Overview: Work Order Feedback

Summary

This document explains the basic processing steps in connection with work order feedback. In a work order feedback, worked hours and material consumption are confirmed for work orders, regardless of whether this is an ad hoc work order for direct troubleshooting, a planned work order or a standing work order.

Overview Work Order Feedback

The work order feedback is used to post the hours worked by employees or work units and can also be used to report the consumption of materials and spare parts. Furthermore, in the course of creating the work order feedback, relevant information on the execution of the maintenance can be recorded and documented, if necessary.

There are several options to create work order feedback:

• Function „Report as Planned“ after click on „Process“ in the card view of the work order.

• Function „Create Work Order Feedback“ in the card view of the work order.
• „Direct“ posting of services in the „Work Order Journals“ (searching for „Work Order Journals“) without possibility to enter additional information to the work order.

All aforementioned Options is common, that it must be known, to which work order a work order feedback shall be created.

However, practice shows that maintenance activities are sometimes carried out, e.g. in the form of ad hoc “Orders”, even though no work order has formally been created in MAIN-TOOL. However, a work order must be created in MAIN-TOOL at the latest for the “subsequent” work order feedback of resource hours and material consumption.

One advantage of recording resource hours via the work order is that the work order is opened for which resources are to be recorded. This means that all the information from the work order is available. Especially if, in addition to the resource hours, feedback is also to be documented in the form of remarks, for example incidents during work order processing or feedback on obligatory checklist entries, these can be saved directly in the work order before the actual feedback of resource hours then takes place with the functions "Report as Planned" or "Create work order feedback".

• The function "Report as Planned" allows with one click to transfer the planned lines from the work order 1 to 1 into the work order feedback and to post them easily. This is often used when the work order can be processed in one action and the effort is identical to the planned lines. This form of work order feedback is also frequently used when an ad hoc work order is entered subsequently, since exactly those items are entered during the required work order creation that can then simply be confirmed "as planned".
• The "Create Work Order Feedback" function, on the other hand, makes it possible to enter effort that differs from the planned lines, e.g. if resources hours are to be entered daily, but the effort in the work order was planned over several days.
• When recording resource hours in the Work Order Journals, no remarks or checklist results can be documented in the work order, in opposite to the aforementioned options. Since the work order is not opened, there is also no insight into the planned lines of the work order. It must therefore be known exactly what is to be confirmed. However, it is advantageous that many lines can be entered and posted in one pass, even for different work orders, thus facilitating "rational list-based data processing".

 

Practical scenarios of the 3 options mentioned for creating work order feedback are:

1.„Report as Planned“:

• • An existing work order was processed. The work order could be executed as planned (Planned resource hours correspond to performed resource hours). There are no comments or checklist contents to report.
  • A maintenance activity was performed ad hoc without a work order having been created beforehand. Now resource hours are to be recorded for this activity. A new work order is created and exactly the same so that it can be subsequently reported "as planned". Remarks can be entered and additionally reported in the course of the work order creation, if necessary.

The processing steps of these two scenarios are described here.

 

2. „Create Work Order Feedback“:

• • In opposite to 1.a), the work order feedback is to contain e.g. deviating information compared to the planned lines of the work order and/or remarks or checklist contents are to be confirmed in the work order. In this case, the existing work order is opened, remarks or checklist contents are entered in it and then the function "Create Work Order Confirmation" is used to confirm e.g. deviating information to the planned lines of the work order.
  • In opposite to 1.b), the ad hoc work order could not be processed in one day, but resources hours are to be confirmed daily, which is why the function "Create Work Order Feedback" is now used after the work order has been created to confirm deviating information about the planned lines of the work order.

The processing steps of these two scenarios are described here.

 

3. „Posting of resource hours in the Work Order Journals“:

Resources Hours are to be reported for an existing work order in the Work Order Journals. Remarks or checklist contents are not to be reported.

The processing steps of this scenario are described here.

 

Work Order Search & Filter Features

In the previous documents in this series of topics, it was explained how to navigate and select in the existing lists, including "Work orders", via the "Date Proposal" function and alternatively via the role center. This is helpful for quickly finding the desired work order for which a work order feedback is now to be created.

 

As a quick search function for a work order, there are also other options in the list of work orders:

• Searching by clicking on "Search", e.g. by work order number
• Sorting by cell contents after selecting the desired cell and clicking on column heading, then clicking on "Filter" or "Filter by this value".

 

 

Comments and Checklists

When recording the work order feedback, it is recommended to document directly in the work order

• Comments, e.g. with information on work order processing,
• Results to checklists.

 

Recording Comments

There are 2 options to enter comments in the work order:

• „More Options“, „Navigate“, „Work Order“ and clicking on „Comments“
• Infobox „Comment Sheet“ and clicking on „Edit“
  If the Infobox "comments" is not visable, you can do this via the Design Function of Business Central

 

 

 

With click on „Comments“ or „Edit“ the Comments Sheet is opened and after entry of a time stamp the entry of comments can be started.

 

 

If a text is to be inserted with "Copy-Paste" or if a text is to be entered that extends beyond one line, it is recommended to use the function "Text Editor - New Comment". To do this, first select the line where test is to be inserted and then click on "Text Editor".

 

 

 

The multiline text is now inserted into the selected line with current date:

 

 

The entered lines are displayed in the info box „Comments Sheet“.

 

 

And also in the work order list the Comments can be viewed via Info box:

 

 

Thus, a possibility is available to provide information in text form about the work order beyond the known field contents, if required.

 

Documenting Checklist Queries

Assuming that a work order contains a checklist position, e.g. an operating hours counter to be noted in the course of the maintenance activity, then the confirmation for this checklist position must be entered in the work order, because otherwise no change of the order status to "Finished" can be made. Since the work order should be opened anyway in the course of recording a work order feedback via the work order, it is recommended that the result for the checklist position be entered directly in the work order.

When the work order is opened, any stored work order texts (instructions, checklists) are displayed in the "Work Order Texts" info box.

 

 

Clicking on „Process“ and „Texts“ opens the „Work Order Texts“ list view.

 

 

Note:

• A „Instruction“ does not expect feedback, if it does not refer to a Checklist Task Number.
• The operating hour meter can now be entered in the column „Result“.

 

 

In the work Order, the Checklist Entry is now shown in the “Work Order Texts” Info box.