Work Orders

Work orders allow you to set orders for the manufacture of goods. They can be used two ways: To track parts issued internally for work done or to show the assembly of a finished good from a bill of materials (and remove the corresponding bill of materials items from your inventory while adding the finished good to your inventory).

Work in Progress.

Orders → Other → Bill of Materials

Inventory Pro Online allows you to store a bill of materials or components list. The components that make up a finished product can then be referenced and used in work orders and shipping orders. When using work orders to kit or assemble a finished product, Inventory Pro will automatically remove required items (components) listed on the work order and receive the finished product into stock when you issue the work order. Using a shipping order in order processing will allow you to list all components of an item on a customer order by entering only the assembly/kit item ID. When assemblies are repetitive, using this list of components will save time and data entry errors on work orders and shipping orders. Keep in mind, you can add to or remove from the list of components as needed on the work order or shipping order. So if you have an item whose assembly changes frequently, you can list only the regular items on the Bill of Materials screen. You can then add the variable components to each work order or shipping order as needed.
To create a Kit/Assembly Bill of Materials:

1. All the parts (components to be used in any assembly of another part) of the kit must be separate inventory items on your Item Master List.
2. Enter the kit or assembled item in your Item Master List as a new inventory item. These parent items must also have the Item is a MAKE checkbox checked on the Item Master List.
3. Click on Inventory and then on Bill of Materials.
4. On this screen, select an assembly. Then fill in the fields as described below.
   • Select or type in the item ID.
   • Enter the number of the item that assembly requires to make one of the finished products in the Units field.
   • Enter the labor hours and labor cost if they apply. This is for reference only and reflects the cost of the item that is being assembled through work orders.
   • Check the checkbox in the Crit. Field if the component is critical to the assembly. This will allow filtering on a work order to view only critical items. This can be used to show only items with longer lead times, for example. If the flag is set in the Administrative Tools/Options/BOM Work Orders screen, all components will default to critical.
   • The Yield field should be populated with the percentage of goods that are not wasted (e.g., if no units in an assembly are wasted, set Yield to 100).
5. Repeat step 4 until all of the components that you want to be added to the bill of materials have been added.
6. Click on the “Save” button when you are finished creating or editing the bill of materials.
   

You may also have items appear on assemblies that are assemblies themselves. This can be used then in the Work Orders module only to list all components and their subassemblies. For example, if you are making a desktop computer as the final assembly, it might require the following parts:

1 computer tower
1 keyboard
1 monitor
1 mouse

However, prior to assembling the computer, you have to do several subassemblies. One subassembly might be for the computer tower, which might require the parts below:

1 motherboard
2 RAM chips
1 CPU
1 hard drive
1 computer case
1 power supply

Both the desktop computer itself and the computer tower would be required to have their own bills of materials.

Orders → Other → Bill of Materials

Removing components is as easy as adding them. Simply follow the instructions below and the components will no longer appear as a required part of that assembly.

1. Select the assembly or kit from which you wish to remove items.
2. Place a check in the Mark column of the item you want to remove.
3. Click on the “Delete” button.
4. Click on the “Save” button when done

Orders → Other → Work Orders → “Create Work Order” Button

To create a new work order:

1. Click on Orders and then on Work Orders or on Create Work Order.
2. If you clicked on Work Orders in step one, click on the “Create Work Order” button; otherwise, skip this step.
3. Fill in all applicable fields.
4. Click on the “Save” button.
5. Click on the Line Items tab near the top of the screen.
6. Select or enter the item you are making in the Assembly field.
7. Enter the number of items that you are assembling in the Units field.
8. Click on either the “All Components” or “Top Components” button.
   • Clicking on the “All Components” button will display all level of the assembly
   • Clicking on the “Top Components” button will only show the top level of components and no subassemblies.
9. Click on the “Save” button.
10. The page will automatically populate with the bill of materials of the item that you are making. If you need to add more items to the work order that are not on the BOM, go to the next available line with nothing in it and enter the item ID into the item ID field or search for the item record using the three dots icon next to the item ID field, enter the required units (in the Qty field) and the price if needed. Click on the “Save” button. Repeat this as many times as needed to populate all components to the work order.
11. Click on the Equipment Sheet tab.
12. Use the three dots icon in the Asset field to select an asset that will be used on the work order.
    • If you add an asset and wish to delete it, check the checkbox in the Mark column in the line of the asset that you wish to delete and then click on the “Delete” button.
13. Set the number of hours, cost per hour, and date and time that the asset will be used in the appropriate fields.
14. Repeat steps 12 and 13 until you have added all of the assets that will be used on the work order.
15. Click on the “Save” button.
16. Click on the Labor Sheet tab.
17. Use the three dots icon in the Employee field to select an employee that will be working on the work order.
    • If you add an asset and wish to delete it, check the checkbox in the Mark column in the line of the asset that you wish to delete and then click on the “Delete” button.
18. Set the number of hours, cost per hour, and date and time that the employee will be working in the appropriate fields.
19. Repeat steps 17 and 18 until you have added all of the assets that will be used on the work order.
20. Click on the “Save” button.
21. If you wish to add notes about an employee on the work order, click on the Notes tab, select the employee using the three dots icon in the Employee field, type the notes into the Notes field, and set the date and time of the notes using the Date field. Once you have finished adding notes, click on the “Save” button.

Orders → Other → Work Orders → Printer Icon in WO Column

Orders → Other → Work Orders → Pencil Icon → Preview

To print a preview of a work order,

1. Either click on the printer icon in the WO column or on the order number of the order with the preview that you wish to print.
2. If you clicked on the printer icon, a printable preview of the work order will appear. If you clicked on the order number, click on the Line Items tab or click on the Preview link. Clicking on the preview link causes a printable preview of the work order to appear.
3. If you click on the Line Items tab, click on the printer icon in the Line Items tab. A printable preview of the work order will appear.

Orders → Other → Work Order

Based on your system settings, work orders can:

• Remain open until they are manually closed.
• Complete when issued (without allowing partial issues)
• Prompt you to make a backorder when a work order has been partially made.
• Always make a backorder if the work order is not completed when you issue.

Depending upon the setting your process can change. The default setting is to not make backorders or allow partial assemblies. Talk to your system administrator about your work order settings before using work orders. When you are ready to complete the work order, which means removing the components from stock and receiving the assembly item into stock, follow these steps:

Note: A work order must have open or started status to assemble the order. So if the “Assemble” button is not available, change the status on the order header.

1. Click on the Line Items tab of the work order that you are completing.
2. Click on the “Assemble” button.
3. Confirm the issue by clicking on the “Yes” button in the prompt box.
4. You have the option to select the units in stock by location or serial number. By clicking on the three dots icon in the Location or Lot/Serial fields, you can locate the units in stock you are issuing to tell the system exactly which units you are taking out. If you do not use serial numbers or want the system to try and locate the inventory for you, click on the “Load All” button. If you do, the system will automatically select items to be issued.
5. Click on the “Save” button.
6. When you are done, click on the “Issue” button.
7. The items are now removed from stock and the work order is completed

Inventory → Stock → Locate/Move → Locate/Move Button

1. Click on Inventory and then on Locate/Move.
2. Click on the “Locate/Move” button.
3. Locate the item you want to view the components used on the work order.
4. Click on the item ID to go to the details of the unit.
5. Click on the “BOM Items Issued” button.
6. It will display the item ID, description, serial number, and quantity of units for all of the parts that made the item in stock.

Orders → Other → Work Orders → Pencil Icon in Edit Column

If you need to cancel a work order:

1. Click on Orders and then on Work Orders.
2. Search for the work order for which you are looking as described earlier in the manual under Searching.
3. Select the work order you want to cancel by clicking on the work order number to go to the order header.
4. In the Status ID field, change the status to Canceled.
5. Click on the “Save” button.

Orders → Other → Work Orders

You can issue parts for a work order without creating a new item in stock. To do this, do not select an assembly item in the assembly field. Instead, list the parts to be issued on the line items tab of the work order and then proceed with an issue as in the steps above for a work order with an assembly.