TIP: See the explanation of maintenance terminology in the Terminology : Service Items, Service Templates, Service Reminders, Completed Services, Issues, Work Orders article.

Fleet Manager Mobile allows you to create Work Orders easily. You can generate them from the "Service reminders" or you can create them manually.

The Structure of a Work Order

A Work Order can contains multiple Services to Perform. And those services can contains multiple items like parts, labor, etc. Here is an example of a Work Order which contains 3 services ("Oil change", "Rotate tires" and "Check coolant") : 

You can access Work Orders from this menu : 

Add a Work Order

There is a few different ways of adding a new Work Order:

• The Quick Add button (top left corner of the Fleet Manager Mobile window):
  
  
  
• Work Orders > New button:
  
  
  
• Service Reminders > Action button > Convert to 'Work Order':
  
  
• Issues > Action button > Convert to 'Work Order':
  
  
• Vehicles > Vehicle List > Action button > New Work Order:
  
  
• Vehicles > Vehicle List > Details > Work Orders button > Create New:

Populating Basic Information

When creating a new Work Order from scratch (other than by converting from an Issue or a Service Reminder), the following form will appear so you can fill out infos about the new Work Order:

Available fields:

• Vehicle: Select the vehicle. A Work Order can only be assigned to one vehicle. It's not possible to have multiple vehicles in one Work Order, you will have to create one Work Order for each vehicle.
• Created on: The date the Work Order was created.
• Required by: The date this Work Order is required to be completed.
• Status: The current status of the Work Order. Available statuses are: "Pending", "Processing" or "Closed". By default it is set to "Pending" at the creation. Work Orders in "Pending" or "Processing" statuses will be clearly displayed in the Dashboard, for example: 
• Technician in charge: The technician assigned to this Work Order.
• Vendor in charge: If this Work Order is to be performed by an external vendor, use this field to specify the vendor.
• Services to perform: Select the services that are to be performed in this Work Order. Use the "Service Items" to select some services one by one, or use the "Service Template" button to select services in bulk from a previously created Service Template. All those services will appear in the "Services to perform" list of the Work Order's "Details" view after it's creation. You will still be able to add, edit or delete services from this "Details" view later.
• Description: A description of the Work Order. While you can type whatever you want in this box, by default, the "Services to perform" you chose previously will appear here.
• Reference: A reference number intended to uniquely identify the Work Order. If the "Auto" box is checked, this number will be set automatically. To edit automatic numbering settings, click the link under the check box.
• Note: A space to enter a note or comments about the Work Order. When there is a Note in a Work Order, a little bubble will appear in the "Status" column of the Work Orders grid. Just place your cursor over the bubble to display the note:
  

Add or Edit Services to Perform

While you can select the Services to Perform during the creation of the Work Order, it's always possible to add more services later or to edit those that have been already created. To do so, you have to access the "Details" view of the Work Order. You can either use the Details button...

...or right-click the Work Order line and use the contextual menu:

At the bottom of the Details view, you will find the list of "Services to Perform" as well as a "Documents" tab:

• Add Services to perform: Use the New button to add a new Service to perform. The following Edit form will appear:
  
  • Technician in charge: The technician assigned to this Service. The Technician that was specified during the creation of the Work Order will be set by default but you are allowed to set different technician for each Service to perform.
  • Reference: A reference intended for internal use. The Reference that has been specified during the creation of the Work Order is set here by default.
  • Estimated labor hours: The estimated time it should take the Technician to complete this service.
  • Work to do: A short description of the service. When Service Items or Service Templates are selected during the creation of the Work Order, the description of the Service Item will appear here by default. When creating new Services to Perform from scratch, you can type whatever you want here.
  • Note: A space to enter a note or comments about the Service to Perform.

Add Details to a Service to Perform

When you are done creating the Services to Perform associated with the Work Order, you can add the following details to each one of those services so you get a detailed breakup of your expenses:

• Parts: Parts that were installed on the vehicle or "consumed" during the service.
• Labor: The time it took your Technician(s) to complete the service.
• Misc.: Miscellaneous expenses that may have been incurred.

Adding cost details will help you track expenses and generate reports later.

To quickly add "Parts", "Labor" or "Misc." entries to a Service to Peform, you can either use the "Add item" button...

...or you can access the Details view of the Service to Peform. To access the Details view of a Service to Perform, either use the Details button...

...or right-click the Service to Perform line and use the contextual menu:

At the bottom of the Details view of the Service to Perform, you will find an area to fill out the details previously mentioned:

• Add Parts: Use the New button to add parts to the Completed Service. The following Edit form will appear:
  • Part: Select the part to add. The dropdown list contains the list of parts available in the Parts Inventory.
    

    TIP: Use the "Find" button to show up a grid that will help you to quickly find the part you are looking for, or use the "New" button to create a new part.

  • Qty: Type in how many of this part were added to the Service.
  • Unit cost: The cost of the part at the time of service. It is set automatically with the last cost of the part. You can update the price of the part in the inventory by using this button:
    
  • Reference: A reference intended for internal use.
  • Note: A space to enter a note or comments about the part.
  • Warranty Area: Specify if the part is guaranteed, a reference about the warranty, and the date the warranty will expire.
    
    
• Add Labor: Use the New button to add labor entries to the Service.The following Edit form will appear:
  
  • Technician: Select the Technician that performed the labor for this Labor entry. The dropdown list contains the list of persons available in your Personnel.
    

    TIP: Use the "Find" button to show up a grid that will help you to quickly find the person you are looking for, or use the "New" button to create a new person.

  • Hours: The number of hours worked for this labor entry. Decimal values are allowed.
  • Cost/hr: The cost per hour rate for this Technician. This, along with the "Hours" field, will give you the cost of this labor entry. By default, it corresponds to the "Hourly wage" value set for the selected Technician.
  • Reference: A reference intended for internal use.
  • Note: A space to enter a note or comments about this labor entry.
    
    
• Add Misc. Entry: Use the New button to add a miscellaneous expense entry to the Service. Misc. entries are intended for any expenses that are not parts or labor.
  
  • Description: A description of the fee.
  • Qty.: Type a quantity if it's applicable, if not, leave to "1".
  • Unit cost: The unit cost. This, along with the "Qty" field, will give you the cost of this misc. entry.
  • Reference: A reference intended for internal use.
  • Note: A space to enter a note or comments about this misc. entry.
    
    

Convert a Work Order to a Completed Service

When a Work Order is completed, you can convert it to Completed service(s). The status of the Work Order must be set to "Closed" before you can convert it to Completed Service(s). To change the status of a Work Order, select it from the Work Order's list and use the "Action" button:

You can also change the status from the Details view of the Work Order : 

Once a Work Order is closed, select it and use this menu from the "Action" button to convert it to a Completed Service: 

You will be asked to enter the date of service. Then, after you click "Submit", the Completed Service(s) will be created. One Completed Service will be created for each "Service to Perform" entry in the Work Order. So if there was three Services to Perform in the selected Work Order, then three Completed Services will be created: 

Creating a Work Order from Service Reminders

You can use the Service Reminders to create Work Orders. So when some services are due (or not), you can convert them to one or more Work Orders directly. Just select the services you want to convert and use the "Convert to 'Work order'" button : 

You will be asked to enter some infos about the Work Order you are about to create : 

Save the info and that's it, you have a brand new Work Order with all the services already populated :