When setting up an SLA, consider whether or not you want the request to be estimated or scheduled. You can step up an estimation or scheduling step to happen when the request has the Approved status, or, if you are using work orders, when it has the Assigned to Work Order status.
When a work request is estimated, the estimator enters the trades needed for the work, can estimate the hours, reserve parts, and enter other costs as needed. Other costs are any costs that are not labor or parts.
When a work request is scheduled, the scheduler assigns the craftsperson and estimates their hours. The application uses this information to calculate estimated costs.
If you define an estimation step,completing that step is required; that is, the work request cannot move to the next status until the estimation or scheduling step has been completed. The estimation step is available for all work requests that are approved or assigned to a work order, but the step is required only if you include it in the SLA.
Craftspersons, estimators, planners, and supervisors are assigned to work teams via the Work Team Code field of the Craftspersons table. In the Craftspersons table, the fields Is Supervisor?, Is Planner?, and Is Estimator? fields determine the person's role within the work team. If the Is Estimator? field is set to yes, you can select that person to do the estimating step. If the Is Planner? field is set to Yes, you can select that person to do the scheduling.
Your site may require that a work request's estimated cost be calculated and approved before work commences. This helps to control costs and can spread out the cost of work throughout the year. Similarly, your site may require that all work be scheduled for execution and optionally that the schedule be approved. This helps to ensure that work is done in a timely, efficient manner.
To add estimating and scheduling steps to your SLA, choose the Add Estimation and Add Scheduling links in the Optional Steps section for either the Work Request Approved status or the Work Request Assigned to Work Order status.
If you wish, you can add a Confirmation step to approve the cost estimate or approve the schedule. See Adding a Confirmation Step for Work Requests.
Note that you must enter the steps in the order in which the SLA should execute them. For example, if you want to estimate the cost, have the cost approved, schedule the work, and have the schedule approved, you would create the following steps in this order:
Note that the estimating, scheduling, and approving steps can occur for either the "Work Request -Approved" or the "Work Request -Assigned to Work Order" basic statuses. They are the same steps, and use the same forms.
Although in the “assigned to work order” status, a work request is assigned to a work order, the only form routed for these steps is the work request; the work order is not routed.
By offering the estimate and schedule steps for both statuses, the system provides for a flexible work flow. For example, a fairly common use case calls for work request to be estimated before the request is assigned to a work order. Then, when a work order is assigned or created, the work defined on the work request is scheduled.
To set up an estimation or scheduling step:
The Specify who must estimate the Trades, Parts, and Other Costs for the Work Request form, or the Specify who must schedule a Craftsperson or Tools to the Work Request form appears.