Creating a work order without a Part number

I am looking if it is possible to create a work order without a part number attached to it.

We use work order to track costs to for research and development. We start by creating a stock code as a place holder and then attaching it to the work order. It is believed that this is the only way to get a description on a work order that will make it easy to search and find work orders and there value for reporting on what we spend in R&D.

Is there a way to attach a description to a work order without creating a stock code?

What I would like to do is have work orders in the system that R&D can track costs to easily and then easily report on it with a good searchable descriptions.

If this is the only way to do it I am ok with it but it seams to not be logical.

Thanks for any help in advance.
Stephen.

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Comments

unknown

Yes. Just create a new work order in the Manufacturing window and leave the Part ID blank. You can add a description in the specs.

This also applies when adding material cards and Legs. A Part ID is not required, you can just enter a description.

unknown

We do this every so often when we have internal projects. We give the work order a descriptive name instead of letting the system auto-number. Just leave the part id blank.

unknown

I think the problem is with the reporting side of it. When you do a search of the work orders the default columns show Part# and Part Description. So that you can easily see what work order you want to see the value of.

The descriptive work order name might work or possibly create a blank material card.

I tried to see if I could include the specification field in the columns that shows up when you do a search of work orders but I can't seem to see the specification field as a column I can show.

unknown

You can uniquely define the Work Order Base ID when doing this - just don't follow the traditional numbering system. That way it will stand our from other work orders in reporting.

When creating the WO, just type in the Base ID you want so it's not system generated.

unknown

We use "parts" like XXXX-PROJECT, XXXX-OFFICE, XXXX-TRADE SHOW, etc. That way you can easily find internal projects by using searches in Visual windows such as Part Maintenance, Work Order etc. And you can run reports on estimated vs actual hrs, costs, etc.

Further, if you are tracking big-picture costs, you could make your part numbers more specific, like XXXX-R&D-CHEMICAL, XXXX-R&D-MECHANICAL, XXXX-R&D-FEA, XXXX-R&D-SOFTWARE, XXXX-R&D-CODING-SQL, XXXX-R&D-CODING-C++, XXXX-R&D-MKT-NICHE ANALYSIS, then classify these with Product Codes. That way, you can search and do cost analysis by Product Code. And you could roll the Product Codes into G/L accounts for your financial statements, enabling executives to analyze and make plans for expenditures on R&D, facilities improvement, etc.

unknown

When using the search feature in Visual you can add many fields to the search, adn order them any way you want. To do that, when you open the search window go to Data - Edit Columns and add whatever fields you desire to search for, and to see in the search results.

The specs fields store data in a binary format, so to get it on a report requires some code to change change it to something readable. So those fields are not usually available to search for.

unknown

It would appear that you want to be able to quickly identify the work orders you create for your R&D efforts. I agree with Jason on the method here. Simply do not use a part ID. Create a work order and use R&D specific baseID for example, start all work orders for R&D with "RD-2014-PROJECTXXXX". RD for R&D, 2014 for the year, and projectXXXX for whatever monicor you give to youir projects. You can then quickly search for R&D work orders and they will be listed in order by year. This is simple, quick, and I believe gets you what you have asked for.

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