The Production Request screen is used by Maintenance Planners to view, update, and approve production requests. The list and record views can be seen in the images below. Production requests are based on work orders. The system retrieves and displays the following information based on the work order selected: work order description, production priority, earliest start date, and latest end date. Work order resources are copied to the production request when the record is created.
The earliest start date and latest end date are populated using the requested start date and requested end date, respectively, from the selected work order. This is done to provide an acceptable date range that is not only wide enough to perform the maintenance activity defined by the work order but also to provide ERP Production Planners room to suggest a different date range, within the earliest start date and latest end date, if possible, to perform the work if necessary.
The normal status progression for production requests is unfinished, then approved, and then completed. However, production requests may also be cancelled or superseded. Below are brief explanations of these statuses.
-
Unfinished - This is the starting status for the production request. Data may be updated and deleted in this state.
-
Approved - Once the Maintenance Planner is satisfied with the information contained on the production request it can be approved. The system will protect all information except status. The production request is now ready to be forwarded, by the integration, to the ERP where a production order is created. Note that the production request cannot be approved without resources associated. Production requests may be created with a status of approved by clicking the Create Production Order button on the work order record view, using the Generate Production Request screen with the output option for production request status set to approved, or by creating the production request using status change triggers.
-
Completed - When the production request work order is completed the system will automatically complete the associated production request. The integration will then notify the ERP that the request has been completed. At this point, the ERP can complete the associate production order because the resources are no longer out of service due to maintenance activity. All data including status are protected in this state.
-
Cancelled - This status may be used if the production request is no longer necessary. The system will protect all data including status, clear production details from the work order record view, and send a cancellation notice to the ERP so that they are aware the request is no longer needed
-
Superseded - Occasionally the Maintenance Planner will need to make changes to a production request once it is approved. These changes can include work order requested start and/or end date changes, resources change, etc. This is accomplished by creating a new revision of the production request (see Create New Revision button). The new revision will begin as an unfinished production request and progress through to the approved status. At this point the system will change the previous revision’s status from approved to superseded, update the production details on the work order record view, and notify the ERP that a new revision of the production order is available.
The resources tab for production requests (see below) can be used by Maintenance Planners to view and make changes to resources associated to the production request prior to approval.
When the production request is approved the integration will forward the request to the ERP. Production Planners will review these requests for their resources and create a production order which signifies they have processed the EAM request. The integration will populate the production order details section on the production request with the resulting information. Note that the production start date and production end date may vary from the earliest start date and latest end date.
Upon receiving production order details from the ERP for the production request the system will update production order details on the work order record as well as update the scheduled start date and scheduled end date with this information. At this point the feedback loop has been completed. It began with the Maintenance Planner creating a production request with a suggested production order date range. The Production Planner has created a corresponding production order containing a date range, preferably within the requested range. Finally, the system has updated the work order scheduled start and end date with the production order dates received from the ERP. If a work order change is necessary by EAM personnel, a new production request revision will be created, and the process will begin again.