Shop-floor Setup
Set up the shop-floor master records before creating BOM operations. ERPX uses them to calculate operation time, production cost, and workstation capacity. Create the records in this order:
The names are similar, but each record has a separate purpose. A workstation type describes a group of resources and its standard cost. A workstation is an actual machine or bench. An operation is a task, and a routing is a saved sequence of tasks.
A concrete example
Suppose a factory has three flat-bed sewing machines. “Flat-bed Sewing” is the workstation type. “Flat-bed 01”, “Flat-bed 02”, and “Flat-bed 03” are the actual workstations. “Join Side Seam” is an operation. A routing might run Cutting → Join Side Seam → Finishing → Inspection.
The BOM estimates the cost from the workstation type. The job card records the machine that was actually used.
1. Workstation Type
You’ll find it under Manufacturing → Setup → Workstation Type.
Give the type a familiar name
Use the term the factory already uses. “Cutting Table” is more helpful than “Machine Group 04”. Add a description when two types look similar but have different capabilities.
Enter the hourly cost components
Electricity, labour, consumables, and rent are added together automatically to form the hour rate. These are standard planning rates, so use figures the business can maintain consistently rather than a one-off invoice amount.
Set Daily Operating Hours
Enter the normal productive hours for one day, between 0 and 24. This is a key capacity-planning input. If an eight-hour shift normally provides seven productive hours after breaks and setup, enter seven hours.
Save and approve
Approve the type when the rates and hours are ready for use. If you later update the rates, Propagate Rates to Workstations lets you choose which existing workstations should inherit the new values.
Propagating a rate changes the selected workstation masters. It does not rewrite the historical cost of completed job cards or manufacturing entries.
2. Workstation
Open Manufacturing → Workstation. Create one record for each machine, line, bench, or other resource that can be assigned to a job card.
| Field | Practical meaning |
|---|---|
| Name | The label operators and supervisors use for this specific resource |
| Workstation Type | Supplies the default rate and groups comparable machines |
| Production Capacity | The workstation’s available production capacity; use the same basis consistently across machines |
| Availability Status | Available, In Use, Under Maintenance, or Not Available |
| Description | Capability, location, size limit, or other useful distinction |
| Workstation Image | Optional visual used on the workstation record and floor plan |
| Cost components | Per-hour electricity, labour, consumables, and rent for this machine |
| Daily Operating Hours | The hours this particular machine can supply each day |
| Active | Whether it may be used for new work |
Selecting a workstation type copies its default cost rates. Change the machine’s own figures when its cost or capacity is different. For example, an older press may use more power than the other presses in the same group.
Create Batch is useful when several identical machines are being added. Give them clear, predictable names immediately; correcting “Machine 1” on every job card later is far more work.
Availability affects daily work and planning. Set a machine to Under Maintenance or Not Available whenever it cannot accept work. This keeps the floor plan accurate and prevents planners from including unavailable capacity.
3. Operation
Open Manufacturing → Setup → Operation.
An operation is a repeatable piece of work such as Cutting, Washing, Stitching, Polishing, or Final Inspection. Its defaults are copied into routings and BOMs, where they can be adjusted for a particular product.
| Field | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Name | Use a verb or recognised process name that is unambiguous on a job card |
| Workstation Type | The type of resource that normally performs this operation |
| Default Time (minutes) | Standard time for one batch or unit, depending on the setup |
| Batch Size | How many units the standard time covers |
| Fixed Time Operation | On when the time is charged once per run rather than scaling unit by unit |
| Active | Whether the operation can be selected for new work |
| Corrective Operations | Follow-up steps that can be offered when this operation needs correction or rework |
A simple way to check the setup is to read the values as a sentence: “Stitching takes 12 minutes for a batch of 20.” If that does not match normal production, correct the time or batch size.
Save an operation before adding corrective operations. Corrective links are especially useful for inspection and rework flows, where a failed step should lead people to a known recovery process rather than free-text instructions.
4. Routing
Open Manufacturing → Setup → Routing when several BOMs use the same operation sequence.
Create a route, add operations, and drag them into working order. Each row can carry its own order, standard time, batch size, and description. Approve the routing when it is ready to be selected in a BOM.
A routing is a reusable starting point, not a substitute for reviewing the BOM. If one product needs an extra cure time or inspection step, adjust that BOM’s operations rather than forcing a misleading common route.
How the numbers reach production
Changing a workstation rate today does not alter the estimate stored on an older work order. The work order preserves the planned value, while its job cards preserve the actual time and resource used.
Related pages
- Bill of Materials: using operations and routings in a recipe
- Job Cards: recording the actual workstation and time
- Capacity Planning: scheduling against these hours
- Floor Plan: placing approved workstations on the live layout
- Manufacturing Reports: comparing planned and actual performance