Shutdown software
Manufacturing Plant Shutdown Software for Automotive and Discrete Plants
Manufacturing plant shutdown software plans annual and mid-year shutdowns where hundreds of small packages across paint, press, welding and utilities must finish in a fixed window. In MaintWiz a package-by-gate grid shows what is ready, the float flag and executive view show what threatens the restart date, in-house crews, contractors and OEM engineers are planned by trade, crews update from phones, and a restart gate holds the first-shift checks you define.
How MaintWiz helps: MaintWiz is a comprehensive shutdown solution for manufacturing plants. It keeps hundreds of small packages across lines in one plan, with the critical path and the restart gate in view.
- Scope, plan, schedule, execution and close-out in one module
- Critical-path Gantt with float and baselines
- Seven readiness gates, signed off by name
- Integrated ePTW: permits and LOTO isolations on every work order
- Earned value: planned, earned and actual, with cost and schedule indices
- Spares needed, in stock and short, with SAP status
- Mobile work orders, offline on transaction screens
- 15 AI agents propose each day; your people approve
By Jai Balachandran · Technical review: Murali Nerur Pasupathy · Published · Last reviewed
What MaintWiz adds:Package-by-gate gridCritical path across linesOEM and contractor crewsRestart gate
The shutdown
What makes an annual manufacturing shutdown hard to finish?
A short, fixed window with many small jobs and a restart that must hit quality on the first shift.
Many small packages
Hundreds of jobs across paint, press, body, assembly and utilities.
A fixed window
The shutdown week is set by the production calendar.
OEM engineers and contractors
Robot and press OEMs and paint-shop contractors need booking well ahead.
Restart quality
The first shift back must produce good parts.
Every package that opens a machine runs under lockout: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147 covers servicing and maintenance where unexpected energization or release of stored energy could injure employees, with group lockout and checks before energy is restored. 1 With many crews on short shifts, UK HSE's advice on handover applies: many handover accidents involved planned maintenance work. 2
MaintWiz
How does MaintWiz run an annual shutdown?
The maintenance manager's problems, each with its screen.
| Your problem | What MaintWiz does |
|---|---|
| Many small packages | A package-by-gate grid from portfolio to checklist task |
| A short window | Float flag, daily views and the executive view |
| Restart quality | Configurable gates including a restart gate with your checks, and findings straight to the planner |
| In-house and contractor tracking | Native mobile app: tasks, readings and photos on the job |
| OEM engineer coordination | Own and contractor resources by trade |
| Lessons between shutdowns | Archive and lessons learnt, carried into the next shutdown |
Twice a year
How do you run two shutdowns a year in one plan history?
Many plants stop mid-year and again at year end; each stop should start from the last.
Each stop archived
Mid-year and year-end shutdowns are projects in the same history.
Compare them
Duration, cost, scope growth and incidents against earlier stops.
Deferred items carried
Work deferred at one stop is the starting list for the next.
One roadmap
Both stops on the year's roadmap with production blackout windows.
Measures
What should you measure in a shutdown?
A few measures tell you whether the shutdown went well; MaintWiz reads them from the same plan the field updates.
Shutdown days against the calendar
Restart on the planned day.
Restart to first good part
Time from restart to the first part that passes.
First-hour quality
Quality in the first hour of production.
Packages planned against done
Packages completed against those planned.
Parts short at the stop
OEM and spare parts still short when work began.
Worked example
Worked example: a 10-day shutdown with 400 packages
ILLUSTRATION: paint, press and utilities in one 10-day window, a paint-shop oven rebuild on the critical path, and a first-shift restart target.
- 1400 packages loadedImported from the shutdown list in Excel
- 2Gates checkedParts, permits and crews by package
- 3Oven rebuildCritical path; other work in float
- 4Restart gateYour first-shift checks signed
- 5First shiftProduction restarts on plan
One system
Why run the shutdown inside the CMMS?
The shutdown uses the same equipment, spares and permits as everyday maintenance; keeping them in one system removes the re-keying between tools.
Work orders and history
Every shutdown job is a work order on the same equipment record, so findings and repairs stay in the asset's history.
Spares and SAP
Needed, in stock and short come from the same stores data, with the SAP request or order behind each short part.
Permits and isolations
ePTW permits and isolations sit on each work order, and a package cannot close while one is open.
AI agents with an approver
AI agents review scope, estimates and the schedule and write daily summaries; each proposal has a named person who approves it.
Who uses it
Who uses MaintWiz in a shutdown?
Each role sees its own part of one plan, so nobody works from a copy.
| Role | What they see | What they decide or record |
|---|---|---|
| Plant head | Restart date and cost | Decisions on scope |
| Maintenance manager | Package grid, critical path and crews | Daily priorities |
| Planner | Float, gates and OEM bookings | Sequence and expediting |
| Area supervisors and OEM engineers | Their packages on the mobile app | Progress, readings and photos |
| Production and quality | The restart gate | First-shift release |
Getting started
How do you start before the next shutdown week?
Start from the shutdown list you already keep.
- 1
Load last stop's job list
Import the shutdown list from Excel, or the schedule as Microsoft Project XML; MaintWiz is interoperable with Primavera P6.
- 2
Fix the restart date
Set the date that cannot move and let the critical path, float and baselines show what drives it.
- 3
Set the gates
Configure the seven readiness gates to your rules: materials, resources, predecessors, tools and scaffold, permits and isolations, scope and engineering, and go.
- 4
Bring the crews in
Planners, supervisors, technicians and contractors get role menus and the native mobile app, with offline work on transaction screens.
- 5
Close and keep it
Close-out records handover, lessons and deferred items, so the next stop is planned against this one.
MaintWiz is shutdown management software built into an AI CMMS, so the stop shares work orders, spares, ePTW permits and maintenance history with the rest of the plant. For the sector background, read manufacturing plant shutdown planning.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does manufacturing plant shutdown software do?
It plans and runs annual and mid-year shutdowns: hundreds of small packages, the critical path across lines, in-house, contractor and OEM crews, mobile updates and a restart gate.
Can MaintWiz track hundreds of small shutdown packages?
Yes. The package-by-gate grid shows every package against its gates, from the portfolio down to the checklist task.
How does MaintWiz show the critical path across paint, press and utilities?
The Gantt and float flag show which line carries the critical path and which packages are close to it, and the executive view shows what threatens the restart date.
How are OEM engineers and contractors scheduled?
Own and contractor resources are planned by trade, so OEM engineers for robots and press lines are booked against the packages that need them.
How does MaintWiz support restart quality after the shutdown?
A configurable restart gate holds the first-shift checks you define, and findings from the field go straight to the planner.
Can crews update progress and photos from their phones?
Yes. The native mobile app records tasks, readings and photos on the job, offline on transaction screens.
Can we run two shutdowns a year in the same plan history?
Yes. Each shutdown is a project in the same history, compared with earlier stops, with deferred items carried into the next.
Can we import our shutdown list from Excel?
Yes. Import the list from Excel or the schedule as Microsoft Project XML, then set the restart date and the gates.
How is MaintWiz priced?
MaintWiz is a subscription that grows with your users, sites and modules, with a fixed implementation fee; ask for a written quote at a demo.
Can MaintWiz use the equipment records we already have?
Yes. Equipment lists and job lists load from Excel, schedules from Microsoft Project XML, and where the plant runs SAP, assets and their codes sync from SAP PM or MM.
Sources
Sources
Public sources read on 7 November 2026. Worked examples are for illustration.
Finish the shutdown week on time
Book a demo and bring your shutdown list. We will load it and show the package grid and the restart gate on your own plant.