5. Work hours

Work hours #

Introduction #

Usage of work and machine time items can be collected to a work order in a similar way to materials. The end result of work time entered is to add to the cost of the work order, however there are some special screens to handle entering work times in a factory environment.

The options for entering work time are:

• Directly to the work order in a similar way to manually entering materials or any other items usage on the work order screen.
• Using the timer on the  work cell screen. 
• Using barcoding on the work cell screen.
• Entering data to the work hours screen, as described below.

The choice of which method to use depend on company preferences. The result of entering the work hours by which ever method is the same: it is work time records on a work order. If data is entered incorrectly then it can always be edited on the work order itself.

Setting up the system for work time collection #

First check that the correct time unit is being used in the company settings. The unit of measure for time as used in product structures is set in system settings. It is specified as the number of “minutes per period”. To use a period of one minute, enter 1. To use a period of hours enter a unit of 60. Quantities of time are entered to product structures as periods but on the screen for time recording units of hours and minutes are entered.

Secondely set up the “items” for work time. This is done from the Sales or Warehouse section Items dashboard. Create one or more work time items. It is possible to use just one work time item; the reason for creating more than one is because cost is associated with an item. So if overtime is being recorded then a different work time item should be created. If different work types have different work costs e.g. a welder earns more than an assembly operator, then consider creating work items for “assembly time” and “welding time”. Note that the cost is based on one unit of a “period”. See the article on Work time items.

Optionally set up “cost codes” in the Admin menu System Settings section. These codes can be used to report what kind of work has been done. For instance “Kitting”, “Assembly”, “Repair”

Finally, In the Admin menu, System Settings section, create the list of  “operators”. An operator is a person for whom time is to be recorded, and this is separate from the login. So different operators’ times can be recorded from one logged in terminal, for instance at a production work cell

Enter the operator information as follows:

It is recommended not to create too many work time items. For instance, avoid creating a work time item for individual people, but rather rely on operator lists and cost codes. The main reason why different work time items should be created is to have different levels of cost reported to work orders.

Setting up the list of machines and machine time items is similar to the above. In the work cell screen, timers can be started for machines in the same way as for operators.

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Entering work time to a work order #

Open either a production or service work order from the Production menu. Go to the Items tab where work and machine times can be entered.

If the production template for this work order includes some work or machine items, these will be listed here. Otherwise any work or machine item can be added creating a new record for it.

Times are added by entering the number of hours to be booked. Optionally select the cell, operator or machine and cost code.

See the help documentation for production work orders or service work orders for further information.

It is possible to view and correct times entered by selecting the periods/work order page from the enter work times screen.

Entering work time to a work order from the Work Hours Screen #

Work times can be entered to a number of work orders for one operator by using the work hours entry screen on the Work hours dashboard in the production menu. This is convenient when an operator enters all times at the end of the day, and when an operator does not have sufficient rights to open a work order.

1. First select the operator (and optionally pin) whose work hours are to be entered.

2. Press [Select] to the operator.

3. Select the work order, item id and optionally cost code. Enter the total number of hours for each day. One week is shown at a time. If there is a record already for that work hour / item combination, then click to edit that record.

4. Press Clear after entering to clear the operator name and pin for the next person.

Entering time from a work cell using timers #

If routing is in use, work and machine time can be entered from the screens used to control work at the cell.

1. From the Production menu, select the appropriate cell from the Production menu Work cells dashboard.
2. Select a work order. Ensure that the work order is started at that cell.
3. Select an operator or machine and optionally a cost code.
4. Press Start work time.

It is possible to start multiple timers on the same work order step. This done for different operators or machines.

Stop the timer by any of:

• Clicking the stop button in the running timers grid
• Click the Stop all timers button
• Completing the work order step

Note that if a timer is started and the work order is set to backflush work time, the backflush feature will be disabled. There will be a warning to this effect.

If there timer seems immediately to start with the wrong time, please check that the user time zone in Admin section is the same as the time zone on the computer.

Work times can also be edited directly on the work hours tab of the route step. This is the same functionality as the work order screen.

Entering time from a work cell using barcodes #

Work timers can also be started and stopped using barcodes. See the section “Using bar codes in production” for further information. Absolute times can also be entered using barcodes.

Overtime #

When work time is entered automatically using a barcode reader, the system will automatically calculate overtime, and record the usage of the different work item to the work order. The overtime work item is specified on the Operators screen in system settings.