Work Order Utility Programs
Utility programs are designed to process or speed up tasks that aren't part of the normal daily, weekly, or monthly routine. Three work order utility programs are available for use.
Recalculate Work Orders
The recalculate work order program recalculates and corrects work order totals in the event they are off. The primary reason why a recalculation may be necessary is mainly due to abnormal termination of the software such as a power failure or shutting down the system before completely exiting the RTA program. These scenarios can leave files open, leaving you with a big question-did everything get posted and updated before the outage? To be sure, it's best to run the recalculate work order utility to make sure work order totals are properly calculated and reported.
- Select System > Utilities > WOs > Recalc Range WOs from the RTA main menu (STWR).
- Enter the starting and ending work order number to recalculate or press F1 to select the work orders from a lookup list.
- Enter a default labor rate (per hour) to use if a labor rate isn't found.
Extract Work Order Records
This program extracts transactions for work orders closed in a specified date range. The transactions extracted are exported to a text file named xworkord.dat, which can be imported into other applications such as accounting or spreadsheet programs.
- Select System > Utilities > WOs > Export Work Order Transactions from the RTA main menu (STWX).
- Enter the facility number or press F1 to select a facility from the lookup list or select a region (multiple facilities) instead.
- Enter the starting and ending work order dates to extract or press F1 to select the dates from a calendar. The system will search for work orders that have close dates falling in the date range indicated.
- Choose whether to select transactions based on when the work order was completed or based on the individual transaction date of each item posted.
- Select the applicable checkboxes to extract the needed work order transactions.
- Flag transactions as exported: Select this checkbox to flag transactions once they have been extracted. This helps avoid duplication of data should the dates overlap the next time this utility is executed. Skip this checkbox to leave transactions unflagged.
- Include previously exported transactions: This checkbox allows the option of including or excluding previously flagged transactions (see previous checkbox). Select this checkbox to extract all transactions for work orders closed in the specified date range; skip this checkbox to extract only the transactions that have not been flagged.
- Include shop supplies: Select this checkbox to include an additional data line (per work order) for shop supply OR facility overhead charges (SSM, switch 34). Skip this checkbox to exclude these charges.
- Include taxes: Select this checkbox to include an additional data line (per work order) for tax charges. Skip this checkbox to exclude taxes.
When the process is complete, a file named xworkord.dat will be placed in the fleet subdirectory. The file layout is shown in the following table.
Columns | Field Size | Description |
1 – 5 | 5 | Work order facility number |
6 – 12 | 7 | Work order number |
13 – 17 | 5 | Vehicle facility number |
18 – 25 | 8 | Vehicle number |
26 – 34 | 9 | Vehicle life meter reading |
35 – 36 | 2 | Priority code |
37 – 38 | 2 | Reason code |
39 – 41 | 3 | Shop code |
42 – 46 | 5 | Customer facility number |
47 – 56 | 10 | Customer number |
57 – 69 | 13 | Purchase order number (given by the customer) |
70 – 77 | 8 | Close date (CCYYMMDD) |
78 – 79 | 2 | Line number |
80 – 81 | 2 | Transaction type (P=part, L=labor, T=tire, M=misc., OP=outside part, OL=outside labor, OT=outside tire, WP=warranty part, WL=warranty labor, WT=warranty tire, SS=shop supply, TX=tax) |
82 – 89 | 8 | Transaction/Posting date (CCYYMMDD) |
90 – 98 | 9 | VMRS code |
99 – 123 | 25 | Item number (part number, mechanic number and abbreviation, etc.) |
124 – 163 | 40 | Item description (part description, job description, etc.) |
164 – 165 | 2 | Repair type code (1=repair, 2=replace, 3=check, 4=damage, 5=PM, 6=outside, 7 through 99=user-defined) |
166 – 173 | 8 | Item post quantity (99999.99+/-) |
174 – 184 | 11 | Item post priceincludes markup (99999999.999) |
185 – 195 | 11 | Item costno markup (99999999.999) |
196 – 255 | 60 | Line 1 of work order line note |
256 | 1 | Filler |
Close Completed Work Orders
Some companies open and post to a single work order per vehicle each month, others use the Paperless Shop option, but do not allow mechanics to close work orders. In both sample scenarios, the numerous open work orders need to be closed for month-end accounting purposes. In any case, this utility provides a quick and easy way of closing open work orders so they can be accounted for and included on billing reports and other month-end reports as needed.
- Select System > Utilities > WOs > Close Completed WOs from the RTA main menu (STWC).
- Enter the closing date. The date entered here will be used as the work order close date. The system will search for work orders created/opened on or prior to the specified date.
- Enter the starting and ending work order numbers to process or press F1 to make the selection from a lookup list.
- Choose OK to start the process. Work orders will be closed automatically only if:
- They were created on or prior to the specified date AND
- The work order number falls in the specified work order number range AND
- All jobs on the work order have been completed (i.e., all work order lines have a status of Done)