A question can be marked required, and can carry help text shown under the prompt to guide the worker.
Sections
Group items into sections — “Pre-service inspection”, “Filter”, “Wrap-up”. The worker moves through one section per screen rather than facing a wall of fields, and each section can carry its own reference photos showing exactly what to look at.
Anything you do not put in a section lands in a General group at the top.
Copying a form
If you have twelve near-identical pumps or a row of identical machines, build the form once and use Copy template from another asset on the rest, then adjust. It copies the sections, checklist items, and questions.
Editing a form later
Forms change — you add a step, you drop a question that stopped earning its place. Editing is safe: every submitted log froze a snapshot of the exact form it was filled against. A log from March still displays March’s questions with March’s answers, no matter how the form looks today.
Keeping forms short
The most common mistake is a form that grows every time someone thinks of something. A worker facing forty fields on a phone in the sun starts tapping through them. Ask for what you will actually read, and let Ask the Manual carry the reference material instead of the form carrying it.