Special Function: Linking Work Orders to Planned Tasks

The Planning and Budgeting > Tasks module lets you link Planned Tasks to Work Orders in order to integrate real data into your strategic-planning and budgeting processes. Using Lucity, you can compare estimated and actual costs, planned resource use and actual use, and planned work and completed work—analyses that are invaluable for evaluating efficiency, as well as for making future plans and budgets.

Below is an overview of how to link the Work Order and Planning and Budgeting modules by matching key information on a Work Order Subtask to information on a Planned Task record. It is through this relationship that Lucity integrates Work Order data into Planned Task records.

Matching Criteria and Process

Once Fiscal Year, Department, and Planning Task records exist in the Planning and Budgeting modules, users can create related Work Orders. (See Getting Started with Work Planning and Budgeting for more details.)

In order to be matched to a Planned Task (and appear in the Task's Work Orders child grid), a Work Order must:

• list the same Category as the Planned Task*;
• list the same Department, Division, Sub-Division, Area, and Sub-Area as the Planned Task;
• have a Start Date and End Date that that fall within the same Fiscal Year assigned to the Planned Task; and
• list the Planned Task as a subtask in its Tasks grid.

Multiple Work Orders can be associated with a single Planned Task record. For example, if the Planned Task calls for removing and replacing all fire hydrants over 50 years old, an agency might create separate Work Orders for performing the task in each of its geographic work zones, and an additional Work Order for required inspections of the new hydrants. When the work is completed, quantity and cost data from all of these Work Orders would be incorporated into calculations for the Planned Task.

*Note: If a Planned Task does not list a Category, a Work Order needs only to meet the other three criteria listed above to match with the Planned Task.

Matching Process

1. Create a Work Order record. Choose the same Category, Department, Division, Sub-Division, Area and Sub-Area as the Planned Task. (If no Category was identified on the Planning Task record, any Category can be selected.)
   1. Open the Work Orders module by selecting Work > Work Orders.
   2. Click the button. The work order form will open.
      • The Status is automatically filled out along with the Status Date and Status Time. The Work Order # field will not be populated until after the record is saved.
   3. Enter a Category (required). The selected category determines the available problems, causes, crews, tasks, etc.
   4. Select a Main Task and Problem.
   5. Enter the Cause, assign a Crew, etc.
      • Assign a Supervisor
      • Assign a Lead Worker

      The Asset and Location fields are auto-populated. These fields allow users to see at a glance information about the first asset attached to the work order.

   6. The Request Comments grid is automatically populated from the comments in the Requests module; however, you can add or edit the comments in the grid from this module.
   7. Enter a department, division, etc.
      • Enter any comments for the Comment to Crew field.
   8. In the Work Order Locations grid, enter the address of each location where work will take place. The first address you enter in this grid will be displayed in the work order record's Address field.
   9. In the Assets grid, enter any inventory assets associated with the Work Order. The first asset you enter in the grid will appear in the read-only Asset field in the Work Order section of the form.
   10. In the Checklist grid, enter any checklist items. (Select the Checklist grid and click the button. Fill in desired fields in the Checklist form and click Save.)
   11. In the Tasks/Resources grid, enter additional tasks in the Tasks grid.

       Note: Any resources associated with a task (in the Work Flow Setup Tasks module) will be automatically populated in the Resources grid.

   12. In the Routing grid, you can track tasks and sub-tasks and mark them as complete.
   13. In the Costs grid, enter any cost information in the corresponding fields.
   14. In the Billing grid, enter any billing or invoice information.
   15. Enter any PMs associated with the work order in the Associated PMs grid.
   16. Enter any resulting tasks in the Resulting Tasks grid.
   17. Link any related Work Orders to the current work order in the Related Work Orders grid.
   18. Link any Requests to the current Work Order in the Requests grid.

       Note: The Tracking tab is a read-only grid that automatically records any status changes in the work order.

   19. Create or view Daily Inspection records, Work Permit Records, or Work Order Water Loss records using the Links grid.
   20. Enter additional information in the Custom tab.
   21. Enter other comments in the Comments grid.
   22. Click Save . Upon saving the Work Order, the Work Order # field will be automatically populated with the next available Work Order number.

2. Add a Task (Subtask) child record to the Work Order.
   1. In the Work Orders module, click the to expand the Work Order record to which you want to add a task.
   2. Select the Tasks grid and click the button. The Tasks form opens.
   3. Select the Task (required).
   4. Identify the Task Supervisor and the Task Start Date.
   5. If necessary, use the System, Assembly, and Component fields to identify the exact target of the task.
   6. Mark the Use Actual Res Cost and Use Est Res Cost fields if you want resource costs to roll up to the Task.
   7. Complete other fields, if desired.
   8. Click the button to save the record. The new Task now appears in the grid.

   • Choose the same task as listed on the related Planned Task.
   • Enter the Task Start Date. This date, as well as the Task End Date, must fall within the same fiscal year as the Planning Task in order for the Work Order to link to the Planned Task.
3. Add Resources to the Task.
   • As work is completed, enter the Resource's Units.
4. When the work is complete, close the Work Order:
   • Enter the Task End Date if it is not configured to populate automatically.
   • Enter the Work Order End Date if it is not configured to populate automatically.
   • Change the Work Order Status to 999-Complete.

     Note: Only completed Work Orders can be matched to Planned Tasks. (Learn more about the Work Order Status field.)

5. In the Planning and Budgeting > Tasks module, match related Work Orders to Planned Tasks.
   • Lucity Nightly Tasks automatically identifies matching Work Orders.
   • You can also run one of the Match Work Order Tasks Toolkits to identify Work Orders that relate to Planned Tasks on-demand. This action is crucial any time you choose to update cost data on-demand.
   • If a Category is selected on the Planning Task, Lucity finds all completed Work Orders with this Subtask that have the same Category, Department, and Fiscal Year as the Planned Task.
   • If no Category is identified on the Planning Task, Lucity finds all completed Work Orders with this Subtask that have the same Department and Fiscal Year, regardless of Category.
   • All matching Work Orders appear in the Planned Tasks' Work Orders grids. Lucity will not duplicate any Work Orders that have already been matched.
6. Continue to Planning and Budgeting: Calculations and Costs.