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Status Planned for future release
Created by Guest
Created on Mar 30, 2026

Enhanced Time Zone and Daylight-Saving Time handling

Summary of Request
Request enhancement to improve the handling of time zones and Daylight-Saving Time when generating Preventive Maintenance work orders. The goal is to ensure that PM target start and finish dates are calculated correctly for environments that operate across multiple time zones.

Background
In many manufacturing and enterprise environments, assets and operations are distributed across multiple geographic locations. These locations may operate in different time zones and must also follow Daylight Saving Time changes.

The current implementation allows configuration of time zones in several areas of the system including:

User Profile, Org, Site configuration, Asset records, Location, PM records etc.

However, despite configuring these attributes, the PM target start and target finish dates generated during PM work order creation do not consistently reflect the expected local time zone of the related asset or site.

Observed Limitation
The product does not appear to provide a clear or consistent mechanism that ensures Preventive Maintenance scheduling respects the correct operational time zone when generating target dates.

In addition, there does not appear to be a configurable parameter that explicitly controls Daylight Saving Time adjustments when calculating PM target dates.

Because of this limitation, organizations that operate across multiple time zones may experience incorrect PM scheduling times when work orders are generated.

Example Scenario
A system may contain multiple operational sites.

Some sites operate in the Eastern Time Zone.
Other sites operate in the Central Time Zone.

When PM work orders are generated, the expected behavior is that the target start and finish times should reflect the local time zone of the relevant site or asset. This should also automatically account for Daylight Saving Time changes.

Currently the generated PM target times do not consistently reflect these expectations.

Business Impact
Incorrect target dates and times can create scheduling confusion for planners and maintenance teams. Work orders may appear to start earlier or later than expected relative to local operating schedules. This can impact planning accuracy and coordination between facilities located in different time zones.

Requested Enhancement
Introduce improved support for time zone aware scheduling within Preventive Maintenance functionality. Suggested improvements include:

Provide a clear system level configuration for handling time zone calculations in PM scheduling.

Allow PM target start and finish dates to be calculated based on the site or asset time zone.

Ensure that Daylight Saving Time adjustments are automatically applied when calculating PM schedules.

Provide documentation that clearly explains the time zone hierarchy used by PM scheduling logic.


 

Idea priority Medium
Needed By Month
  • ADMIN RESPONSE
    Apr 10, 2026

    Hi,

    Thank you for taking the time to provide your ideas to IBM. Your request is now a candidate for a future product release. Our aim is to deliver within the next 12-18 months. Thank you again for your feedback.

    Please note: IBM’s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice at IBM’s sole discretion. Information regarding potential future products is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality.