Overview: Work Centers and their Relevance
Work centers are an essential component of the estimating and manufacturing processes in mothernode. They are used to set up labor costs for different departments within a company. These work centers are then utilized to establish predefined workflows that guide products through the manufacturing process efficiently.
The primary purpose of work centers is to add time and labor costs when quoting products. By associating specific labor costs with each work center, companies can accurately estimate the cost of manufacturing a particular product. This information is crucial for generating accurate quotes for customers and ensuring profitability.
Work centers are also utilized during the production phase to guide products through the manufacturing process. Each work center represents a specific department or area within the production facility where a particular task or operation is performed. By defining workflows, which are predefined groupings of work centers, a company can establish a standardized sequence of steps for producing specific products.
Workflows help expedite the manufacturing process by providing a structured framework for production. They ensure that products move smoothly from one work center to the next, following a predefined path. This systematic approach minimizes errors, reduces production time, and enhances overall efficiency.
Production Setup – Work Centers
This is the second of a three-part series focusing on Production setup in Mothernode:
Production Setup Introduction – Stages
Production Setup – Work Centers
This support article addresses the setup of the Work Centers (departments) that will be assigned to Production Stages to form Workflows that will be used in the Production Order scheduling and management process. Click the above links for more information on setting up Stages and Workflows.
Work Centers provide the ability to define all departments that participate in the manufacturing process, including capacity, available days/hours, and time required to completely move a component through a department. Understanding all timing considerations including machine time, labor time, setup time, finish time and move time (to the next department) will lead to accurate scheduling and management of production orders.
Work Center Setup
Click Work Centers from the Production menu to add and manage Work Centers.
Work Centers are sorted alphabetically in the list, and time-related elements for each Work Center is summarized. Click New Work Center in the upper-right to add a new Work Center, and click Edit (to the right of each Work Center) to edit an existing Work Center.
The Add and Edit windows have similar formats, and updates are saved by clicking Save Changes.
Following is a description of all fields in the Add/Edit window:
Name: References the machine name or department performing the assigned manufacturing task
Capacity: Describes machine or resource availability, in hours, during daily operation, excluding breaks or other periods of inactivity.
Rate: Hourly rate, in dollars, for the Work Center resource to perform work in the department.
Machine Time: The amount of time it takes, in hours, for the machine to process the specified base quantity.
- Note: All time-based fields are based on hours. Fractions of hours can be entered using the decimal point (Ex. 30 minutes = .5 hours, 15 minutes = .25 hours, 45 minutes = .75 hours)
Base Qty: Standard quantity of product used to help calculate required capacity for a job.
Queue Time: Time, in hours, that raw material/components need to wait before processing in a machine.
Labor Time: Time, in hours, that is required for the Work Center’s human resource to process the base quantity.
Setup Time: Time, in hours, that it takes to prepare the raw material/components for processing.
Finish Time: Time, in hours, that the material must wait after processing in a Work Center.
Move Time: Time, in hours, required to move the material to the next Work Center for processing.
Start/End Time: Daily operating hours for the Work Center.
Days of Operation: Days of the week that the Work Center is available.
Background/Text Color: Enables color selection for Work Centers appearing on the Production Orders Schedule.
Work Centers in the Production Job Board
In the above example, the colored blocks and abbreviations represent the Work Centers (departments) that are assigned to each Stage for specific Workflows, and color coding is used to provide production status within the Work Centers (ex. blue = completed, green = in progress, light shade = pending).
Click the following support links for more information on Stages and Workflows:
Production Setup Introduction – Stages
