Work Order Assembly Process feature
The goal of this feature is to help you define (and assign!) the step-by-step instructions for the process of completing the assembly.
The Work Order Process is defined alongside the Bill of Materials. When the Work Order is created, the WO Process is added to the Work Order in the same way as the Bill of Materials. Once the Work Order is created, there are additional things you can do with the Process. Steps within the Process can be assigned to [or completed by] another user, the date/time started and completed can be tracked. There are short and long descriptions available for use, as well as a whole host of custom fields, dates and check boxes.
This is optional to use; you aren't required to use the Process feature in order to use Work Orders.
1. Define the Work Order Process
The first step to using this feature is to set up the Process within your Product Bill of Materials.
1.1. Open the Bill of Materials tab of the Product
Navigate to Warehouse Management ➤ Products and open Product record (this must be an Assembly-type Product.) Select the Bill of Materials tab.
1.2. Create the Process Steps
- Once you're on the Bill of Materials page, click on the Process tab to begin.
- Click the + symbol to add a new step.
1.3. Add a new Step
Begin entering the Process Information for the current Step.
The only required field is the Step Name. The rest of the fields are optional for you to decide how to use. The sequence number will be automatically assigned but the sequence of steps can be reordered, via the Bill of Materials tab, if necessary. You can also add new steps at any time and place them in the proper place in the sequence.
Click OK to save the Step when you're finished.
1.4. Steps have been added
When you're finished adding steps your screen will look similar to this. Click OK to save the Product record when you are finished.
- If you need to delete a Step, highlight it and use the trash can icon to remove it.
- If you need to reorder any Steps in the sequence, you can click and drag the step into a new location in the sequence.
2. Use the Process Steps on a Work Order
The second step to using this feature is to interact with the Process tab on the Work Order itself. If you've defined the Process on the Product record, it will be added to the Work Order with the Bill of Materials.
2.1. Create a new Work Order
Go to Warehouse Management ➤ Work Orders and create a new Work Order.
Click on the Process tab.
2.2. The Work Order Process tab
The Work Order Process tab should look very familiar. It is almost identical to the Product Bill of Materials Process tab. The differences here are that you can Assign, Start, and Complete steps (see below).
You can also leave notes in these steps (double-click to open), create new steps (click the + symbol), delete existing steps (click the trash can icon) or reorder steps in the sequence (hold down the Alt/Option key to click and drag).
The standard Process always lives on the Product record just as the standard BOM does. What happens on the Work Order does not affect the standard data previously entered on the Product.
2.3. Change the status of a Step
As previously mentioned, you can Assign, Start, and Complete steps. To do this, just highlight the step you want to change the status of and click one of the appropriate buttons.
Note: By default, the dates will always be displayed as 00/00/00 and the times will always be displayed as 12:00 AM, prior to Starting or Completing a step.
2.4. Assign a Step to another User
Click the Assign button and then you'll be presented with a list of employees to choose from. Highlight a employee and then click the Select button to assign the Step.
2.5. Mark a Step as Started
Click the Start button. You'll get a confirmation dialog; click Yes if you want to mark the Step as Started.
When you mark a Step as started, the Start Date and Start Time are tagged with the current Date and current Time (as indicated by the OS).
2.6. This step has been Started and Assigned.
You can see the Date Started, Time Started and Assigned To fields are now populated.
Note: The instructions to Complete a Step are exactly the same as to Start a Step (click the Complete button and then confirm at the dialog; the Date Complete and Time Completed will be tagged with the current system date and time).
When you are finished with the Process tab you can either navigate to either of the Work Order Info or Other Info tabs, or you can click OK to save the Work Order.
3. Work Order Process printable form
- CLICK HERE to download a custom form installer for the standard Work Order Process form.
- Install the custom form:
- Navigate to Administration ➤ Custom Forms.
- Open the Action Menu and choose Import Custom Form.
- Select the file you downloaded in #1.
- Print the form:
- Navigate to Inventory ➤ Work Orders and highlight a Work Order.
- Click the Printer icon and then select the Work Order Process form.
- Click Print and follow the print dialogs.
Here is an example of what the form will look like:
