Executing Repairs using the Repair Technician Module

This chapter describes an enhanced set of operations to process repair items.

This chapter covers the following topics:

Overview

High volume repair is an enhancement to the standard repair and return process. It automates and facilitates the creation of work orders, procuring and issuing materials, and assigning resources with minimal input and decision making from a repair technician. Based on a finite number of possible symptoms and a finite number of responses to those symptoms, the system can recommend or dictate work to be done, materials demanded, and resources needed for low complexity repairs based on symptoms captured by a technician.

The following diagram shows an overview of the high volume repair processing, to be performed in two pages, the Repair Order Search page and the Repair Order page.

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Searching for Repair Orders

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In the Repair Order Search page, you can search for all non-draft repair orders.

The seeded default search parameters are

After filling in one or more search parameters, click Go to perform the search.

In the results area, you can hide or show details about each repair order.

Click the Repair Number link to continue processing a repair order in the Repair Order page.

Repair Order Page Overview

The top of the Repair Order page contains general information about the item instance that is being repaired. You can also show or hide repair order details in this region.

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Note: You can view the Recall Number link if it's view is personalized. Click on the link to drill down to the view-only Recall Details screen.

The main actions to perform in this page are controlled by the buttons: Save, Apply, Cancel, and Update Status.

The main body of the Repair Order page contains three tabs - Evaluation, Repair Execution, Debrief Report - where you perform the main repair order processing.

For more details about these tabs, select one of the following:

The Notes region, at the bottom of the page, is to allow you to view and add notes.

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Using the Evaluation Tab

The Evaluation tab enables you to examine summary information about previous repair orders and service requests for the current repair order item instance, and also the diagnostic codes and service codes associated with the current repair order item. After evaluating this information, you can generate one or more WIP jobs.

The first-ever display of the Evaluation tab for a repair order item shows the following:

The main tasks to perform in the Evaluation tab are to select - that is, mark as Applicable - diagnostic codes and service codes to generate WIP jobs with appropriate bills and routings.

Diagnostic Codes Region

The Diagnostic Codes region displays the diagnostic codes associated with the repair order item, that is, the diagnostic codes that fulfill at least one of the following conditions:

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For more information, see the topic Setting Up Diagnostic Codes in the Oracle Depot Repair Implementation Manual.

The frequency indicates the percentage of times that the diagnostic code was marked as Applicable in all closed repair orders that are for the same repair item.

Using the Diagnostic Codes Region

Service Codes Region

The Service Codes region initially displays the service codes associated with the repair order item, that is, the service codes which fulfill at least one of the following conditions:

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For more information, see the topic Setting Up Service Codes in the Oracle Depot Repair Implementation Manual.

The frequency indicates the percentage of times that the service code was marked as Applicable in all closed repair orders for the same repair item.

Using the Service Codes Region

  1. Mark one or more service codes as Applicable.

  2. Click Recommend Services.

    Note: To use this feature, you must have previously set up the recommendations. See Setting up Service Code Recommendations in the Oracle Depot Repair Implementation Manual.

    After you click Recommend Services, you may get several service codes returned and automatically marked as Applicable in the Service Codes region, depending on how you set up your recommendations.

    When the profile option CSD: Mandate Service Code Recommendations is set to Yes, then any service codes returned which had been set up with a Recommendation type of Always are automatically marked as Applicable and are disabled. This is to ensure that the service codes are used in any jobs generated from this region.

  3. Click Generate Jobs.

    For each service code marked as Applicable, Oracle Depot Repair generates a WIP job, with any bills and routings that were previously associated with that service code.

    For more information, see Setting Up Service Codes in the Oracle Depot Repair Implementation Manual.

  4. In the Service Code table, click the hyperlinked Job number to drill into the WIP Details. The WIP Details page provides information on the available quantity for the parts required on a job, the operations which are for outside repair, and other details that are provided in WIP Jobs.

Using the Repair Execution Tab

The general objective of the Repair Execution tab is to enable you to process and monitor the WIP jobs that you have generated for a repair order item from the Evaluation tab of the Repair Order page.

In the Repair Execution tab, you can add materials and resources to jobs. To assist you in doing this, Oracle Depot Repair provides you with statistics of the most common materials and resources used in previous repair orders for the same item.

You can complete operations, and even complete jobs.

  1. In the Repair Execution tab, you can also create jobs; to add materials and resources for these jobs, use WIP pages associated with Oracle Work In Process responsibilities.

  2. Oracle Depot Repair provides E-records and E-signature (ERES) functionality in WIP mode via Oracle WIP.

The following two new profile options are introduced:

When the profile options are set to Yes, the current revision defaults and you are not prompted to enter a revision. When the profile options are set to No, the revision does not defaults and you navigate to the Material Details page to choose a revision along with other required item details.

The two profile options behave independently, so that the revisions default for issuing materials but not job completions, or the other way round.

Repair Operations Region

The Repair Operations region shows the operations for the current repair order item instance, whether generated from the Evaluation tab, or created explicitly in the Repair Execution tab.

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Using the Repair Operations Region

  1. Add operations to a job - select the Add Another Row button to add an operation to the job.

  2. Complete operations - select one or more operations, and click Complete.

  3. Complete the job - select the Action Complete Job, select the job from the list of values, and click Go.

  4. Drill into WIP Details – Click the Job link to navigate to the Job Details page to drill into the WIP details of the job.

Materials Region

The Materials region has two sub-regions:

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The first-time display of the Materials area shows the materials automatically added to a job through service codes.

The Most Common Materials Issued area, if populated, shows which materials were used in previous similar repair jobs and repair orders.

Specifically, all closed repair orders for the current repair order item with completed or closed jobs are examined. The Frequency column for a material shows the proportion of those examined repair orders whose completed and closed jobs used the material. The Average Quantity Used shows the average units used in all the "matching" repair orders whose jobs contained the material, rather than in all the examined repair orders.

Using the Materials Region

  1. Examine the materials in the Most Common Materials Issued area, and decide if they are relevant to the current repair order. If so, select one or more materials, and click Add to Materials.

    Note: You cannot add materials that already appear in the general Materials area.

    The selected materials appear in the general Materials area.

  2. In the general Materials area, you can enter quantity and UOM values for a material before or after it is issued to a job.

  3. If the quantity to issue is 1 for a serialized item, you must also enter the Serial Number for the item.

  4. For materials added from the Most Common Materials Issued area, enter and select values for Quantity to Issue, UOM to Issue, Operation, and Job.

  5. Click Save to save the data you have entered so far.

    If you selected an operation and job in the current session, the materials are added to the job details, but not issued to the job; the Job field displays a link to the job.

  6. To issue materials to a job, select one or more materials, and click Issue.

  7. For materials that require more information, the Material Issue Details page appears.

    For example, if you want to issue more than one serialized item, you must enter the serial numbers here. Also, if your item has lot control, you must enter the lot number here.

  8. After you have issued materials, the general Materials area shows the Issued Quantity and the primary UOM.

  9. You can continue to enter Quantity to Issue values, including negative integer quantities.

Note: You can personalize the Materials table to enable the hidden Revision field. The Revision field allows you to enter and transact revision-controlled items. If the revision field is blank for a revision-controlled item, you are directed to the Material Issue Details page at time of issue or at time of operation or job completion for items with Assembly Pull Supply Type.. If the revision field and all other required fields are entered then the item is issued immediately.

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The Revision field defaults to the latest revision for revision- controlled items if the profile option CSD: Default Current Item Revision for Material Transactions is set to Yes. When the profile is set to No, the revision field is not defaulted and it is left blank.

You can personalize the Materials table to display the Request Parts button that enables a technician to create a purchase requisition for one or more items on the Materials table.

You can personalize the Materials table to display the Material Transaction Reason Code column that provides Disposition Code that is used in the Eco-Impact tab of the Returns Dashboard. For more information on the Returns Dashboard, please see: Returns Dashboard chapter.

Resources Region

The Resources region has two sub-regions:

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The first-time display of the Resources area shows the resources automatically added to a job through service codes.

The Most Common Resources Transacted area, if populated, shows which resources were used in previous similar repair jobs and repair orders.

Specifically, all closed repair orders for the current repair order item with completed or closed jobs are examined. The Frequency column for a resource shows the proportion of those examined repair orders whose completed and closed jobs used the resource. The Average Quantity Used shows the average units used in all the "matching" repair orders whose jobs contained the resource, rather than in all the examined repair orders.

Using the Resources Region

  1. Examine the materials in the Most Common Resources Transacted area, and decide if they are relevant to the current repair order. If so, select one or more materials, and click Add to Resources.

    Note: You cannot add resources that already appear in the general Resources area.

    The selected resources appear in the general Resources area, with the Employee field set to the value of the profile option CSD: Default HR Resource.

  2. In the general Resources area, you can enter quantity and UOM values for a resource before or after it is transacted to a job.

  3. You can select a new employee.

  4. For resources added from the Most Common Resources Transacted area, enter and select values for Quantity to Transact, UOM to Transact, Operation, and Job.

  5. Click Save to save the data you have entered so far.

    If you selected an operation and job in the current session, the resources are added to the job details, but not transacted to the job; the Job field displays a link to the job.

  6. To transact materials to a job, select one or more resources, and click Transact.

  7. After you have transacted resources, the general Resources area shows the Transacted Quantity and the primary UOM.

  8. You can continue to enter Quantity to Transact values, including negative integer quantities.

Note: When you transact the resources in the Repair Technician Portal either by Work In process (WIP) move or manual transact, the records are put into WIP interface tables. A WIP concurrent program then processes it. The control comes back immediately to Repair Technician Portal page. However, the actual transaction data is not posted to the WIP tables immediately. Thus, if we try to import the repair actuals from WIP immediately after completing the job, the actuals may be incomplete at times.

Using the Debrief Report Tab

The Debrief Report tab enables you to view certain post-repair details, such as activity events, summary activity statistics, and key performance indicators, such as time to repair.

You can also select one or more defect types to associate with the repair order.

Root Cause of Defect Region

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The Root Cause of Defect region lists the defects that you can associate with the repair order. You can optionally select one or more of the defects as applicable to the repair order.

Defect code domain setup enables you to link each root cause code to specific items or item categories. The Repair Technician module displays only the root cause codes that match the item or category of the item on the repair order.

Refer to Oracle Depot Repair Implementation Guide for details on Setting Up Defect Code Domains.

Key Performance Indicators and Activities Regions

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The view-only Key Performance Indicators and Activities region provides statistics about the repair order, including a history of the repair activity events.

View Service Bulletins from the Repair Technician Module

Depot Repair automatically links a service bulletin to a repair order based on customer defined service bulletin rules. A number of pre-defined bulletin types are seeded in the product, but you can add any additional bulletin types to fit your business needs. Service bulletins provide information to repair managers and technicians regarding:

To view service bulletins

  1. Navigate to the Repair Technician module. Query the repair order number for the item to associate the service bulletin.

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  2. Click on the repair order number link to navigate to the Repair Order page. The Repair Order page displays the detailed information of the corresponding repair order number.

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  3. In the Service Bulletins region, click Retrieve New Service Bulletins to display the newly created service bulletins. You can view a service bulletin by Type. For example:

    • You can retrieve multiple service bulletins within one repair order. In this case, one repair order triggers multiple service bulletins.

    • You can retrieve service bulletin for Chronic Repair Order. Set the profile CSD: Number of Days in Quality Check period to use this feature.

    Note: The Depot Repair Service Bulletin Retrieval concurrent program checks the set of applicable repair orders and links any service bulletins which apply to them and have not already been linked. This supports business scenarios that need to check all open repair orders for service bulletin applicability. This concurrent program scans a selected set of open repair orders based on parameters such as:

    • Service Bulletin Type

    • Repair Order Status

    • Repair Order Inventory Organization

    • Repair Organization

    • Repair Order Item

  4. Select a service bulletin and click Show to display the following details:

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    • The Mandatory flag represents that the service bulletin is marked as mandatory in the setup stage. This also indicates to the repair technician that this service bulletin is mandatory.

    • The Attachment icon represents that an attachment is added to the service bulletin. Click the attachment to download the attachment.

    • The Viewed flag represents you have selected the service bulletin to Mark as Viewed from the list of values at the time when the service bulletin was set up. You can view who has viewed the service bulletin and the date of viewing. You can mark a service bulletin as unviewed by selecting Mark as Unviewed.

      It enables a service organization to capture whether or not a technician has viewed and complied with a bulletin that contains an instruction. No enforcement for this exists within the application, but this provides a tracking mechanism if you choose to enforce it.

    • The Service Code represents that a service code is linked to the service bulletin.

  5. Navigate to the Service Codes region. The selected Applicable checkbox represents that a service code is linked.

    These service codes are attached to the service bulletin on the setup page. When you retrieve the service bulletin and attach it to an RO, if any of the service codes linked to the service bulletin at time of bulletin setup are valid for the repair item and inventory organization then the Applicable checkbox on the Service Codes region of the Evaluation tab is checked.

  6. At this point, repair technicians can generate jobs from these service codes by clicking Generate Jobs. Once you generate a job, the job number displays in the Job column and the Applicable checkbox is disabled.

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Manage ECOs

Engineering Change Orders (ECO) occur when a product has a fault, or when the technical team designs a better way to build it, finds better parts, or regulators specify that certain parts cannot be used anymore. Under these circumstances, the technical team creates a new revision of the master plan for the parts included, the technique to manufacture, or repair an item. Technically, this process requires the creation of new bills of material, route and/or service code.

In Depot, the following two steps occur in the processing of an ECO:

Note: If the ECO is applied already, the profile stops the notification from triggering each time, assuming you have already applied the ECO the first time you were notified. This prevents you from receiving constant notifications.

When a repair job is created from the Evaluate tab of the Repair Tech Portal, it uses the service code from the bulletin. Thus when the repair technician goes to the Execute tab in the Repair Tech Portal, he will see the parts and operations that the ECO requires.

Backflush Non Serialized Repair Parts

Backflushing implies automatically performing an inventory material transaction whenever an operation is completed or whenever a job is completed. There are two Supply Type setup options in Inventory/BOM that allow backflush:

If either of these values are chosen for the supply type, then the item backflushes, if its non-serialized. This function reduces the repair technician clicks on jobs where components are not tracked serially.

Auto-Issue Repair Items to Jobs

The high volume repair centers mostly create a single job for any item they repair. When an item is repaired using a WIP job, the item must be issued to that job, and when the job is completed the same item is transacted to the WIP completion subinventory.

Auto-issue repair item to jobs feature enables a depot to automatically add the repair item as material demand for a job, thus freeing repair technicians from additional data entry.

Using Time Clock

A repair technician works on repairs from his queue. To begin work, a technician selects the next physical item on the cart or shelf, takes that item to work area, and queries the repair order in the system by scanning or entering the serial number. One option is to start the clock automatically once a repair order opens and the other option is to punch in work starts. The Time Clock functionality enables a technician to clock in and clock out the time for a repair. The system tracks the amount of time a technician spends clocked in on a repair and automatically capture that time as a resource transaction. The technician need not manually track time spent on a job or enter information into the system. The technician can pause the clock when taking breaks and allocate time to different operations.

Time clock facilitates a repair technician in the following ways:

The Repair Technician page contains a header level bin named Time Clock that facilitates clock in and clock out.

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The Time Clock bin has the following layout:

Operation

Work Started

Last Clocked In

Last Clocked Out

Clock In and Clock Out

Next

The Repair Technician page contains a header level button named Complete Work that enables you to stop the clock and trigger various actions like: complete operations, complete jobs, log labor hours, transact resources, issue materials, change repair status, or kick off a workflow.