Production Operations
Production Operations is your personal shop-floor work list: it shows, in a single screen, the Operations Routing steps of open or in-progress Production Orders that are assigned to you as an employee, so you can mark when you start and finish each one and leave comments, without having to open the full Production Order.
What is it and what is it for?
When a Bill of Materials (BOM) has an Operations Routing defined (the steps of the manufacturing process — for example Cutting, Assembly or Painting — each with its own Work Center, operator or equipment), every Production Order generated from that BOM automatically creates one task per operation on the route. This screen gathers, for the logged-in user, only the tasks for their own pending operations: the ones that have their name as the assigned employee on the routing.
It's built for the plant operator who needs to know, without hunting through every Production Order in the company, what's on their plate today: they open the screen, see their work list, run the operation (mark start and finish), and leave a note if needed.
How to use it
- Open "Production Operations" from the Manufacturing menu. You'll see your list of pending operations, with the Production Order, date, Bill of Materials (BOM) and operation description for each row.
- Customize the columns if you need to, just like other AdmCloud lists, and save your own layout.
- Press "Execute Operation" on the row you're about to work on. The detail screen for that specific task opens.
- Press "Start Operation" when you begin working on it. AdmCloud records the start time automatically; the button is disabled right away so it can't be marked twice.
- Press "Finish Operation" when you're done. This button only becomes enabled after the operation has been started.
- Type comments in the notes box and press Save Comments as many times as you need, before, during or after running the operation.
- If the Production Order has photos or other attached files, you'll see them at the bottom of the detail screen, and you can open them in a new tab.
- Use the "Go Back" link to return to your list of pending operations.
Screens in this area
| Screen | What it does |
|---|---|
| List | Shows only the pending operations assigned to you, from open or in-progress Production Orders. Customizable columns (Production Order, date, BOM, operation) plus the "Execute Operation" button at the end of each row. |
| Details (Execute Operation) | Shows the Production Order, BOM and operation data in read-only mode, along with the buttons to start and finish the operation, the comments box and the order's attached files. |
Key fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Production Order | The number of the source Production Order this operation belongs to. |
| Date | The Production Order's date (not the operation's own date). |
| Bill of Materials (BOM) | The finished product's recipe being manufactured, which is where the Operations Routing comes from. |
| Operation | The description of the manufacturing process step you're responsible for (for example, Cutting or Assembly). |
| Start Time / End Time | Filled in automatically when you press "Start Operation" and "Finish Operation"; they aren't fields you type by hand. |
| Comments | A free-text note about the operation (issues, quality remarks, etc.), editable at any time. |
Validations and rules when running an operation
- Only operations from Production Orders with status Open or In Progress are listed; operations from voided or already closed orders don't show up.
- Only operations whose assigned employee on the Operations Routing is you (the logged-in user) are listed; if your user isn't linked to an employee record, or the operation is assigned to someone else, it won't appear on your list.
- "Finish Operation" can't be pressed if the operation hasn't been started first.
- Once an operation's start or finish has been marked, this screen doesn't let you undo it or reschedule it; to reschedule times or reassign the operation, use the Production Order's Operations Routing or its Scheduling screen.
- A finished operation keeps showing up on your list as long as the Production Order stays Open or In Progress; it disappears once the whole order is closed or voided.
Availability, modules and permissions
- Requires the Manufacturing module to be enabled on your plan (on the Enterprise edition, it's turned on/off as its own module).
- The BOM's Operations Routing, Work Centers, and assigning operations to an employee, piece of equipment or Work Center require the Enterprise Advanced Manufacturing module; without it, Production Orders don't generate tasks and this screen will show up empty.
- Viewing the list and the detail screen requires the "Production Orders" permission (the same permission used by Production Orders); starting, finishing and saving comments require its edit level.
- Your user must be linked to an employee record (relationship) for operations assigned to that employee to show up on your list.
Tips and common mistakes
Is the list empty? Check three things: that Open or In Progress Production Orders with an Operations Routing actually exist, that those operations are assigned to your name and not to another employee or Work Center, and that your user is linked to an employee record.
Be careful deleting rows from this list. This screen's checkbox and delete button remove the entire Production Order the selected row belongs to, not just your operation. Only use it if you really mean to void the whole order and you have the matching permission.
Need to change an operation's date, Work Center or assigned employee? That isn't done from here: edit it from the Production Order's Operations Routing, or from the Scheduling screen if your company uses it.