Before a work order can be dispatched to a contractor or supplier to be executed, the work order must be created, and go through what is called the Pre-Dispatch Process.
The Pre-Dispatch process follows these steps:
Add a new work order. You must enter each of the fields on the work order in a particular order. The fields on the work order window are disabled, and will only become enabled when you have entered the required information in the previous field.
Choose a location for the work order. The location is divided into a location code, and a location drop down list. You can either select a location directly from the location drop down, or you can enter a 4 digit location code in the locator box next to the location drop down list, and Pinnacle will filter the location list to those that begin with the location code. Once you have selected a location, Pinnacle will display the store notes for the location. The store notes are entered in the Comments field for the location.
Enter the Requestor Name. Then choose an asset for the work order. The Asset Title field is limited to the assets that are in the selected location.
Once you have selected an asset for the work order, Pinnacle will search through all existing work orders with a status of "Outstanding" or "In Progress" for work orders that have already been raised for the same asset. If there are any existing work orders, Pinnacle will display a summary list of these work orders. You should review this list of existing work orders to be sure that a work order has not already been raised for the same problem. You can open work orders from this list to view the full details for the work order. If you are satisfied that the work order has not already been raised, you can close the summary list. If the work order has already been raised, you should close the list, and then abort the addition of the new work order.
In addition to checking outstanding work orders for the same asset, Pinnacle will also check whether the asset is under warranty, and thus whether any work required for the asset should be done free of charge. Pinnacle will first determine whether the asset is under manufacturer's warranty. If the asset has a labour contract attached, and the Labour Warranty Expiry Date for the asset is after the creation date of the work order, then the asset is still under manufacturer's warranty. Pinnacle will display the words "Manufacturer's Warranty" on the work order. Pinnacle will also set the contract for the work order to the contract for the asset labour warranty.
If the manufacturer's warranty period has expired, Pinnacle will then check if the asset is still under contract warranty.
Pinnacle checks contract warranty by determining if there are any completed work orders for the asset where the warranty period for the completed work order is still active. Pinnacle will display a summary list of the completed work orders. You should review this list of existing work orders to determine if there is a work order that is related to the current problem. If there is a completed work order that should cover the new work order by warranty, you can select this work order from the contract warranty list. Pinnacle will then copy the problem description, contract, failure code, and skill from the existing completed work order.
If the new work order is covered by either manufacturer's warranty or contract warranty, the estimated cost for the new work order will be set to zero. If there is no existing completed work order for the asset, Pinnacle will just enable the next field.
You can enter a description of the problem, although this is not a required field. If you don't want to enter a description at this point, you can leave the field blank.
Choose a Failure Code for the work order. This indicates the type of fault that has occurred with the asset.
If the work order is not already covered by warranty, Pinnacle will calculate the estimated cost of the work order after you select a Failure Code . The Estimated Cost is calculated using the average invoice cost (excluding GST) of completed work orders for the same asset with the same fault type. Pinnacle will use the reference period for the location to determine how many months of past work orders to include. Pinnacle will also use the exclusion percentage for the location to determine what percentage of work orders at the top and the bottom of the cost range to exclude. For example, if the Reference Period for the location is 6 months, then the Estimate Cost will include completed work orders for the past 6 months. If the Exclusion Percentage for the location is 10%, Pinnacle will exclude work orders that are in the top 5% by cost, and in the bottom 5% by cost. This is so any unusually expensive or cheap work orders don't affect the average cost.
Pinnacle will calculate the estimated cost, and will display it in the Estimated Cost field. You can overwrite the calculated Estimated Cost if you wish.
Choose a Trade (skill) for the work order. This indicates the skill that is required to complete the work order. Once you have selected a skill, Pinnacle will display the rates for the skill.
If Pinnacle has calculated an Estimated Cost you can either leave the calculated value, or overwrite it with a new figure.
If the Estimated Cost is greater than the Authorisation Limit for the location, then the work order will be flagged as "High Value Authorisation Required". This requires a user with High Value Authorisation rights to authorise the work order before it can be dispatched. In this case, the work order will be deferred until the High Value Authorisation has been completed.
Choose a Maintenance Type for the work order.
Choose a General Ledger for the work order. Pinnacle will only display active budget codes that you have access rights to view. The list of budget codes is limited to the budget codes that have been assigned to the location. If there are no budget codes assigned to the location, Pinnacle will check the parent location for assigned budget codes. If there are no budget codes assigned to the parent location, Pinnacle will continue up the property hierarchy until a location is found that has budget codes assigned. These budget codes will then be displayed in the list of budget codes.
Choose a Priority for the work order. Pinnacle will display the priorities that have been assigned to the location, or to any parent location. When priorities are assigned to a location, you can set the deferral flag for the priority against the location, and the deferral days. When you choose the priority for the work order, Pinnacle will automatically defer the Work Order if the priority is flagged for deferral. Pinnacle will also automatically set the Dispatch Date to the current date plus the number of deferral days for the priority.
If the Defer Work Order flag was turned on by the priority you selected, you can choose to turn off the flag. Or you can turn the flag on if it was not affected by the priority you selected.
If the work order is flagged as Deferred, it will not be dispatched immediately, but will be deferred, to be dispatched on the Dispatch Date for the work order.
Choose the Contract for the work order. The list of contracts available in the contract drop down list will be limited to the contracts that are linked to the location selected for the work order. Pinnacle will automatically fill in the name of the contractor and the phone number for the contractor.
After you have selected a contract, Pinnacle will check the supplier for the contract to ensure that all insurance policies held by the supplier are still valid. If the supplier for the contract has any insurance policies that will expire within the number of days specified by Work Order Module Defaults window, the work order will be flagged as "Insurance Expiry Authorisation Required". This requires a user with Insurance Expiry Authorisation rights to authorise the work order before it can be dispatched. In this case, the work order will be deferred until the Insurance Expiry Authorisation has been completed.
The Create Date for the work order is automatically filled in by Pinnacle when the work order is created. You cannot edit the Create Date. You can edit the Commenced, Completed and Finalised Dates.
Now that you have entered all the information for the work order, you must save the work order. When you save the work order, this will initiate the Work Order Dispatch Process.