4.6.4. Work Centers

4.6.4.1. Work Center

Work Centers are collections of machines or labor that perform a specific task when building a manufactured Item. Work Centers are used by Bills of Operations to determine the amount of available and required manufacturing Capacity to produce the manufactured Item. Work Centers also determine the Cost, in direct labor, overhead, and, optionally, machine overhead, of such production. A single Warehouse may contain multiple Work Centers. To access the master list of Work Centers, select the "Work Centers" option. The following screen will appear.

Work Centers Master List

The "Work Centers" screen displays information on all existing Work Centers, including Warehouse Location, Work Center name, number of machines, and Work Center description.

Tip

At least one Warehouse must be entered into the system before a Work Center may be added.

To the far right of the list, the following buttons are available:

CLOSE: Closes the screen, returning you to the application desktop.
PRINT: Runs the report associated with this screen.
NEW: Opens screen for creating a new Work Center.
EDIT: Enables you to edit highlighted Work Centers. The edit screen is the same as that for creating a new Work Center --except that when editing, the fields will contain Work Center information. Double-clicking on Work Center will also bring you to the editing screen.
VIEW: Highlight a Work Center and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the "Edit" screen.
COPY: Highlight a Work Center and then select this button to reach a screen for copying the Work Center master.
DELETE: Highlight a Work Center and then select this button to remove the Work Center from the list.

Right-clicking on a Work Center in the Work Center list enables you to select from the following menu options:

Edit Work Center: Enables you to edit highlighted Work Centers. The edit screen is the same as that for creating a new Work Center --except that when editing, the fields will contain Work Center information. Double-clicking on Work Center will also bring you to the editing screen.
View Work Center: Highlight a Work Center and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the "Edit" screen.
Copy Work Center: Highlight a Work Center and then select this button to reach a screen for copying the Work Center master.
Delete Work Center: Highlight a Work Center and then select this button to remove the Work Center from the list.
Export Contents: Export the data displayed on the screen into a plain-text, TAB-delimited file. This file may subsequently be imported into a spreadsheet or other office tool.

4.6.4.1. Work Center

To create a new Work Center, select the NEW button. The following screen will appear:

Create New Work Center

When creating a new Work Center, you are presented with the following options:

Work Center #

Enter a unique code to identify the Work Center.

Description

Enter a description to further identify the Work Center.

Department

Specify a Department to be associated with the Work Center. This is an optional setting.

Warehouse

Specify the Warehouse where the Work Center is located.

# of Machines

Select a number using the arrow buttons, or manually enter a value up to a maximum of 99.

# of People

Select a number using the arrow buttons, or manually enter a value up to a maximum of 1,000. Value entered indicates the multiplier that will be used for man hour calculations.

Run Labor Rate

Specify a run labor rate from the following options:

Specify Labor Rate: Amount entered represents dollars per man hour that it Costs to complete the activity assigned to the Work Center. You have the choice of entering a specific run labor rate in this field, or selecting a pre-defined Standard Labor Rate from the list in the succeeding field.
Select Standard Rate: Select a pre-defined labor rate to be applied for the activity assigned to the Work Center.

Note

For the purposes of Work Order reporting, Work Centers are set up only once. As a result, the setup labor rate is charged only once per Work Order. The run labor rate, on the other hand, is charged per Item produced. These rates may be adjusted after Work Order explosion using the Maintain Work Order Operations screen.

Setup Labor Rate

Specify a setup labor rate from the following options:

Specify Labor Rate: Amount entered represents dollars per man hour that it Costs to set up the Operation that will be performed at the Work Center. You have the choice of entering a specific setup labor rate in this field, or selecting a pre-defined Standard Labor Rate from the list in the succeeding field.
Select Standard Rate: Select a pre-defined labor rate to be applied to the setup activity assigned to the Work Center. If you determine that none of the Standard Labor Rates apply to the setup activity involved with the Work Center, then you can manually specify a rate in the preceding field.

Tip

To calculate hourly labor rates for a Work Center, multiply the number of people by the labor rate—either the run rate or the setup rate. To calculate all Work Center charges, add overhead Costs to the sum of the labor rates.

Overhead % of Labor: Amount entered represents overhead for this Work Center as a percentage of the hourly run labor rate. The hourly run labor rate is equal to the number of people multiplied by the run labor rate.
Overhead per Labor Hr.: Amount entered represents overhead for this Work Center as the number of dollars per man hour.
Overhead per Mach. Hr.: Hr.: Amount entered represents overhead for this Work Center as the number of dollars per machine hour.
Overhead Rate/Hr.: Displays automatic calculation of the Work Center's overhead Costs, expressed in dollars per hour. Calculation is based on the following formula, using data entered into the Work Center screen: (overhead % of labor run labor rate) + (overhead per labor Hr. # of People) + (overhead per mach. hr. # of machines) = overhead rate/Hr.
Overhead per Unit: Amount entered represents overhead for this Work Center as the number of dollars per unit produced.
Avg. Queue Days: Queue Days: Select a number using the arrow buttons, or manually enter a value up to a maximum of 999. Amount entered represents the average number of days between the day a job arrives at the Work Center and the day work begins on the job.
Avg. Setup Time: Setup Time: Amount entered represents the average amount of time required to set up the Work Center in preparation for starting the job. This option also enables you to specify whether setup time relates to labor time or machine time.
Daily Capacity: The amount entered indicates the number of minutes worth of production the Work Center is available to perform in one day.
Efficiency Factor: Amount entered will be multiplied by the daily Capacity to determine the standard Capacity for the Work Center. The standard Capacity value will be used when determining the actual Capacity for this Work Center. The efficiency factor for a Work Center should be developed based on time studies.
Comments: This is a scrolling text field with word-wrapping for entering Comments related to the Work Center.

To the far right of the screen, the following buttons are available:

CANCEL: Closes the screen without creating the Work Center, returning you to the previous screen.
SAVE: Creates the Work Center and adds it to the master list of Work Centers.