Work Guidelines

Work guidelines are instructions or notes associated with the manufacturing process, either through the product structure or the routing of the part being built.

Used with components in structures, they allow you to create an artificial routing (if you do not use routings). They also give specific or additional information to the assembler or stockroom manager when he/she picks material for an order. Work guidelines warn you about the hazards or special handling properties of the material being used.

Used with disassembly components in structures, they allow you to describe how the component should be disassembled, when it must be scrapped, and the relevant position reference.

Used with routings, they allow you to give step by step instructions about performing an operation. Additionally, they provide a standard location to store inspection, safety info and machine program parameters.

For routing guidelines, it is possible to define a guideline type. Possible values are Instruction, Machine Instruction, and Subtask. The difference between Instructions, Machine Instruction and Subtask guideline type is that a subtask may require a signoff or inspection which an instruction or machine instruction does not require. If a signoff is required then it indicates that the subtask must be signed off before the operation can be completed by the shop floor worker. It is not possible to report any operation quantity complete for the shop order before all subtasks related to the operation guidelines are signed off. Machine instructions are used to send a machine related instruction that is relevant to a routing operation using Manufacturing Execution System (MES).

It is also possible to include an inspection sign off for a subtask. Possible values are Required to Close Operation and Required to Close Shop Order. This means that an inspector must approve the work performed in order to complete the subtask. Depending on the value of the sign off subtask, it is not possible to report a quantity on the operation or receive any shop order quantity into inventory before the subtasks that require inspection sign off are signed off by the inspector.

It is possible to define an Employee Qualification Profile for a subtask. If an Employee Qualification Profile is added, the subtask needs to be signed off. If a validation against the employee qualifications and the qualification profile will be done, depends on the option selected for Consider Qualification Profile list, in Site/Manufacturing. The functionality is limited to the subtask sign off in employee reporting mode on the shop floor workbench.

Work guidelines can either be created manually or from a work guideline template. Work guidelines are associated with structure line items or routing operations. When a shop order is created, the work guidelines for the structure used on the order are copied to the order’s materials. The work guidelines for the routing used on the order are copied to the order’s operations. You can modify these material and operation guidelines without affecting the structure or routing guidelines that generated them. The structure and routing guidelines can be modified without affecting the work guideline templates that created them.