Understanding Work Orders

This chapter provides an overview of work orders and discusses:

• Work order management features.

• Work order tables.

Work Order Management Features

This section discusses:

• Quick creation of work orders.

• Approvals for work orders.

• Activity rules for work orders.

• Project setup and tracking.

• Project management reporting flexibility.

Quick Creation of Work Orders

You can create a single work order or a group of work orders quickly and easily, with minimal pre-planning. To save time and reduce the possibility of errors, you can also use parent work orders and processing options when you set up work orders so that the system enters much of the information for you, based on the parent work order.

Approvals for Work Orders

You can establish approval controls for a work order based on a variety of criteria, including work order type, status, and the monetary amount involved. For example, you can specify that all maintenance work orders must be approved before any work can begin. You can also specify who must approve the work orders and the threshold monetary amount for which each person is responsible. The threshold is the amount above which the person specified must approve the work order. If the amount is less than the threshold, the approval is not required. You can also review the approval status of a work order.

Activity Rules for Work Orders

You can define work order activity rules that differ by work order type. You can use these rules to track a work order through its life cycle, review work orders that apply to certain procedures, and prepare reports that are based on the current status of a work order. You can also define the flow of statuses (steps) that a work order must follow during its life cycle. In addition, you can also define:

• Whether the work order is active or inactive at a particular status.

• Whether and when to lock the work order to prevent changes.

Paperless Processing

You can save paper as you track work orders and projects with the work orders programs. You enter work orders online and perform most of the subsequent processing without having to rely on printed documents.

Quick Location of Work Orders

You can easily locate a work order using a variety of information. For example, you can review all of the work orders that are assigned to a particular person, location, or project. You can limit the search for a work order by using any combination of this information:

• The job or business unit.

• The address book numbers of the originator, customer, manager, or supervisor.

• The life cycle status of a work order.

• Any combination of the user defined category codes.

• The type of work order.

• The priority assigned to a work order.

• Start and completion dates.

Simple Budget and Estimate Controls

You can use the work orders programs to track the simple estimate and budget requirements of a work order. For example, you can enter budget information and track the information throughout the work order's life cycle. In addition, you can use a variety of reports to compare estimates with actual information.

Multiple Control Dates

You can track each work order according to control dates that you define. You can define any of these control dates:

• The transaction date (the date when a work order is entered into the system).

• The start date.

• The planned completion date.

• The actual completion date.

• The assignment date (the date when the person who is responsible for the work receives the work order).

Multiple Levels of Responsibility

You can assign several levels of responsibility to each work order on the Work Order Entry form, such as:

• The job or business unit that is charged for the work order.

• The originator of the work order.

• The manager.

• The supervisor.

You can also use category codes to assign levels of responsibility to work orders. You can review all of the work orders that are assigned to a particular person or location.

Unlimited Narrative Remarks

You can describe work orders briefly by using two or three words, or you can provide much more detail. You can also arrange work orders into groups and enter different types of information in each group, such as:

• Expected actions.

• Actual operations performed.

• Required tools.

• Procedures for completing the work.

You define the record types that are appropriate to the organization.

Project Setup and Tracking

You can create, organize, update, and track small projects and all of their associated work orders with ease and efficiency. You can manage projects according to :

• The customer number.

• The parent work order number (project number).

• The job or business unit.

Project Management Reporting Flexibility

You can manage projects using these reports:

Work Order Tables

These tables are used in Work Orders: