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6.2.4. Work Centers

Work centers are collections of machines or labor that perform a specific task when building a manufactured item. Work centers are used by routings 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 site may contain multiple work centers. To access the master list of work centers, go to Work Centers. The following screen will appear.

Work Centers master list

The Work Centers screen displays information on all existing work centers, including site location, work center name, number of machines, and work center description.

Tip

At least one site must be entered into the system before a work center may be added.

6.2.4.1. 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.

Site

Specify the site where the work center is located.

Active

Select to indicate the work center is active. If not selected, the work center will be considered inactive.

Description

Enter a description to further identify the work center.

WIP Location

Select a location that designates where the work center resides.

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.

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.

Overhead

Specify overhead rates from the following options:

# of Machines

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

# of People

Select a number using the arrows, 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.

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.

When the Scheduling tab is selected, the screen will appear as follows:

Work Center Scheduling tab
Department

Specify a department to be associated with the work center. This is an optional setting.

Average

Specify average times to complete work with the following options. These values do not have any impact on costing or scheduling. They are informational only.

Queue Days

Select a number using the arrows, 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.

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.

Capacity

Specify capacity available with the following options:

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.

When the Notes tab is selected, the screen will appear as follows:

Work Center Notes tab
Notes

This is a scrolling text field with word-wrapping for entering comments related to the work center.