The Work Order Workflow
The manufacturing guide covers how to set assemblies up. This one is about running them: what the system does on its own, what a person decides, and how the shop floor always knows what to build next.
The whole system exists to answer one question:
“What should I build right now?”
The golden rule: the system suggests, you commit
Nothing the system does on its own ever commits your shop to work. It makes plans. Only a person turns a plan into a promise.
- Watches orders and tallies what needs building
- Drafts build plans (if automatic work orders are on)
- Cancels its own drafts when the reason disappears
- Works out what can start now — and what's stuck, and why
- Keeps the most urgent job at the top
- Decides batch sizes in the Build Queue
- Releases a build — the promise it will be built
- Builds it, and marks it complete
- Makes the judgment calls the system flags
Where a work order comes from
Every work order records why it exists — you can always tell an operator’s decision from the system’s. There are four doors in:
A customer bought a made-to-order assembly, or a hybrid one that ran dry. The system drafted a build linked to that order.
You planned a batch: stock fell below target, or orders are waiting. You picked the quantity. Deliberate stocking.
A build you committed needs a part that must itself be built. The system spawns the child build so the parent doesn’t dead-end.
Someone hit “New Work Order.” The system records who.
Draft is a plan. Released is a promise.
Still a plan. Quantities can change; the system may cancel it if the need disappears. Nothing is picked, nothing moves.
A person committed. The pick list is real. From here the build is frozen — new demand starts a new one.
On the bench.
The only moment stock moves: components out, finished assemblies in. Missing parts? It refuses — before anything is half-consumed.
Stock never moves on draft or release. A build cancelled before completion leaves nothing to undo.
Kits inside kits sequence themselves
A kit needs a sub-assembly; the sub-assembly needs one of its own. Commit the top build and the system spawns the children — all the way down, including prebuilt parts that happen to be out of stock.
You never have to work out the sequence. The deepest parts show up as Ready first, and each one you finish makes its parent buildable. Every small build shows the chain it unlocks:
The whole job, every day
Open the Build Queue — plan
Anything below target? Orders waiting with nothing on the shelf? Pick batch sizes and create the builds. Five minutes of deciding, once a day.
Open Work Orders → Ready to build — work
Everything on this tab can physically start right now, already sorted: the build holding up the oldest customer order is first. Work top-down.
Release → build → complete
Release when you start, complete when it’s on the shelf. Completing a sub-assembly makes its parent appear on Ready. Repeat.
“Ready” means really ready
A build only makes the Ready list when all three are true — checked against live stock every time you look:
Parts are on the shelf
Every component, in the build’s own warehouse.
Nobody else claimed them
Parts other open builds plan to use don’t count twice.
No sub-build pending
Anything it depends on is already done.
The list is the build order. If it isn’t on Ready, starting it would waste a walk to the shelf.
Blocked always says why
Three different problems, three different fixes — never a mystery:
Waiting on its own children — which are already on Ready. Build those and this unblocks itself.
“2 sub-builds to finish”
The shelf genuinely doesn’t have it. Purchasing fixes this one — the row shows exactly what and how many.
“short: FAS-201 (4/10)”
The parts exist, but another open build claimed them first. Finish that build, or make a deliberate call.
“contended: shared with WO-1012”
The old way, you found out at the end — build done, shelf empty. Foundry tells you before anyone walks to the shelf.
Dead plans remove themselves
If an order ships or cancels and nothing else needs the build, its draft cancels itself — with a note saying why. Released builds are never auto-cancelled; they get flagged No longer needed? for a human call.
Real numbers from one shop’s first week: 36 of 59 “open” builds were for orders that had already shipped. A to-do list that’s 61% graveyard hides the work that matters.
Three settings shape the flow
Automatic work orders (Settings → Manufacturing)
On: orders draft builds by themselves. Off: everything flows through the Build Queue and you create every build. Same information either way — the queue always shows order demand.
Build-to target (per assembly)
The par level. Below it, the Build Queue asks for a top-up. Set these well and most builds become calm batches instead of order-by-order scrambles.
Minimum batch (per assembly)
“Never build fewer than 50 of these.” When a build is needed, Foundry rounds up to your batch size — one setup, not fifty.
Five things to remember
- Ready is your to-do list. Top item first — it’s holding up the oldest customer.
- Draft is a plan, Released is a promise. The system only makes plans. People make promises.
- Blocked always says why. Sub-builds, shopping list, or a conflict — each has its fix.
- The Build Queue is where you plan. Batches, par levels, five minutes a day.
- Trust the cleanup. A build that vanished wasn’t needed — the note on it says why.
Setting up assemblies from scratch? Start with the Manufacturing & Assembly guide — BOMs, build modes, and material requirements planning.