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Why Work Centers on BoM Items?
11-17-2018, 10:09 PM, (This post was last modified: 11-17-2018, 11:18 PM by VortecCPI.)
#1
Why Work Centers on BoM Items?
As I work on the addition of Work Centers to Work Orders I realized we have Work Centers on BoM items. In our case BoMs consist of only raw materials so there will never be a Work Center associated with any of the BoM items. Since we do not have an option for NONE I created a Work Center named "None", which is a bit of a hack since it requires location context. We also have a PK-FK constraint on this field so as of now a selection is mandatory. Technically a small operation could issue Work Orders with no real Work Center -- The Work Center is the entire small site.

If we issue a Work Order to a Work Center it is to create a new part from raw materials and/or subassemblies. The raw materials would have no Work Center and neither would the subassemblies because they were already created via another Work Order on a Work Center with another BoM. If a BoM item requires a Work Center that implies work must be done to the part in which case it becomes a new part.

I realize the whole Work Center thing is still being thought out but I am thinking we either need to remove Work Centers from BoM items or add an option for None.

And... When printing a Work Order the Work Center is now on the Work Order, not the BoM items. We should issue one Work Order to one Work Center. Since we do not have real routing I think we need to keep things simple.

Any thoughts on this?
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11-18-2018, 09:46 AM,
#2
RE: Why Work Centers on BoM Items?
Well where production is in cells, the materials required are specific to where the work is done. Where a number of processes are required to complete a finished item the work in progress travels through multiple work centres and the materials required to complete those tasks are specfic to the work centre. I accept we really don't use work centres much, but now with the labour defined by work centre and timesheets we are well on the way to capacity requirements ... by work centre.
Phil Daintree
webERP Admin
Logic Works Ltd
http://www.logicworks.co.nz
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11-18-2018, 09:41 PM, (This post was last modified: 11-18-2018, 10:48 PM by VortecCPI.)
#3
RE: Why Work Centers on BoM Items?
I understand routing pretty well and have been involved in setup of the same since the 90s. Operations > Work Centers > Resources... Direct/Indirect... Subcontractors, etc. Recently did implementation of ECi M1 and will soon be doing Epicor Prophet 21...

My question is solely in the context of webERP. We do not have all the pieces so how are webERP users making use of Work Centers on parts? The Work Center does not show up on Work Orders, let alone on parts, so how is this being done today? When webERP users create Work Orders and issue them to a shop how does the shop manager and shop resources know where to do the work?

And... We do not have any build/work instructions (Operation Details) on the Work Orders. I am NOT critiquing webERP -- I am only looking for actual examples of how webERP users are doing it today so I can get a handle on the process and workflow. Even in the old Wang mini days Work Orders had enough data that if one fell on the floor it could be picked up and executed. Each Work Order contained Operations, Work Center(s), and Resource(s) and Resources. I one case Resources were very important as we had a lane of lathes used for making enhanced surface tubes for heat exchangers. All the lathes were in in one Work Center so the Resource IDs were paramount (i.e., Employee# @ Lathe#). Work Centers were always attached to Operations, not Parts.
More thoughts...

Let's say we have a very simple BoM with two or three parts to be assembled into one new part all at the same Work Center. How would we account for the WC setup in webERP? It should go to the new/top part but since we have two or three parts, each with the same WC, how would this be done? The WC setup time should be added as overhead to the new/top part, not the parts that made the part.

In our case we have simple BoMs consisting of just three parts -- A kit, labor, and water. We issue a WO to mix/blend the kit and water and the WC setup time goes back to the end product as overhead. Therefore we have no need for WC at the part level.

Looking at Routing:
Operation > Work Center(s) > Resource(s) so setup cost for each WC rolls up to the Operation, which then rolls up to the part owning the Operation. If we are not absorbing/recovering this cost as production overhead it goes to part overhead. Are we using Parts in BoMs to represent Operations?

Perhaps I am just confused in the context of webERP...
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11-20-2018, 09:09 PM, (This post was last modified: 11-20-2018, 09:13 PM by VortecCPI.)
#4
RE: Why Work Centers on BoM Items?
Another small issue with WCs on BoMs instead of on WOs...

A foreman would have to open each and every WO and then each and every BoM to see what WC it is to be produced on. If a foremen is looking for work to do on a particular WC this would be a very tedious and time-consuming thing to do. Also... As stated elsewhere... Nowhere on the paperwork do we show a WC. Therefore how does a foreman or holder of the WO know anything about the WC to be used? If we have two physical areas (WCs) with lathes and we want to produce enhanced-surface tubes in area #1 how would that be readily determined?

Can some of you using this feature better define how you are using webERP and Work Orders on shop floors?

Again I am not being critical... Just trying to get some real-world context and examples...
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