Manufacturing > Work Orders > WO-A Enter Work Orders

WO-A Enter Work Orders

Purpose of Program

Use this program to enter or change work orders. Work orders may be for specific customers or for stock.

Start and finish dates are assigned and multiple delivery dates are supported. Notes may be entered which will print on the shop traveler.

The program will calculate the estimated costs by performing a cost rollup on the work order routing and bill of material, or, if the work order was converted from an estimate, the costs will be pulled from the estimate file, or you may enter your own summary costs from an outside estimate.

You can also use this program to copy a work order or set of work orders to new work orders if you need to run a repeat of a previously run job.

Field Explanations

Work Order

The work order number has two parts: a six character numeric prefix and a three character numeric suffix.

The prefix is used as a job number and the suffix as a sub-job number. For example, if several work orders are created from a sales order via SO-N Convert Sales Orders to Work Orders, all of them will share a common prefix, but each will have a different suffix. If multiple work orders are created for multiple delivery dates via WO-K-C Create Multi-Date Work Orders, they will all share a common prefix, or if multiple work orders are created for an item's subassemblies via WO-K-D Create Multi-Assy Work Orders, they will all share a common prefix.

Various reports can be selected by work order prefix without having to specify each suffix.

The work order number is automatically assigned by the system; however, you may override this and assign your own number. Manually assigning a number will not reset the counter.

Status

The status code values are:

S = Scheduled, which means the work order is scheduled for the future but neither the work order bill of material nor routing have yet been created, meaning that no inventory has been allocated for the bill of material components and no labor time is considered by scheduling and backlog reports.

F = Firmed, which means the work order bill of material and work order routing have been created, thus allocating inventory for the bill of material components and including the labor in the routing in work center backlog and scheduling reports. Materials may be issued to a Firm work order but Labor can not be charged.

R = Released, which means the order is ready to begin production and an actual start date is automatically assigned. Work Orders can be created as Released or can be released via WO-B Release Work Orders

C = Closed, which means the order is completed and no further transactions may be made.

X = Canceled, which means all previous transactions (except labor) are reversed and no further transactions may be made.

I = Indirect, which is used for work orders set up to record downtime, vacations, sick time, etc., so that all labor, direct and indirect, can be reported via WO-F Enter Labor, WO-M Batch Labor Entry or DATA COLLECTION. These work orders are usually numbered in a separate sequence from standard work orders. Materials can also be issued to Indirect work orders thus providing a vehicle to track inventory pulled from stock for R&D or other non-production use.

Priority

A one character priority code used to help prioritize open work orders. Default values are:

1 = high priority

2 = medium priority

3 = low priority

You can enter additional codes and edit these three at SM-P-G Enter WO Priority Codes

Work orders can optionally be prioritized by scheduled finish date within priority code in the WO-L-B Print Work Order Schedule and the WO-L-C Print Work Center Backlog report. The work order priority is also used to determine which work center queue time is used when running SH-P Lead Time Scheduling

Class

A user defined classification code for any purpose you may have. This is a one character, alphanumeric code, upper case only. The code is used as a selection criterion on certain reports.

Location

The inventory location (plant or warehouse) for this order. This field determines where materials are to be issued to and finished goods inventory is to be updated.

Part #

The item number for the item being manufactured. This must be a valid item number in the inventory file. If you are manufacturing non-stock parts or entering an Indirect work order for tracking non-production costs and labor, you must set up a dummy number or set of dummy numbers that can be used for tracking non-inventory production.

Desc

The inventory description for the item being manufactured. This will copy in automatically from the inventory file, but it may be overridden. If you use a dummy number for non-inventory items, you can enter the actual description of the item or service in this field.

Quantity to Make

The quantity to manufacture for this work order.

Quantity Completed

The number of units that have been completed to date. This field is automatically updated through WO-I Enter Finished Production.

Multiple Dates

The program will ask you if you wish to enter multiple dates. If you answer yes, you can enter an unlimited number of start and finish dates and quantities. Then you can use WO-K-C Create Multi-Date Work Orders to split the work order into multiple work orders for each date and quantity.

Start Date

The planned start date for this work order. If you have set "Use Lead Time Scheduling" to B for Backwards in SD-B Work Orders Defaults the program will skip this field and ask for a Finish Date. When you enter a start date, the program will automatically calculate a finish date based on the lead time in the item's inventory master record. This may be overridden. If you leave the start date blank and enter a finish date, the system will calculate a start date for you, again based on the item's lead time. The program will take the Shop Calendar into consideration for this calculation in which case non-work dates entered in SM-H Enter Shop Calendar will be skipped and not included in the calculation of Finish Date.

Finish Date

The planned finish date for this work order. If a start date is entered, the program automatically calculates and enters a finish date based on the lead time in the item's inventory master record. This may be overridden. If you leave the start date blank and enter a finish date, the system will calculate a start date for you, again based on the item's lead time. If you are using SH-E Finite Scheduling, or SH-P Lead Time Scheduling running Forward scheduling, the Finish Date gets automatically updated each time the program is run.

Using Lead Time Scheduling

The Start and Finish Date calculation is different if the "Use Lead Time Scheduling" is set to F (Forward) or B (Backward) in SD-B Work Orders Defaults. If set to F, the cursor will stop on the Start Date field and, once a Start Date is entered, will calculate a Finish Date. If the default is set to B, the cursor will skip the Start Date field and stop on the Finish Date field and, once a Finish Date is entered will calculate a Start Date. In either case, the calculation of number of days is based on the work order quantity, the time standards in the routing, the work center queue times for the work order priority value and any lead time of outside processing operations. If Backward scheduling, if the calculated Start Date is prior to today, the program will reset the Start Date to today and calculate a new Finish Date. The Due Date will retain the originally entered desired Finish Date if the Finish Date was recalculated because there was insufficient time to complete all the operations. Regardless whether your default is set to Forward or Backward, when entering a new work order, you can enter either the Start or Finish Date and the program will calculate the other date. In no cases can a work order be entered with a Start Date prior to today. Lead Time Scheduling will not be used regardless of default setting if you enter multiple dates after entering the work order quantity.

When editing an existing work order, the program will recalculate either Start or Finish Date based on the default setting if either the priority or quantity is changed. If the default setting is Forward Scheduling, you will only be able to edit Start Date on an unstarted work order and the program will calculate Finish Date. If the work order already has had labor or production reported against it, you will not be able to edit the Start Date. If the default setting is Backward Scheduling, you will only be able to edit Finish Date and the Start Date will be recalculated. If the work order has not yet been started and you move to the date fields and the Start Date is prior to today, the Start Date will reset to today. In all cases, the Finish Date will recalculate based on the remaining production time in uncompleted sequences dating from today.

If you wish to change the calculated date or recalculate in the opposite direction of the default on an existing work order, you must use SH-A Edit WO Start/Finish/Due Dates, SH-B Manually Schedule Work Orders and SH-P Lead Time Scheduling.

Due Date

The due date of this work order, sometimes referred to as the want date. The Due Date reflects when the items are needed and can be different than the Finish Date, which represents when the items are scheduled to be completed. If the work order is needed for a specific sales order, the Due Date would be the sales order Customer Due Date. If this work order is for stock (to meet forecasted demand) or for some higher level assembly, the Due Date would be the date needed to meet those requirements. See Scheduling for more details on how the Scheduling module uses the Due Date and the Finish Date.

Actual Start Date

The actual start date of the work order. This field will automatically be updated when the work order is released.

Act Finish Dt

The actual completion date of the work order. This field will automatically be updated when the work order is closed.

Cust

The customer code of the customer for whom the order is being built. The customer code must be a valid code in the customer file. If you press <Enter> twice, the program assumes the work order is for stock and will automatically display the word STOCK in this field.

Name

The customer name. This will copy in automatically from the customer file.

Attn

The contact person for this customer.

The customer's purchase order number.

Job #

This is a user defined field. It allows you to assign work orders to a master job number so a group of work orders can be tracked together. Work orders, purchase orders, and sales orders can all reference a common job number. This field is used as a selection criterion on certain reports.

Quote #

If this work order was created through ES-E Convert Estimates, the quote number the work order was created from is automatically inserted into this field. You may also use this field as a reference to a quote prepared manually or from another system.

SO #

If the work order was created through SO-N Convert Sales Orders to Work Orders, this is the sales order number from which the work order was derived. This field may also be manually entered as a reference.

Price

The net selling price of this item for this particular order. This is an optional field and is normally left blank for orders being built for stock. The price does not print on the shop traveler.

The price unit of measure for this item as defined in this item's master inventory record.

Change Order Number

Any time you resave a work order, work order routing, or work order bill of material screen, you will be asked Do you wish to update the Change Order Number? If you indicate yes, the change order number will be incremented by a value of 1. This allows you to track how many times the work order has been revised.

Estimated Costs

Estimated costs are displayed for material, labor, setup, outside processing, fixed overhead, variable overhead, miscellaneous costs, extra costs, and the total cost for the quantity being produced. These costs can be calculated by the program through a cost rollup of the work order bill of material files, they may be pulled from the estimate file, or they may be manually entered from an outside estimate. The cost rollup uses the current standard cost for each component in its calculations or it gets the costs directly from the related quote in the Estimating module.

Actual Costs

These are actual costs that are accumulated as entries are made in WO-F Enter Labor, WO-G Issue Materials, WO-H Enter Misc/Extra Costs, PO-C Receive Purchase Orders and labor posting using WO-N Post Labor Batches or DC-H Post Labor Transactions. Costs are broken out into material, labor, setup, outside processing, fixed overhead, variable overhead, miscellaneous, extra, and total cost.

Variance

The difference between the estimated costs and the actual costs reported to-date.

The percentage variance between the estimated costs and the actual costs reported to-date.

Notes

Unlimited Notes can be entered against the work order and selectively printed on the traveler based on note type.

General Program Operation

Work orders can automatically be generated from sales orders through SO-N Convert Sales Orders to Work Orders, from an estimate through ES-E Convert Estimates, from MRP planned work orders through MR-I Generate Work Orders, or work orders may be entered manually through this program. After creating a work order, you may edit or view the order by entering the work order number or by selecting one by clicking on the Lookup icon (or press F2).

To manually enter a new work order, press <Enter> at the work order field if you want the system to assign the next available work order number, or type in a work order number of your choice.

The work order number consists of two parts: a six character prefix and a three character suffix. Work orders share a common prefix in the following situations: if they are tied to a common sales order, if they are a series of multiple deliveries for the same item, or if they are a series of related subassemblies for a common parent product.

The default Status code is usually F for Firm; however, you may specify a different default through SD-B Work Orders Defaults. Status F means that when the work order is saved, the system will copy the item's bill of material records to the work order bill of material file, which then allocates against available inventory for each of the bill of material components.

If this work order is scheduled well into the future such that you don't want inventory allocated, you may change the status to S for Scheduled. S type orders do not generate work order bill of material files.

When you eventually change the order status from S to F, work order bill of material files will be created and component inventory will then be allocated.

NOTE: If an item in the bill of material file is an item type B (phantom), its first level components will also copy into the work order bill of material file when the file gets created.

If you wish to delete the order, you must change the status to X for Canceled through WO-J Close/Cancel Orders. Then you must go to SM-J-E Purge Work Orders and purge this work order. This is the only way to reverse all material issues made to date, as well as delete the various work order files that are part of the manufacturing process.

Releasing work orders by changing the status code to R (Released) is normally done through WO-B Release Work Orders, but it can also be done by changing the status field directly within this program. When the work order is released an actual start date is created.

Closing work orders by changing the status code to C (Closed) is done through WO-J, Close/Cancel Orders. When the work order is closed an actual finish date is created. You cannot directly close a work order through this program.

Priority codes will automatically display in a window. The Priority Code is used as a means of filtering work orders in various reports and scheduling programs.

You may assign a Class (classification) code of your own meaning, if you wish. This code serves as a selection criterion on various reports.

Enter the Location for this work order. The Location must be a valid Location in the Location file and the item to be manufactured must already be assigned to this Location via IN-L-B Enter/Assign Locations.

Enter the item number of the item being manufactured, or select a item number by clicking on the Lookup icon (or press F2). If you are manufacturing a non-inventory item, you must use a generic (dummy) item number or set of dummy item numbers that can be used for non-stock orders.

The inventory description will automatically be displayed. You may override this, if desired. In the case of non-stock items you may enter the actual description of the item or service being performed.

Enter the Quantity to Make for the order.

When you arrive at the Start Date field, you will be asked if you wish to enter multiple dates. If you say yes, a pop-up window will display a Start Date, a Finish Date, and a Quantity. You may enter an unlimited number of start/finish date combinations. Any time you wish to view the dates already entered, press the F2 key. If you want to delete a date already entered, press F4 while it is displayed. When you are finished entering multiple dates, press <Esc>. If the total of quantities by date is less than the Work order quantity, you will be warned to that effect.

If you answer no to the multiple date prompt, you may enter a single Start Date and Finish Date. These dates are used for scheduling purposes and may be changed at any time.

All dates feature forward or backward scheduling. If you enter a start date, the system checks the Lead Time field in the item's inventory record and automatically creates a finish date. If you press <Enter> and skip the start date and enter a finish date, the system counts the number of days backwards and creates a start date. These dates may all be manually overridden. If you have chosen to use forward or backward lead time scheduling, then the program will calculate the dates using the actual work order quantity and routing time standards and will not allow the calculated date to be overridden.

Enter the Due Date. This may or may not be the same as the Finish Date. See Field Explanations above for more information on how the Due Date is used.

The Cust is the customer's code from the customer master file. The customer name will automatically be displayed. If you press <Enter> twice instead of entering a customer code, the word STOCK will automatically be displayed and the program assumes that this work order is being built for inventory.

The Attn field refers to the customer's contact person for this order and the PO# field is the customer's purchase order number.

You may enter a Job #. The job number is a user defined field which allows you to group work orders together for tracking purposes. Several status reports allow you to select work orders by job number.

The Quote # field can be used as a reference to the quote or estimate that generated the work order. If this work order was created through ES-E, Convert Estimates, this field will automatically display the quote number from the converted estimate.

The SO# field refers to the sales order from which this work order was generated. You may enter the selling Price for the item. This is used by the Job Cost report for profit reporting. The price does not print on the shop traveler.

The Actual Start Date (actual start date) will be automatically created by the system when the order status is changed to R for released. The Actual Finish Date will be automatically created by the system when the order status is changed to "C" for closed through WO-J Close/Cancel Orders. The Quantity Completed field will be automatically updated by the system as parts are completed through WO-I Enter Finished Production.

If you wish to manually enter estimated costs from an outside estimate for material, labor, setup, outside processing, fixed overhead, variable overhead, miscellaneous costs, or extra costs, you may do so in the Estimate costs column.

If you wish to have the system automatically calculate the estimated costs by performing a cost rollup on the work order routing and bill of material files, you would save the work order either by clicking on the Save button (or press F10) or by pressing <Enter> until you are asked if you want to save the work order.

After verifying that you want to save the order, you are asked if you want the system to update the estimated costs automatically. If you indicate no, the manually entered costs are displayed. If you indicate yes, the program will automatically generate estimated costs for the quantity to be manufactured and insert the values into the various estimated cost fields. If there is a value in the Quote field, the program assumes that the estimated costs came from an estimate and will not prompt to have the estimates calculated automatically.

Actual production costs will be posted to the Actual cost column as production takes place, and you will see a Variance amount and a % (percent) variance calculated in the remaining two columns.

Changing a Work Order

The item to be manufactured on a Work Order can not be changed. Work order dates, quantities, and other fields may be changed at any time. Simply type in the work order number or select one by clicking on the Lookup icon (or press F2). Advance through the fields by pressing <Enter> and make whatever changes are desired. Click on the Save button (or press F10) to save the order when you are finished. If Lead Time Scheduling is enabled and the priority or quantity is changed, the Start or Finish Date will be recalculated depending whether you are set for forward or backward scheduling. Also, if Lead Time Scheduling is enabled, you will only be able to edit Start Date if you are set for Forward Scheduling or edit Finish Date if you are set for Backward Scheduling in the default. The other date will be calculated. You must use SH-A Edit WO Start/Finish/Due Dates if you need to edit the other dates.

Whenever you resave an existing order you will receive two prompts. First you will be asked if you want the estimated costs to be automatically calculated. If you say yes, the system will perform a cost rollup on the work order routing and bill of material files. This prompt will not be presented if there is a value in the Quote field.

The second prompt asks if you wish to update the change order number. The Change Order # provides a means of tracking how many times this order has been changed from the original entry. If you indicate yes, the system will increment the change order number by a value of one.

If you have changed the Estimated Ship Date or Due Date and the work order was converted from a sales order, you may also be prompted whether to update the corresponding sales order dates based on default settings.

Copying a Work Order

If you click Copy WO you will be given the opportunity to enter a new WO number. If you leave it blank, the next WO will be assigned. If the WO being copied is a "-1" Work Order, you will also be able to copy all the dash numbers for the Work Order to the new set. Once the new Work Order(s) are generated, you will need to manually edit the Scheduled Start and Finish dates to current dates.

Closing a Work Order

Work orders are closed through WO-J Close/Cancel Orders, which changes the order status code to C. This automatically creates an actual finish date and disallows further transactions being made against this work order.

Canceling or Deleting a Work Order

You may cancel a work order through WO-J Close/Cancel Orders, which changes the work order to status X. Canceling the work order prevents further transactions from being made and reverses all material issues returning the material to stock.

Reopening a Closed Work Order

You can reopen a closed or canceled work order by bringing it back up on the screen and changing its Status field from status C or X to status F or R. Resave the work order. The work order is now live again and can receive additional transactions.

Viewing Material, Labor, and Outside Processing Status

The Enter Work Orders screen also serves as an inquiry screen for work order status. While a work order is on the screen you can click on the Materials button (or press F5) to see the status of all work order bill of material components, the Labor button (or press F6) to see labor and quantity complete by sequence and the Out Proc button (or press F7) to see the quantity and PO for outside processing sequences. It is recommended that Work Order Inquiry be done using DC-I Work Order Inquiry rather than this program as the Inquiry program does not allow the user to make any changes and does not lock any data files.

Processing

When the work order is saved, the following processing takes place.

The On Work Order field for the item is updated.

If the work order is status F or R, a work order routing and work order bill of material is created.

The estimated labor and setup hours for each routing operation are added to the backlog for each work center.

The Allocated field is updated for each component in the work order bill of material by each component's total quantity required.

If you answer yes to Do you want the Estimated costs recalculated?, a cost rollup is performed by adding up the labor and setup through all operations in the work order routing and multiplying them by the current standard rates for each work center. For outside processing the system uses the estimated outside processing cost(s) copied over from the standard routing. For material the system adds up the total quantity required for each component multiplied by the component's current standard cost.

If you change an existing work order, the following processing takes place.

If the work order is status S and is changed to either status F or R, a work order routing and bill of material is created. This adds labor and setup hours to the backlog for each work center and updates the Allocated field for each component in the bill of material. Conversely, if a Work Order is status F or R and is changed to S the program strips off the Work Order Bill of Materials and Routing and reverses all allocations. This can only be done if no transactions have been processed against the work order.

If you change the quantity to make, the program will revise the On Work Order quantity for the parent product and will recalculate the estimated labor and setup hours for each operation in the work order routing and update all component allocations.

If you answer yes to Do you want the Estimated costs recalculated? the program will perform a new cost rollup as follows. The revised estimated hours for labor and setup are multiplied by the current standard rates for each work center. Outside processing cost(s) will be recalculated and added together for a total outside processing cost. The estimated cost for each component in the work order bill of material will be recalculated with the new quantity multiplied by the current standard cost, then all added together for a total material cost.

If you answer yes to Do you wish to update the Change Order no.?, the change order number will be incremented upward by a value of one.

If you close a work order, which changes the work order status field to C, the following processing takes place.

The On Work Order status field for the parent product is reversed by any uncompleted quantity remaining from the original quantity to make.

Any remaining estimated labor and setup hours will no longer be included in the backlog of the work centers.

Any quantities remaining to be issued for any of the components in the work order bill of material will be reversed for each component's Allocated status field.

Any remaining quantity issued amounts for any components that exceed the quantities depleted when finished goods are received to inventory are reversed in each component's In Work-in-Process status field.

No further transactions will be allowed against this work order.

You can not close a Work Order that has unreceived Purchase Orders or unposted labor against it.

If you reopen a closed work order by changing its status from C to R (released) or F (firmed), the following processing takes place.

The On Work Order status field for the parent product is updated for the quantity remaining to be made.

The estimated labor and setup hours remaining are added to the backlog for each work center.

The quantity remaining to be issued is added to the Allocated status field for each work order bill of material component.

If you change an existing work order to status X (canceled), which cancels the work order, the following processing takes place.

The quantity On Work Order for the parent product is reversed.

The estimated labor and setup hours will no longer be included in the backlog for each work center.

The Allocated amounts for any non-issued materials will be reversed.

You can not close or cancel a Work Order that has unreceived Purchase Orders or unposted labor against it.