Add a work center

Article • 8/22/2025 • 4 min read

A work center is a specific production area consisting of one or more people, processes, or machines of identical capabilities that are one scheduling unit. You can add a new work center for your company at any time.

To add a work center

Create a Work Center

  1. Open the Work Centers (WORK) page.

    1. Select Production Management > Master Data > Work Centers.

      Or

    2. Search for WORK or Work Centers in the Navigation box and then select Work Centers.

      The Work Centers (WORK) page appears.

  2. On the Toolbar, click New.

    Click Copy to base the work center on the existing data displayed.

  3. In the Facility list, select the facility.

Enter Work Center Details

  1. In the Work Center Id field, type a unique identification for the work center.

    Ensure that the Work Center ID helps you identify the purpose of the work center. If the work center is a sub-contract operation, begin the identification with SUB so that you can easily recognize sub-contract work centers.

  2. In the Work Center Name field, type the work center’s name.

  3. To select the department:

    1. Click the Department Lookup Reference.

      The Lookup For Department window appears.

    2. Select the row that contains the required department, and click Select. Or, double-click the row that contains the required department.

  4. In the Comments field, type any other descriptive information you want to appear on the routing for the work center.

  5. Select the Partitioned check box if the work center is a partitioned work center.

Partitioned work centers are single work centers considered during scheduling as a set of individual resources each of which possesses its own calendar. Because each resource in a partitioned work center maintains its own calendar, you can schedule each resource in a partitioned work center individually.

  1. Select the Allow Fractional Simultaneous Operations check box if an operator from the work center labor pool can work on more than a single machine simultaneously.

Fractional simultaneous operations is supported only on additional resource routings and not supported for partitioned work centers.

Set Cost and Time Information

  1. In the Labor Cost/hour field, enter the average labor rate charged to this work center.

  2. In the Overhead Cost/hour field, enter the average overhead rate charged to this work center.

  3. If a standard number of setup hours exists, in the Setup Hours field, specify the number of hours it takes to prepare the work center for a new job. If there is no standard number of setup hours for the work center, type 0 (zero).

  4. In the Production Hours/Unit field, if required, type the number of hours it takes to produce one unit.

Set Queue Information

  1. In the Target Queue Hours field, enter the expected number of hours that a job will wait in queue before it enters the work center.

  2. In the Avg Queue Hours field, enter the average number of hours that a job will wait in queue before it enters the work center.

  3. In the Max Queue Hours field, specify the maximum number of hours an operation waits to begin production in this work center.

  4. In the Queue Allowance field, type the number of hours the work center can leave a job waiting in queue.

  5. Select the Backflush Labor check box to backflush the entire labor even if you have already recorded labor on a job.

    It is a global setting and NOT for each work center or part.

    The Backflush Labor check box is enabled only if you set appropriate values in the following fields of the Production (CSPROD) page:

    1. In the Labor Backflush section of the Accounts/Labor tab:

      1. Select the Selective Labor Backflushing check box.

      2. In the Labor Backflush At list, select when to backflush labor for a job.

      3. In the Quantity list, select the quantity to backflush.

    2. In the Backflush section of the Material/Costing tab:

      1. In the At list, select when the backflush must be done.

      2. In the Quantity list, select the quantity to backflush from inventory.

      3. Select the Scrap Quantity At Job Close check box to backflush any amount of scrap from inventory when you close a job.

Set Operation Limits Information

  1. For each shift, in the Simultaneous Operation Limits section, enter the standard (Std) number of operations that can be in process simultaneously in the work center.

  2. For each shift, in the Simultaneous Operation Limits section, enter the maximum (Max) number of operations that can simultaneously be in process in the work center.

Set Schedule Information

  1. Select the Capacity Constraint check box, if your company uses Planning and Scheduling and you want to mark this work center as one that constrains the master plan/schedule.

  2. Select the Default Operations For This Work Center To Be Scheduled check box to ensure that the routings schedule the operations that reference the work center. Clear the check box to ensure that the routings exclude the operation(s) from the schedule.

By default, theCapacity Constraint check box and the Default Operations For This Work Center To Be Scheduled check box are cleared.

Save

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