Understanding Work Order Task Completion

You must complete these prerequisites before using the Technician Workbench.

• Set up specific options on the User Preferences – Maintenance Management page.

  You must authorize specific users (technicians and administrative personnel) to perform activities on the Technician Workbench by selecting specific options on the User Preferences – Maintenance Management page.

  See User Preferences - Maintenance Management Page.

  • Allow access to other's tasks.

    You must select this option to allow a user to enter work order task information for more than one technician.

  • Time Reported Method

    You can select either Elapsed or Punch Time as the time reporting method that will apply to this user and any technicians for whom this user will report time. The selected value applies to the work order task time entries only on the Time Entry page of the Technician Workbench.

    Important! This User Preferences option does not apply to personal time entries. All personal time entries automatically display in Elapsed Time format, regardless of which value you select on the User Preferences - Maintenance Management page.

• Set up these parameters to enable time entry on the Technician Workbench.

  • Set up employees, who are eligible to enter time, in both PeopleSoft Maintenance Management and in PeopleSoft Expenses.

    These employees are set up on the Organizational Data page (Travel and Expenses > Update Profile) and the Employee Job page (Maintenance Management > Labor Administration > Manage Employee Data).

  • Set up employees, who are authorized to enter time, as resources in PeopleSoft Maintenance Management.

  • Add the general ledger business unit for each employee, for whom time is entered for a work order task, on the General Ledger Integration page of the Integration Template (Set Up Financials/Supply Chain > Product Related > Project Option > Integration Templates).

    Integration templates enable you to share multiple business units across one project. You can post transactions for a project only to the general ledger business units that are specified in the integration template that is assigned to the project. In PeopleSoft Maintenance Management, this is the project that is used to create a work order.

  • Set up Time Reporting Codes (TRC) for use for entering personal time (Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Product Related, Expenses, Mapping, Time Reporting Codes).

  • Set up a PeopleSoft Expenses business unit (Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Business Unit Related, Expenses, Expenses Definition) for each general ledger business unit that appears in the employee data of each employee for whom time will be entered on the Technician Workbench or the Work Order Completion component.

  • Select the Time Reporting Options for each general ledger business unit that you set up on the Expenses Definition – Business Unit 2 page (Set Up Financials/Supply Chain > Business Unit Related > Expenses > Expenses Definition)

  • Optionally set up PeopleSoft Time and Labor, if you want to process personal time entered on the Technician Workbench.

    Note: If you do not set up PeopleSoft Time and Labor for personal time entries, the hours collected are for your information only.

  • Optionally set up PeopleSoft Payroll, if you want the personal time entries entered on the Technician Workbench to flow from PeopleSoft Time and Labor to PeopleSoft Payroll.

  • Grant authorization to users who are authorized to enter time in the Technician Workbench using Manage Expenses Security in PeopleSoft Expenses.

  • Set up the Billing Type and the Billing Action in the Time and Expenses > Employee Information > Update Profile.

  • Select whether you want to display the Project Time Grid (collects time to send to PeopleSoft Project Costing), or the Policy Time Grid (collects personal time to send to PeopleSoft Time and Labor), or both time grids in the Time Entry page on the Technician Workbench. (Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Business Unit Related, Expenses, Expenses Definition, Business Unit 2 page.)

• Set up inventory entry and processing parameters.

  Set up the Transaction Accounting Rules for the Work Order Usage Group (231) in Cost Accounting for the Inventory business unit.

• Set up tool usage processing.

  • The cost and bill rates for tool usage are based on either the rates set up for the asset type and subtype on the Tool Rates page of the shop or the rates defined for the asset subtype in PeopleSoft Asset Management, Physical Definitions, Asset Subtype.

  • The PeopleSoft Maintenance Management Tools Usage (TUG) System Analysis Type is set up in Installation Options, Project Costing Integration.

Typically, after the scheduler schedules work order tasks for a work order, technicians can access the Technician Workbench and search for their assigned tasks. You can customize which fields appear and the order that they appear in to meet your organization's specific needs. To simplify the task of locating assigned work order tasks, you can set up and save search criteria for later use. You can then review the task information and complete the task.

Using the Technician Workbench, the technician or an authorized maintenance administrator can:

• Access the technician's monthly, weekly, and daily calendar.

• Enter labor time spent on the task, personal (non-work order related) time, or both.

• Enter quantities used and manage the pickup and return of inventory materials for the task.

  Note: Use the link to Inventory, Fulfill Work Orders, Issue to Work Orders component to issue materials for work orders.

• Enter the tools to be used for the task.

• Review and modify the check list and attachments, and review the instructions associated with a work order task.

• Enter meter readings for the asset that is being maintained or repaired.

• Enter any causal parts related to the task.

• Report crew assignment time for tasks assigned to crews.

• Access a GIS map location for a work order task.

  This activity is only possible you selected the GIS Integration check box in the work order business unit and completed the set up requirements for integration with ESRI.

• Change the status of one work order task or multiple work order tasks at the same time.

• Print assignments and informational reports.

• Access a specific work order or task in the work order component.

• Update the location, area, or offline status of an asset.

• Add notes to the task.

• View and update supplemental data associated with a task.

• Enter or modify actual start and end dates and time for a selected work order task or multiple work order tasks at the same time.

• If authorized, enter planned and actual downtime for the asset being repaired or maintained.

• Enter or modify problem, cause, and resolution (PCR) codes for a selected work order task or multiple work order tasks at the same time.

The each work order task by selecting each tab in the Work Order Tasks grid. These tabs include:

• A Details tab on which you can:

  • Directly access the Scheduling page for a work order task, and add or modify the task and the resource schedules.

  • View details about the work order and the work order task.

  • Determine whether the asset is being installed, removed, or retired.

  • Review the status of the task.

• A Details 2 tab on which you can view the:

  • Assignment.

  • Scheduled and required start and end dates and times.

  • Asset business unit and location.

  • Project information about the work order.

  • Names of the supervisor, lead person, and scheduler for the task.

• A Full Description tab on which you can view the full description that was entered for each work order and the full description for each work order task.

• A Task Actual Dates/Times tab on which you can enter the actual start and end dates and times for each task, and click a link that enables you to enter, modify, and review planned and actual downtime for the asset associated with each task.

  You can also make mass changes to actual dates for multiple tasks by selecting the Mass Change button, which displays a secondary page that enables you to perform mass changes to actual dates, times, and PCR data.

• A Failure Reporting tab, where you can select a problem group PCR for each task if this information was not entered on the work order task Requirements page.

  You can override any default PCR values derived from the work order task requirements. You can also click the Mass Change button to access a secondary page, where you can make mass changes to PCR codes for more than one task.

  Important! Click the Customize link on the Work Order Tasks group box bar to access the Personalize Column and Sort Order page on which you can customize columns that appear on each tab and select the sort order of the data as ascending or descending.

  Note: Use the Work Progress Tracking Inquiry to track the progress of a work order.

  See Using the Work Progress Tracking Inquiry.

An authorized user can enter two categories of time on the Time Entry page of the Technician Workbench in PeopleSoft Maintenance Management:

• Labor time.

• Personal time.

Once a user enters the time for a work order task or personal time, using either the punch time or elapsed time entry method, on the Technician Workbench and submits the entries for posting, the Expense Post status for labor in the Technician Workbench changes to Posted. The time keeper must then stage the time entries into the PeopleSoft Expenses staging tables. where the labor hours are picked up by PeopleSoft Project Costing. PeopleSoft Project Costing uses the pricing engine and rate sets to price the labor costs. Transaction costs are stored in the PROJ_RESOURCE table. PeopleSoft Project Costing applies its rules, capitalizes the costs in PeopleSoft Asset Management, if appropriate, and posts the costs to the general ledger business unit associated with the work order business unit. When you run the Cost Summarization process in PeopleSoft Maintenance Management, PeopleSoft Project Costing updates the total actual costs for the work order task stored on the Costs page of the work order.

Once the time entries are entered, the time keeper accesses the Stage Time Entries component (Maintenance Management, Work Order Management, Work Order Processing) and select from these options:

• Stage Work Order/Project Time to Project Costing

  When you select this check box, the EX_TRAN_PRWM Application Engine application stages all work order time entries to the EX_PROJ_RES_STG table. Users then run the Project Costing Cost Collection process PC_EX_TO_PC to move the work order time entry data to PeopleSoft Project Costing. The calculated cost is updated in the PeopleSoft Project Costing PROJ_RESOURCE table. The PeopleSoft Project Costing pricing engine (PC_PRICE) either marks up or discounts the costs for applicable chargebacks. When you run the PeopleSoft Maintenance Management Cost Summarization process (WM_SUMMCOST) or the work order is closed, these actual labor costs, which are calculated by PeopleSoft Project Costing, are updated on the Cost page of the work order.

• Publish Personal Time to Time and Labor

  When you select this check box, the system publishes personal hours (non-work order) to PeopleSoft Time & Labor, which calculates the employee's actual time and typically sends it on to a payroll application.

  Note: If you select this check box, the system automatically selects the Stage Work Order/Project Time to Project Costing check box, even if you did not select it. However, if you select the Stage Work Order/Project Time to Project Costing check box and do not select the Publish Personal Time to Time and Labor check box, the system will only process the work order time entries using the Stage Work Order/Project Time to Project Costing option and will not process any personal time (non-work order) entries, which then are informational only.

• Publish Work Order/Project Time and Personal Time to Time and Labor

  If you select this check box, the previous two check boxes that appear in the Staging/Publishing Options group box become inactive, and the system publishes work order time entries and personal (non-work order) hours to PeopleSoft Time and Labor. You would normally select this check box if you wanted to publish both the work order time and the personal time hours to PeopleSoft Time and Labor, which will calculate the actual costs for the hours, stage the work order entries in Project Costing, and typically send them on to a payroll application.

If PeopleSoft Time and Labor and PeopleSoft Payroll are not installed, this personal time is used for information only.

You can stage time for all business units during one run or specified business units.

If you installed PeopleSoft Expenses and use its full functionality, you can set up PeopleSoft Expenses workflow to enable the approval of time entries. If you do not install and use PeopleSoft Expenses, then all time entries that you submit from the PeopleSoft Maintenance Management Technician Workbench are considered pre-approved.

See documentation PeopleSoft Time and Labor

See documentation PeopleSoft Payroll for North America

Users can access the Materials page in the Technician Workbench component to:

• View and gather materials.

• Acquire additional materials.

• Return materials.

Before beginning an assigned task, a technician can access the Technician Workbench and view a list of the materials assigned to the work order task. The Materials page lists inventory materials, floor stock, and purchased and on-hand materials identified on the Schedules page of the work order. If desired, the technician can print a detailed list of the materials needed for the task. The printout specifies which materials will be delivered and which materials the technician needs to obtain from the inventory store.

The combination of the item type and delivery instructions provides a technician with the information needed to gather the materials and provides PeopleSoft Inventory with the delivery instructions for the materials. Delivery instructions are updated by the planner or scheduler and can include special handling instructions. A truck icon, which appears in the task line, indicates that materials are to be delivered to the work location.

Based on PeopleSoft Maintenance Management user preferences, a technician can also generate and print a picking plan for materials that require gathering from the inventory store. The technician takes this plan to the inventory store, and the inventory clerk uses the plan to locate the items needed for the task and gives them to the technician. A scheduler can also generate a picking plan, which enables PeopleSoft Inventory to pick the items ahead of time.

If additional quantities of materials are needed, the technician can:

• Ask the scheduler to reserve additional quantities of materials in PeopleSoft Inventory. Once these materials are added to the schedule, the technician can list them in the Technician Workbench and generate another picking plan to obtain them from PeopleSoft Inventory.

• Enter a direct issue in PeopleSoft Inventory from the Technician Workbench for the unscheduled items, if the technician has access to the Issue to Work Orders component. PeopleSoft Inventory creates an issue transaction, which updates one or more Inventory lines for a task in the work order.

If the materials ordered are shorted or damaged, the technician must contact the delivery store, where the inventory personnel handle the problem and update the PeopleSoft Inventory system. Inventory items that are not in stock are automatically ordered and replenished through the PeopleSoft Inventory system. If the items are needed immediately, the technician can contact the scheduler, who can create a purchase order to order the items. If the materials are critical to the progress of the work order task, then the technician, scheduler, or planner can put the task on hold until the materials are received.

You can enter the quantity of materials used on the Materials page of the Technician Workbench (Maintenance Management > Workbenches > Technician Workbench > click the Materials link for one or more work order tasks) for materials already scheduled for a task and for materials added on the Technician Workbench after the work order task was scheduled. Used Qty may be entered for both Inventory/Floor Stock and Purchase Order/On-Hand Materials.

Materials must be returned to PeopleSoft Inventory when they are not needed for the task, are damaged or defective, or the task is cancelled. The return processes are:

• Return the materials to PeopleSoft Inventory.

  Access the Issue to a Work Order page from the Technician Workbench and select the Return Parts check box. This transaction reduces the quantity issued on the materials list in PeopleSoft Maintenance Management for the work order task.

  PeopleSoft Inventory takes care of the return details.

• Return the materials to the shop.

  The scheduler or other authorized personnel typically handles the return via PeopleSoft Purchasing or Receiving.

See InterUnit and RMA Receiving - Receipt Header Page.

To complete a task, a technician typically returns checked-out tools and enters tools usage in the Technician Workbench; recording tools usage is optional. A user can only access the Tool Usage link if the Record Actuals Tools Usage check box is selected on the Definition page of any work order business units that are associated with the work orders listed in the Technician Workbench.

In the Technician Workbench, users can:

• Enter tools usage for work order tasks up to the time that a work order task is closed.

• Insert a new row, select a tool, and enter the actual start and end dates and the tool usage, if either the business unit or shop does not allow the scheduling of tools or additional unscheduled tools were needed to complete the task.

  The system backfills the schedule and distribution fields after an unscheduled entry is saved in the Technician Workbench.

• Update a tool usage record.

  Note: To maintain the ability to differentiate between scheduled usage and actual usage, a user cannot delete a tool usage record. However, a user can enter actual usage in a row as zero to indicate that the tool was not used, even though it was scheduled for the task. Each task tool resource can have only one transaction, and each revision replaces or updates the previous record; therefore, no record of each incremental change is kept. Users enter a new row with a negative value or a positive value to adjust the quantity of a previous record.

When you enter tool usage in the Technician Workbench or the Work Order Completion component, you enter the quantity used and the transaction dates. You can override the default values of the tool costs and bill rates, which are derived from the asset type and subtype, or the shop's Tool Rates page. If authorized in user references, you can override the distribution values for the assigned row on the work order task. If a difference exists between the currency code for the tool rates in PeopleSoft Asset Management and the currency code in the work order business unit, then the tool costs that appear in PeopleSoft Maintenance Management are always converted to the currency specified in the work order business unit. The system updates the tools schedule and actuals table with the actual quantity that is used when the technician saves the entry. These values appear on the Actuals page of the work order.

After the tools data is entered on the Technician Workbench:

• You run the Cost Collection process for PeopleSoft Maintenance Management in Project Costing (Project Costing > Cost Collection > PeopleSoft Maintenance Management) to pull the data into the PROJ_RESOURCE table.

  Note: The actual tools rows in the Technician Workbench cannot be modified after PeopleSoft Project Costing pulls the data into the PROJ_RESOURCE table.

• The GL Distribution status changes to HOLD in PeopleSoft Project Costing.

• You run the Cost Summarization process in PeopleSoft Maintenance Management (or close the work order to run the process automatically) to display the actual tool costs on the Costs page of the work order.

• If you close the work order, the GL Distribution HOLD status is removed to enable the calculation of chargebacks and the distribution of accounting entries to the PeopleSoft General Ledger from PeopleSoft Project Costing.

See Work Order Labor and Tools Usage Costs.

See Work Order Task Accounting.

You can enter meter readings in the Technician Workbench for the asset associated with the work order task if that asset is defined as a metered asset in PeopleSoft Asset Management. Typically, meter readings are entered for preventive maintenance work orders, but they also can be entered for any type of work order against an asset that has a meter. You can also indicate if this is the first reading for the asset after a replacement or a rollover. This information updates the PeopleSoft Asset Management Meter Reading History for the asset.

The Procedures page in the Technician Workbench enables a technician to update the checklist, review the instructions, and open, add, and delete any attachments associated with a work order task. You can also review service request attachments, if the work order is associated with a service request. You must complete the required checklist items before you can change the task status to Complete.

You access the Causal Parts page in the Technician Workbench to record the parts that caused the problem for which the work order was created. A causal part can be an inventory item, an asset, or an open text description. This information is included in an existing warranty claim.

Select this tab on the Technician Workbench to:

• Report the completion date for a crew-scheduled task.

• Update carryover hours for a crew-scheduled task.

• Update completed labor hours for a crew-scheduled task.

You can select multiple rows and apply an action to those rows, or you can enter data for each row. If the completed hours are equal to the carryover hours and you save the page, the carryover hours field changes to zero. When you save the data, the system updates the corresponding crew assignments. These changes will be reflected in the Crew Scheduling Workbench, when you select the same crew assignments, and in the Labor Requirements grid when you access the affected work order.