Handling Dates in Work Order Scheduling

Outcome

You know how to use requested start and finish dates together with planned start and finish dates, making the daily planning and scheduling of work more efficient.

Definition of requested start and finish date/time

The fields requested start date/time and requested finish date/time represent the earliest and latest times, respectively, that the work is allowed to be performed. These fields indicate a time frame for the work request or work order within which work can be planned to start and finish.

Characteristics of requested start and finish date/time

The use of these fields is optional. They are entered and updated manually, unless the work request is connected to a customer order or a workscope. In that case, the dates are updated automatically.
Work center capacity does not need to be entered on the dates.
If the planned start and finish dates are in conflict with the required start and finish dates, warning messages and action messages are triggered. For example, a message is triggered if the planned finish date is calculated to be later than the requested finish date.

Definition of planned start and finish date/time

These fields represent the time when – according to the current plan – the work is planned to start and for which materials and tools are reserved, and when the work is planned to be finished.

Characteristic of planned start and finish date/time

These fields never have any zero values. They are calculated automatically based on either the start or finish date.
Tools and materials are reserved for these dates. In other words, the dates control material planning.
They create load for operations. In other words, they control capacity planning.
During scheduling, they require capacity in the sense that although a given input value (for example start time) is allowed to be outside capacity limits, the output value (for example finish time), must always be inside the capacity limits.

Working with planned start and finish dates

The planned start and finish date is calculated automatically based on either the start or finish date, taking into consideration a rich assortment of lead-time elements. These factors are not further described in this document.

Working with requested start and finish dates/times

The figure above shows how the requested start and finish dates set the time frame for the planned work. The planner or supervisor can freely plan the work within these dates and reschedule work orders and work order operations by setting a new planned start date in (MOS100) or (MOS170).

Entering requested start and finish dates

Entering Dates

You enter the dates manually in (MOS100) or (MOS170). Note that there is one exception: If the work request is connected to a customer order or a workscope, the requested start and finish dates are updated automatically in the work request or work order when the dates are changed in the customer order or workscope.

Changing Dates

You change the dates in the programs mentioned above or in 'Work Order. Display Dates' (MOS111).

Work Requests Consolidated Into One Work Order

If several work requests are consolidated into one work order, the limiting dates (that is, the latest requested start date and earliest requested finish date) will automatically be set as the requested start and finish dates in the work order in (MOS100).

Normal Routine - Tips

In most situations it is recommended that the planner only enters a requested finish date. The supervisor will then have a buffer of work requests or work orders within the time frame of the requested finish dates to use while doing the detailed planning and scheduling.

This only works if the time frame between the requested start and finish dates is substantially greater than the expected lead-time of the work to be performed.

Work request or work order connected to a customer order

If the work request or work order is connected to a customer order line, it will not be possible to change the requested start and finish dates directly in the work request or work order.

The requested start date is retrieved automatically according to the following priority:

actual receipt date on the customer order line,
planned receipt date on the customer order line,
order date on the customer order line,
actual receipt date on the customer order header,
planned receipt date on the customer order header, or
order date on the customer order header.

The requested finish date is retrieved according to the following priority: 1) planned delivery date on the customer order line, or 2) planned delivery date on the customer order header.

If a work order is connected to customer order lines from different customer orders, the limiting date will automatically be set as the requested start and finish date in the work order in (MOS100).

Work request or work orders connected to a workscope

If the work request or work order is connected to a workscope, it will not be possible to change the requested start and finish dates in the individual work request or work order. The requested start and finish dates will be retrieved and updated automatically from the corresponding fields for the workscope in 'M3 Workscope. Open' (MOS145).

Requested start and finish dates outside date limits

If you reschedule a work request or work order and the planned start date is set to be before the requested start date, or the planned finish date is set to be later then the requested finish date, a warning is issued and an action message is created.

Action messages are displayed in (MOS100), (MOS170), 'Work Schedule. Open Toolbox' (MOS195), or 'Request Schedule. Open' (MOS137).

Action messages are only generated if the action message function is activated for the following:•

The planning policy in 'Planning Policy. Open' (MMS037). This refers to the planning policy that has been connected to the service in 'Service. Connect to Facility' (MOS301)
The work order type in 'Work Order Type. Open' (MOS120).

Scenarios

The following scenarios show you how to use the requested start and finish dates and the planned start and finish dates, respectively, in your daily work.

It is assumed that you use dynamic lead time, that is, that the 'MO lead time method' check box is selected for the facility in 'Item. Connect Facility' (MMS003/F)). It is also assumed that you use forward planning.

For information about which programs to use for the different tasks, see the documentation in M3 Companion for the appropriate process.

Scenario A: Repairable item is sent to repair shop after breakdown

An item in need of repair is sent to the repair shop due to a breakdown.

Create a Work Request (Requester)

The requester creates a work request in 'Work Request. Quick Entry' (MOS185). When doing so, the requester enters a requested finish date. This is the date the repair needs to be completed.

The requester can also enter a planned start date. If not, the planned start date is automatically set to the current date plus the response time.
Review the Work Request (Planner)

A planner in the repair shop validates the work request and estimates the requirements for resources and materials.

While doing so, the planner also reviews the requested finish date set by the requester. If the date is reasonable, the planner does not change it. If the date is not reasonable, perhaps because vital spare parts are not in stock and must be ordered from the supplier, the planner changes the requested finish date by extending it in 'Work Request. Open' (MOS170). The planner informs the requester about the change, perhaps by phone or e-mail.
Release the Work Request (Planner)

The planner releases the work request once all materials and tools are available. Note that if a direct purchase is needed, the work request must be released before the direct purchase is initiated.
Perform Detailed Scheduling and Allocate Employees (Supervisor)

The supervisor reviews the work order and decides which work center or which employees to allocate to the operations included in the work order.

When checking the load per work center or employee, the supervisor realizes when the work can be started. The supervisor can then change the work center and allocate employees to the operations.

The check might result in the rescheduling of the operation. This is done by changing the planned start date. The rescheduling updates the work center and employee load. If the supervisor schedules the operation too late (that is, if the planned finish date is set to be later than the requested finish date), action message C2 (Released order will be delayed) will be created for the work order in (MOS100).
Report Work

Now the operations will appear in the work center schedule view in 'Work Schedule View. Open' (MOS152) for each employee. Work starts and is reported. The requested finish date does not have any effect on the reporting of work.
Monitor Action Messages

This last activity is not connected to a specific work order and does not have to be performed at a certain point in the work order flow. Instead it should be done frequently by either the planner or the supervisor.

That person selects a view displaying only work orders with action messages in (MOS100) or (MOS195). If action message C2 (Released order will be delayed) is displayed, the planner or supervisor must determine why the work order is scheduled late. The action message will not be displayed in the following cases:
- If the work is rescheduled to an earlier date
- If the requested finish date is extended in (MOS100) after the requester is informed
- If the action message is deactivated in (MOS100).

Scenario B: A Work request requiring a production stop is created

Someone in production has noticed a problem, such as a minor oil leakage, that requires a change of gasket. However, the production line can keep running for some time. The change of gasket should therefore take place during the next stop of the production line.

Create Work Request (Requester)

The requestor creates a work request. No planning dates or requested dates are entered. Instead, the planned start date will automatically be set to the current date. The planned finish date will automatically be calculated based on the standard lead-time for the service. This might be an incorrect estimation, but it does not matter at this stage in the workflow.
Review Work Request (Planner)

The planner validates the work request and estimates the requirements for resources and materials. Based on the planner's knowledge of the position or equipment, he concludes that the work cannot be done until the next planned or unplanned production stop.

The planner might then connect the work request to a workscope that represents the next unplanned stop, or the next planned stop if such a stop is imminent.
Connect Work Request to a Workscope and Release it (Planner)

The production line breaks down and maintenance work can therefore be performed.

The planner reviews the expected lead times and duration of all unreleased work requests and connects some of them to the workscope. When the work request is connected to the workscope, the requested start and finish dates for the work request are automatically set to the start and finish dates of the stop, as defined in 'Workscope. Open' (MOS145). It will not be possible to change the requested start and finish dates in (MOS170).

The planner then releases the workscope.
Reschedule Released Work (Planner or Supervisor)

If the stop will be longer than a few hours, the planner or supervisor might need to reschedule some of the operations within the stop.

If the rescheduling results in a finish date later than the requested finish date (in this case the end date of the stop), action message B1 (Reschedule in released order) is created on the work order header.
Monitoring Action Messages

This activity is performed as in scenario A, except that the monitoring is probably done more frequently.

Scenario C: Scheduled maintenance work where production stop is not required

Automatic Generation of Work Request

A work request for scheduled maintenance work is normally generated automatically, based on definitions for the service, current date, and reported/forecasted meter values.
Review and Release Work Request (Planner)

The planner reviews work requests that are due to be released soon, for example the ones that have a release date the current week or the week after.

The planner also reviews the materials and operation availability. These will probably not cause problems since scheduled maintenance is a standard job.

The planner might then manually enter a requested finish date for the work request in (MOS170) and then release it. The work order in (MOS100) will receive the requested start and finish dates from the work request.

Note: If the work request is automatically released instead, the planner might manually enter a requested finish date in (MOS100).
Perform Detailed Scheduling

The supervisor schedules the entire work order in (MOS100) to start on the desired start date.
More Work that Needs to be Done

The operator discovers that there are a few more things that need to be serviced or repaired. The operator therefore adds two new operations (0010 and 0020) to the work order without entering any new dates. After rescheduling, the new operations are automatically inserted in sequence after the first operation.

If the two new operations can be started before the first operation is finished, the operator might want to set start dates for the new ones. For example, the operator enters a start date for operation 0020 that is two hours later than the start date for the first operation. After rescheduling the operation, the operator repeats the activity for operation 0030. Operation 0020 and 0030 will then start two hours after the first operation.

Note: In order for this to work, the 'Transit unit of measure/overlap code' field must be set to 1 for the work centers in 'Work Center. Open' (PDS010/G).