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Full Maintenance Plan entry
How-to guide

Configure a Maintenance Plan for recurring equipment service

Maintenance Plan setup is a few clicks per piece of equipment. Bulk creation via Data Loader is the standard pattern for large installed bases.

By Dipojjal Chakrabarti · Founder & Editor, Salesforce DictionaryLast updated May 21, 2026

Maintenance Plan setup is a few clicks per piece of equipment. Bulk creation via Data Loader is the standard pattern for large installed bases.

  1. Enable Field Service

    Setup, Field Service Settings, enable. Confirm Maintenance Plan is available in Object Manager.

  2. Create the Work Type

    Define the maintenance task (90-Day HVAC Service, Annual Fire Inspection). Set estimated duration and required skills.

  3. Create the Maintenance Plan

    Open the target Asset or Installed Product. Click New Maintenance Plan. Set Frequency, Work Type, Generation Horizon, Start Date.

  4. Activate the Plan

    Set status to Active. The batch job will generate the next Work Order on the next run (typically within a few hours).

  5. Verify Work Order generation

    After the batch job runs, verify the Work Order appears with the correct date and Work Type. Dispatch it through Field Service.

  6. Bulk-create for installed bases

    For large equipment installations, use Data Loader on MaintenancePlan with one row per piece of equipment.

Mandatory fields
Asset or Installed Productrequired

The target equipment for the maintenance.

Work Typerequired

The type of maintenance work.

Frequency and Frequency Typerequired

The cadence of the maintenance.

Generation Horizonrequired

How far in advance Work Orders generate.

Start Date and End Daterequired

The active period of the Plan.

Gotchas
  • The batch job that generates Work Orders runs on a schedule. Newly-activated Plans may take hours to generate their first Work Order.
  • Equipment without an active Maintenance Plan does not auto-generate work. Track unplanned equipment via reports to surface gaps.
  • Field Service licensing is required. Confirm the contract before designing extensively.
  • Frequency changes on an existing Plan affect future Work Orders only; already-generated Work Orders keep their original dates.

See the full Maintenance Plan entry

Maintenance Plan includes the definition, worked example, deep dive, related terms, and a quiz.