Case Study: Caltech achieves reduced wrench time and improved preventive maintenance with UpKeep

Caltech Reduces Wrenchtime with a Historic Record of Preventive Maintenance

Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, managed by site Superintendent Rick Burruss, needed to replace a pen-and-paper system for preventive maintenance and work orders that made it hard to search, track upcoming tasks, and coordinate crews. Caltech turned to UpKeep’s digital maintenance app to provide reminders, organize teams, and ensure preventive maintenance was performed on time across the historic observatory and its telescopes.

UpKeep was used to enter assets, create and assign over 400 preventive maintenance work orders, and let technicians document procedures with notes and photos. The team adopted the app quickly, which increased ownership and visibility for Rick, shortened repair turnaround and “wrench time” by allowing technicians to reference prior work, and improved daily planning and scheduling—delivering faster, more reliable maintenance across Caltech’s facilities.

Caltech

Rick Burruss

site Superintendent