A Planner’s Tool Kit
Torbjörn Idhammar, IDCON INC
About 25% of a Planner’s time should be spent in the field, assessing and “scoping” maintenance work. To make this time as useful as possible, a good “planner’s tool kit” is essential.
A good planner’s tool kit should contain the following items, all in convenient package, such as a light-weight tool belt. Or we like a safety vest with lots of pockets.

And, of course, include all the required personal safety equipment and a cell phone or pager in your tool kit. As Maintenance’s “information managers”, planners should be easy to contact.
And in the office, each planner must have a good computer, no more than a couple of years old, with a printer and access to a scanner.
Other useful tools for occasional field inspections are a very bright light (a portable spotlight of at least 1 million cp) and a pair of binoculars.
Including the listed items in your planner’s tool kit will ensure you can assess potential maintenance work efficiently and plan the work accordingly. It will only assist you in completing your duties!
Torbjörn Idhammar
Torbjörn Idhammar is the president and CEO of IDCON INC a Reliability and Maintenance Management Consulting Firm. Tor’s responsibilities include training IDCON consultants, product development, sales, and marketing. He gives advice to IDCON’s multi-site and international clients to ensure outcomes and deliverables are met.