Work centres

A work centre is a place or team where work is done: Cutting, Welding, a Paint shop, a Build bench. Each has an hourly rate: what an hour of work there costs. An assembly’s operations each happen at a work centre, and time booked on a works order is costed at its rate.

Set them up

1. Go to Administration → Work centres (under Manufacturing).
2. Select New, give it a Name and, if you can see costs, an Hourly rate.
3. Select Save.

Select a name, or the pencil, to change one. Names must be different from each other. A rate can have up to two decimal places.

A work centre with no rate yet is fine: its time is planned and booked as usual, but costed at nothing until it has one. The rolled-up cost and a works order’s costs say which work centres have no rate, and Use as standard cost waits until they do.

Note

Changing a rate doesn’t change what’s already happened. A works order keeps the rates its work centres had when it was released (its planned cost), and each booking keeps the rate when it was booked (its actual cost). The new rate is used from then on.

Put them in order

Work centres are listed in the same order here, when choosing one for an operation, and on the Shop floor. New ones go at the end. To change the order, drag a row by its handle (the three lines at its left) to where you want it; the new order is saved as soon as you let go.

The handles hide while you’re searching, so clear the search first. If someone else has added or deleted a work centre since you opened the page, the order isn’t saved: the list reloads so you can drag again.

Stop using one

Switch Active off to stop a work centre being chosen for new operations. Operations that already use it keep it, and time can still be booked to them.

Delete a work centre only if nothing uses it: while it’s on a product’s operations or a works order, deleting is refused and the message says where. Make it inactive instead.

Who can do what

Adding, changing, reordering and deleting work centres needs the Manufacturing permission Change manufacturing settings. Anyone can see the list when choosing a work centre for an operation.

Hourly rates are costs: only people with permission to see cost and margin see them or can change them. Someone without it can still add or rename a work centre; its rate stays as it was.