In this short blog post I detail how Production/Process Order header statuses should be used. I then provide one example of misused statuses that I've seen many times in my 20+ years as a PP Consultant.
Production/Process Order statuses allow company departments to communicate with one another
In the schematic and table below you can see the Order status progress from Planner to Controller. Each status: REL, CNF, DLV and TECO should be used to "hand off" the Order from one department to the next.
Statuses are used to hand-off the Order between departments
Step |
OLD Status |
NEW Status |
Meaning of NEW Status |
Who sets status? |
1 |
Planned Order |
CRTD |
You have moved from the PLANNED to the SCHEDULED phase. The PLANNED quantity and finish date have been "cast in stone". |
Planner or Scheduler |
2 |
CRTD |
REL |
You can begin production and confirm material and activity to the order. |
Production Scheduler |
3 |
REL |
CNF* |
The final operation has been confirmed for the last time. Production is complete. |
Shop Floor Operators |
4 |
CNF* |
DLV* |
All finished material that was made on the order has been goods receipted to inventory. Delivery to inventory is complete. ACTUAL dates and quantities are established. |
Inventory Maintainer |
5 |
CNF & DLV |
TECO |
The Order has been reviewed: all goods movements, activity postings and statuses are correct. The Error in Goods Movements Report (“COGI report”) is clear. |
Production Supervisor |
6 |
TECO |
CLSD |
All controlling activities have been completed; the Controller is finished with this order. |
Financial Controller |
*
If automatic goods receipt is set in the control key of the operation
the delivery status will be updated at the same time as the confirmation status.
A common misuse of statuses is that Production/Process Orders don't reach the status Finally Confirmed-CNF and Fully Delivered-DLV on the shop floor. This creates a work around process for which I have two names:
"The Rush to TECO" or
"Whitewashing your Orders". I use them interchangeably.
Tom Sawyer Whitewashing the fence
The Rush to TECO or Whitewashing your Orders
The Shop Floor Operators leave the Order's status at PCNF & PDLV even though they have completed production. They know when they have completed the Order so they should acknowledge this during their last confirmation.
This leads to work-around processes:
The Supervisor must rush to get the Order to the status of Technically Complete (TECO) so that remaining reservations, capacity requirements and expected goods receipts are removed right after the Operators have completed the Order. If this is not done, the Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Available to Promise (ATP) and Capacity Planning for subsequent Orders are compromised. This TECO status whitewashes the Order because it covers up the incorrect statuses PCNF and PDLV that have been left by the Shop Floor Operators.
An alternate work-around that I've seen is that the Planner or Scheduler will edit the quantity of the Order to match the delivered quantity. This is also an incorrect process because it compromises the data for the Plan vs Scheduled vs Actual reports (the Order Information System reports). And it adds a lot of manual work!
Here are some possible causes:
- Incorrect configuration of the Confirmation Type in the IMG step: Define Confirmation Parameters.
- Shop Floor Operators fail to set “Final Confirmation” and “Clear Open Reservations” during the last confirmation.
- If an Radio Frequency (RF) or Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is used to confirm Orders it wasn't designed to collect and transmit the CNF and DLV statuses.
- Incorrect Delivery tolerances set on the Material Master on the Work Scheduling tab.
Conclusion
The Production/Process Order statuses allow for easy communication and hand off between departments. They should be used correctly.