Work Order Groups
Introduction
Group Work Order Plans to make changes to multiple Plans at the same time and keep them synchronized. Grouping Work Order Plans is ideal when you have multiple assets that need the same type of maintenance but may be at different locations and operated by different technicians.
Overview
Creating and executing a Work Order Group (WOG) gives you the possibility to create/edit Work Order Plans for selected assets. A WOG can be considered a template of a Work Order Plan for all assets in a group. Once released, it creates a (active) Work Order Plan for any asset in this group. These Work Order Plans can't be edited/controlled separately as everything must be done directly from the WOG card.
Setup
Before you start using WOG, you need to set up a number series for WOGs. You can set up number series in the 'Numbering' tab in Asset Management Setup.
Work Order Group Card
To access and get started with WOGs, search for and go to Work Order Groups. You can also add Work Order Groups to your Asset Manager Role Center by personalization.
At first glance, you can see that the card is similar to the Work Order Plan. This is because Work Order Plan(s) will be created based on the WOG. The same fields that are used on a Work Order Plan Card are also used on the WOG. This means that all values from the same fields will be transferred to the plans created from the group. On the WOG card, an extra tab is added for assets.
General
Here you can find the most important information about the WOG.
- Skills - Fields are only visible if you're using skills in your maintenance area.
- Job No. - Hidden by default.
- Invalid Assets - Information about invalid assets (explained in the part about Assets on the WOG below).
Assets
In this tab, you can define which assets should be in the group. From here, you can also view details about the assets and their plans and orders.
To add assets, you can use the actions:
- Filter Assets - Add filters - assets that fit this filter will be added.
- Select Assets - Multi-select assets.
- Assets can be added even when a work order group has been released. In this case, you need to click Release Pending to create and release work order plans for these assets.
- If you have any invalid assets, you can select Release Invalid. It works the same as 'Release Pending' but only takes invalid assets into consideration.
With every asset in the group, you can:
- Close - Closes the existing Work Order Plan for this asset. The asset is still part of the group, but since the Work Order Plan for this asset is closed, no changes will be applied to the Work Order Plan (from the group).
- Detach - The asset is still visible in the group but it's not a part of the group. The detached plan for this asset (from a group) starts to be an 'independent' plan, meaning you can edit it because it's no longer part of the WOG.
The status of each asset is visible in the Assets tab.
From the 'Assets' tab, you can also open all related records (using actions Asset Card, Work Order Plan, or Work Order).
Frequencies
On the WOG, you can use only these frequencies: One-off, Calendar, Measurement, and Counter. Frequencies work the same as they do on a regular Work Order Plan.
For calendar frequency, you can define individual starting/ending dates for each asset. Fields are hidden by default. Keep in mind that the frequency for such a plan is correct, but the description on the line (on the plan) is still the same as it's shown on the group (even if the starting date for the frequency on the Work Order Plan created from WOG is different).
Resources, Items, Expenses
This tab is similar to the one on a Work Order Plan only with small differences:
- You can't add dimensions to the line.
- If you're using skills, they're not controlled on the WOG. This means that you will be able to add resources without the proper skill that is expected on the line. Later you'll be notified that the Work Order Plan resource without the skill is being added, and based on your setup - a warning will be raised, or an error will prevent the creation of such Work Order Plan.
Additional Parameters and Asset Parameters
These tabs are the same which you can find on a Work Order Plan but not all fields that are available on the WOP exist on the WOG. However, role and functionality are the same.
Dimensions
You can add dimensions to the WOG document. These dimensions will then be added to the Work Order Plan created from this group.
Documents
You can add documents to the WOG document. These documents will then be added to the Work Order Plan created from this group.
Document added from the WOG can't be deleted on the Work Order Plan created from the group. You can always add more documents to the Work Order Plan that are specific only to this asset. These documents (added manually) can also be removed from the plan.
Other information
- WOG can only be deleted when no Work Orders exist that were created from plans that came from the group, or when no consumption has been created on Work Orders created from plans that came from the group.
- If you don't want to keep the asset on the group but can't delete the group, consider using Detach or Close. These actions are better than using regular deletion of the line, so try to avoid regular deletion.
- When you want to make changes to a WOG, reopen a WOG, apply changes on the page and release the WOG once again. These changes will be applied to plans, but will not be applied to already existing Work Orders (since they're created from the previous version of the plan).
- From the WOG card, you can open Ledger Entries and Posted Work Orders linked with this WOG.
- An asset's status can be updated when the Work Order has started. On the Work Order Group, you can define what the Asset Status should be when the Work Order is being performed.
Calculating Work Orders
To calculate a WOP created from a WOG, you need to go to Work Order Planning Worksheet. From there, you can filter a specific WOG.
Invalid Asset
Sometimes you might be blocked from creating a Work Order Plan from the WOG. It might be due to an asset lacking a counter category when the Counter-based frequency is on the WOG, or it might be a lack of needed skills and you're using an 'error' level of control skills, meaning you're blocked from creating Work Order Plans that have resources with lacking skills.
If there is something that blocks the creation of such a Work Order Plan, this error is collected and stored as information for this asset.
Example:
In the example in the screenshots below, a frequency is created for the Counter category that doesn't exist on the asset A000005. When releasing a group (so Work Order Plans are created), the system recognizes that 1 Work Order Plan is not released due to an error (see screenshot 01). The line on the Assets is exposed and you can also see the information on the header that there is 1 invalid Asset (see screenshot 02).
By selecting 'Yes' in the Invalid field (seen on screenshot 01), you can open detailed information what was the issue that blocked the process.
You can also see information about invalid assets on the WOG list, where the group with invalid assets is marked in a red color (see screenshot 03).
Create a One-Off Work Order
It's possible to add a One-off Work Order frequency for the Work Order Plan created from a Work Order Group. You can also select multiple Assets from a group and create a One-off Work Order frequencies for their plans.
Create a Work Order from the Work Order Plan
- In the 'Frequency' tab in the Work Order Plan created from the Work Order Group, you can select Create one-off to create a One-off Work Order for this plan. See screenshot 01.
- Once you have selected that, you need to specify the date, if the Work Order is corrective, as well as add a description. See screenshot 02.
- Once you have created the Work Order frequency, it will be visible from the 'Frequency' tab on the Work Order Plan.
Create a Work Order from one or more Assets
- On the Work Order Group, select one or more Assets you want to create a One-off Work Order for.
- Select Create one-off as seen in screenshot 03.
- Once you have selected that, you need to specify the date, if the Work Order is corrective, as well as add a description. See screenshot 02.
- The new Work Order frequencies can now be seen in the 'Frequencies' tab of the Work Order Plan(s) they were created from.
Work Order Group Sequences
You can create Work Order Group Sequences to eliminate the need for manual setup of work order sequences for multiple assets. Work Order Group Sequences can se set up based on Counter or Calendar frequencies.
This means that all assets in the sequence will use a given group as a template for created Work Order Plan and Work Order. A Work Order Group Sequence is similar to the Work Order Sequence functionality, but here Work Order Groups are the steps in the sequence instead of specific Work Order Plans.
Create a Work Order Group Sequence
- Search for and go to Work Order Group and select 'New'. See an example of a Work Order Group Sequence in screenshot 01.
- In the 'General' tab, enable the parameter 'Sequence Group'. Only released Work Order Groups specified as sequence groups can be used in a sequence. See screenshot 02.
- Fill in details in the 'General' tab.
- Here you can also see if there are any problems such as invalid assets or pending assets.
- In the 'Frequency' tab, specify the type.
- Note, only the Calendar and Counter frequency types can be used on a Work Order Group Sequence.
- In the 'Lines' tab, specify steps for the sequence. Each step is a Work Order Group. If you're using the counter frequency, you also need to define an interval in the column. See screenshot 03.
- In the 'Assets' tab, you can add assets by specifying them or filtering them. Here you can also see the current status of assets. See screenshot 04.
- By selecting the value in the 'Sequence Steps' column, you can open the list of steps for the selected asset. From that list, you can also see the actual step for the sequence. See screenshot 05.
- If an asset is not valid, you can also see it also in the 'Assets' tab. By selecting Yes in the 'Invalid' column, you can investigate the issue further. See screenshot 06.
- When a Work Order Group Sequence is released, assets are added to the 'Sequence Assets' tab.
Note: Work Order Plans created with this functionality behave like other plans created from the work order group. For example they can't be edited, and work order plans can be controlled only from the work order group.
Read more about how the functionality works in the Work Order Sequence article.
