The Columbus School for Girls Drives Behind-the-Scenes Efficiency with Asset Essentials

Background 

When Brian Botzman began working as the director of operations at Columbus School for Girls, the maintenance department was using a legacy Brightly product and experiencing difficulties with completing and closing work orders. For example, “One tech had more than 300 open work orders,” Botzman says. “We discovered that some of them were weekly tasks that popped up every day, and the tech didn’t know how to change the schedule.” 

Botzman knew the school was ready for a newer, more robust system to increase efficiency. He led the charge to implement Asset Essentials in May 2023. “I knew that if it didn’t go well, everyone would blame me,” he says. “And the Brightly team made it easy. They stayed on top of it, asking me for information they needed to help us get the software built out and implemented. And it’s gone very well. Everyone loves it.”

Saving Time, Increasing Efficiency 

The “Locations” feature in Asset Essentials is one of Botzman’s favorites. “Before, someone would say, ‘We have a problem in this building,’ and each building is a huge space,” he says. “Now we have every closet, every bathroom, every classroom as a specific location in Asset Essentials, and that saves maintenance a lot of time because techs know exactly where to go.” 

The ability to add photos to work orders has become another time saver for Columbus School of Girls’ maintenance techs. “We might get a work order with two or three photos, and then the tech knows exactly what is needed,” Botzman says. 

Botzman’s goal is for Asset Essentials to drive ongoing, behind-the-scenes efficiency for the school’s inner workings. Because each school year typically looks the same, with a similar calendar and the same annual events, it’s easy for maintenance techs to review what was done before to perform each job appropriately. 

For example, they can look back at the number of tables and chairs that were set up for each unique event over the past year and replicate those events for the coming year, without having to wait for new work orders. To further streamline events, Botzman plans to add Brightly’s Event Manager software next year.

Streamlining Work Order Requests 

Not only are maintenance techs completing work orders more efficiently, but stakeholders throughout the school are taking a more active role, as more than 100 people are set up to submit work orders through Asset Essentials. “Our work order submittals have increased substantially with the new software,” Botzman says. “Instead of people stopping us in the hallway to tell us they need something done, it’s easy for them to submit their requests on their mobile phone.”

Streamlining Work Order Requests 

Throughout the first year of the program, Botzman has worked to make it easier for teachers and other staff members to understand how and when to submit work orders. When there’s stormy weather, a big school event coming up, or other circumstances that might result in a need for maintenance requests, Botzman will sit in the lunchroom or another public place to work, where people can easily stop and ask him questions. 

“I don’t want to be hidden away in my office, I want to be visible so I can help people be prepared and complete the work orders they need,” he says. “That’s really the best way for people to learn, one on one.”

"Preventive maintenance tasks would come up and never get moved to work orders, because it was very easy to overlook. Asset Essentials automatically generates work orders from preventive maintenance tasks, so when a tech comes in, they can instantly see what PMs they need to handle for the day.

Brian Botzman 
Director of Operations, Columbus School for Girls

Driving Preventive Maintenance 

With the previous software, preventive maintenance was not getting done reliably. “Preventive maintenance tasks would come up and never get moved to work orders, because it was very easy to overlook,” Botzman says. “Asset Essentials automatically generates work orders from preventive maintenance tasks, so when a tech comes in, they can instantly see what PMs they need to handle for the day.” 

Asset Essentials also makes succession planning easier, because new leaders can get instant visibility on needs and progress. For example, the school recently hired a new head of maintenance, “and he can automatically see how many overdue work orders we have, which techs are responsible for them, and work towards getting them completed,” Botzman says.