Some repairs are scheduled, but more often they are performed in reaction to malfunction or failure, so time is critical.
Smart maintenance management means you issue a work order for any work that is done by maintenance. When there's a downtime response, you still need that work order so things can be properly documented in the CMMS.
This doesn't mean the responding technician has to wait until there's a printed work order in his hand before starting repairs. A standard practice is a work analyst or other person generates the work order in parallel with the repair. It's really a means of documenting the work, rather than directing the work (as a PM work order or project work order would do).
These days, it's less common for a work order to be on paper. The responding technician might get an alert on his wireless tablet that the work order is ready. This particular work order is designed specifically for documenting repairs. The originator of it has filled out the asset data already.
The technician can upload the “As Found” photos and test data using this work order. The work order will also facilitate recording the tech's troubleshooting steps, analysis comments, repair steps, as left photos, and as left test data.