The Work Orders Module in the RTA Mobile App has the following capabilities:
Viewing PM’s Due/Due soon
Viewing Open/Completed Work Orders
Adding New Jobs
Posting Parts
Assigning Technicians to a Job
Managing Work Orders
Work Orders can be viewed or created by clicking on the three-bar icon at the top-left corner menu > Work Orders > Work Order Search.
From here, you will be taken to the Work Order Search Screen. Search for work orders that have already been created, and drill down deeper if needed.
From these screens, a user can view details about a job, or add another job to an open work order.
Job Details
The Job Details screen is the home screen of a job. From here, a user can post parts, perform inspections, assign technicians to the job, and add another job.
If you are using Paperless Shop, assigning technicians is a vital part of a paperless operation and allows technicians to see what work is pending for them to complete.
Managing Technicians on a Job
Did you know your technicians can receive push notifications for when they are assigned work? From the mobile app, they just need to go to their notification settings and say that they want to receive notifications for job assignments in the facilities they want! This also applies to when a technician is requested for help from another technician within Paperless Shop! Currently, only assignments made via the mobile app will cause push notifications to happen.
From the Job Details screen, click on Technicians
Admins/Lead Technicians will be able to see the Labor Rate on the assignment screen.
There are 4 fundamental features of managing technicians on a job:
First, let’s define a few terms!
Primary Technician: Simply a notation of who the main person to talk to about the work performed on that vehicle is. In some cases, a technician might need assistance, and so multiple technicians can be assigned to a line. This simply identifies to someone reviewing the work whom to go to for questions after the fact.
Estimated Hours: The estimated time that it should take the technician to complete their portion of the job. In most cases, this term is the same as “Scheduled Hours”, or how long are they scheduled for that job. Estimated hours can be adjusted in the Desktop version of RTA from Master > VMRS Codes > File Maintenance.
Priority: This controls the order in which the technician see the job on their assigned list. In most cases, leaving it as the default is fine, but if there is a higher priority item, the service writer/foreman might consider bumping the priority up to 5 (highest).
Assigning a New Technician
To assign a technician, tap the “Assign New Technician” button at the bottom of the screen. From here, fill out the form and tap “Assign New Technician”. That job will now show up on that technician’s job list!
Releasing a Mechanic
Releasing a mechanic is accomplished by tapping the pencil icon on the technician card. From here, there is a “Release” button. Releasing a mechanic essentially means that any UNUSED time will be put BACK into the unscheduled time.
For example, let's say I have a job that is supposed to take 3 hours, and I scheduled Technician A for 1.5 hours. They then work for half an hour, and you release their time. The unscheduled time remaining in this scenario would be 2.5 hours.
Closing a Technician
Closing/Deleting a technician is almost identical to releasing a technician, EXCEPT the remaining estimated time is NOT “released” back into the unscheduled time remaining. Using the example above, the unscheduled time remaining would STAY at 1.5 hours, as the initial 1.5 hours assignment was “completed” in the first 30 minutes. The remaining time in that portion goes away.
Another way to look at the difference between releasing and closing, is by asking the question “Is the work that the technician was supposed to perform done/been satisfied?”. If the answer to that is “No”, you should release the technician. If the answer to that is “Yes”, you should close/delete the technician assignment. Closing/Deleting are essentially the same, just the label changes depending on if the technician has time worked on the job or not.
Updating Unscheduled Time Remaining
The remaining unscheduled time can be modified by tapping the pencil icon at the bottom right corner of the “Remaining Unscheduled Hours” card.
Editing this number WILL update the overall estimated time on the job. The best way to understand how long the job is supposed to take is to combine the “Total Scheduled Hours” with the “Remaining Unscheduled Hours”. These two numbers together will give you the total time that the job is expected to take.