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Record operations and labor time

A manufacturing order's Operations tab is where the shop floor reports back. Each step from the recipe is listed with its expected time and rate. As operators work, they start and stop a timer on each step, or mark it done. SKU.io turns the minutes into labor and overhead cost on the finished goods.

Consumption and output are recorded in the Record Production dialog, covered in Build with a manufacturing order. This page covers the time.

Before you begin​

  • The order is Confirmed, In Progress or Partially Completed. A draft order shows the recipe's operations as a read-only preview; they copy onto the order when you confirm it.
  • The steps come from the recipe's Operations tab. See Add operations to a recipe.

Read the Operations tab​

Open the order and select Operations.

The Operations tab on a confirmed manufacturing order

Each row shows the step's Name, Type, Cost Class, Work Center, Default Operator, Expected Duration (min), $/hr and Fixed cost. Scroll right for what has happened so far: Actual (min), Actual Cost, Status, Operator, the Timer and Notes.

Source tells you where a row came from: From BOM for steps copied from the recipe, Manual for steps added on this order. A Modified chip means someone changed a copied step. Changes on the order never flow back to the recipe.

Time a step​

  1. On the step's row, click Start. The status changes to In Progress, the operator is recorded, and a red dot counts the minutes in Actual (min).

    A step with its timer running

  2. When the work is finished, click Stop. The status changes to Done and the timed minutes are saved.

The timer is optional. To skip it, click Mark Done instead. If you typed minutes into Actual (min), those are used. If you didn't, SKU.io asks before it records 0 minutes.

Correct the time​

Actual (min) stays editable after a step is done. Type the real minutes and click away to save. That's how you fix a timer someone forgot to stop, or record a step done offline.

A finished step with its actual minutes and cost

Actual Cost is (Actual minutes ÷ 60) × $/hr + Fixed. Overhead is added for the whole order, not per step. The bar at the bottom of the order totals Materials, Labor, Overhead and Total Cost.

Record time while recording production​

The Record Production dialog ends with a section for the operations: each step's Actual Time (min), its estimated cost, a Status and Notes. Fill these in to report time and output together, without visiting the Operations tab.

The operations section at the bottom of the Record Production dialog

Add, reorder or remove steps​

  • Click Add Operation to add a step that only this order needs.
  • Drag a row by its handle to change the order of the steps.
  • Use the delete icon at the end of a row to remove a step.

You can't change operations once the order is closed or cancelled. The tab shows This MO is locked — operations cannot be edited.

Finish costs after the order completes​

Production doesn't have to wait for every time record. A Completed order still accepts time and cost changes on its operations. A yellow banner lists how many steps still have pending or estimated costs. Each change revises the finished goods' cost and posts an adjustment journal automatically.

Close MO freezes the costs for good, so finish the time first.

Next steps​

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