Jobs
One run of production, covering a single item, a quantity to make, and its own copy of the method.
A job is a production order for one item, quantity, location, and due date. It contains a job-specific copy of the , including materials and operations, so later changes to the item master do not alter released work.
The schedule places a job's ; operators material and record time against it; and costs accumulate in . Make-to-order lines and planning shortages can create jobs.
Fields
WO-prefixed id (e.g. WO000001), assigned from a per-company sequence.production quantity = quantity + scrap.ASAP, Hard Deadline, Soft Deadline, or No Deadline. The scheduler treats each differently.Status lifecycle
A job's status drives what you can do with it and what the floor sees.
A Completed, Closed, or Cancelled job is locked. Its method, quantity, and dates can no longer be edited. Closing is what makes a job's work-in-process provably zero.
In the Jobs list, the Ready status is labelled "Released" — the underlying value is still Ready. Note also the spelling: a job is Cancelled (two L's), but a job operation is Canceled (one L). Different enums, different spelling.
To release several jobs at once, select them in the Jobs list and choose "Release Jobs" from the actions menu. Only Draft and Planned jobs in the selection are released. There is no dialog here: a job that needs fixing, or whose outside operations go to a supplier that already has a draft purchase order to choose from, is skipped and named in the summary. Release those from the job itself.
Operations
The job's is copied into job-specific operations on release, each a process on a , carrying its own setup, labor, and machine time. The floor runs the job by running its operations, and each carries its own status. A job reads "In Progress" the moment any single operation does.
Operation type
Each operation carries an : Process, Assembly, Inspection, or Outside Processing. The first three run in-house on one of your work centers and price against its rates, and the type decides which execution view the operator sees on the shop floor. A plain Process operation runs the standard operation view. An Assembly operation opens a guided, step-by-step build view: 3D animated work instructions play each step's insertion motion, with the parts, tools, and reference images scoped to the step in front of the operator. An Inspection operation runs a quality check, recording measured features against a ballooned drawing (the same execution screen the quality module uses for received goods). An operation is subcontracted: instead of a work center it points at a supplier process, copies that supplier's cost and lead time, and drives an outside-processing . The process you pick carries the same type and defaults it on new operations.
An Outside Processing operation's cost and lead time are copied when you set the supplier process, not linked live. If the supplier's pricing changes, re-select the supplier process to refresh it.
Sequencing
The order field sets each operation's position, and operation order (After Previous or With Previous) says whether it waits for the prior step or runs alongside it. Explicit dependencies are what gate a start: an operation can't reach Ready until every operation it depends on is Done, and finishing one re-checks everything downstream. Two operations with no dependency between them can be Ready at once and run in parallel.
Time and output
The floor records time and output separately. A records Setup, Labor, or Machine time with start, end, and employee. A production quantity records Production, Scrap, or Rework units and updates operation totals. Scrap does not satisfy the target quantity.
Untracked materials are when output is reported; tracked materials are issued explicitly. Strict backflush limits each material to the storage unit on its line.
Procedures
Each operation can attach a : a reusable set of work instructions keyed to a process. A procedure carries an ordered list of typed steps the operator completes (a value, a measurement with a min/max range, a checkbox, a list choice, a timestamp, a person, or a file), any of which can be marked required. It also carries parameters, the process settings the work runs at, such as a temperature or speed. Separately, the operation lists the tools it requires. A material or tool can be assigned to a single step, or left to apply across the whole operation — so an assembly view shows the operator exactly the parts and tools each step needs as they advance.
Because a procedure is keyed by process, you author it once and every operation running that process can attach it. It's versioned, moving through Draft while it's written, Active once ready for live work, and Archived when retired.
Revising a procedure bumps its version. A job already released keeps the version it was built with, so a change to the master never rewrites instructions on work in flight. Each step is captured as the operator fills it in, giving the finished job a recorded answer for every one it was built with.
Make to order vs. make to stock
A job is identical whichever way it's raised. Only its source differs. A job links back to a sales order line; a make-to-stock job comes from with no order behind it. Either way the job completes into inventory first, and the sale (if any) ships from stock — the job never ships directly to a customer.
Releasing a job copies the part's method into a job-specific copy. Editing that copy never touches the part master, and updating the part never disturbs a job already in flight.
Related
Watch a sales order become batched jobs, each with its own method.
How a job accumulates cost in work-in-process and settles at close.
The operations a job schedules onto the floor, before it copies them.
The stations and rates that cost and schedule its operations.