Manage production codes for an estimating job

Production codes link items or groups of items in an estimating job to items or groups of items in a production control job. They are used to group together material with similar work and to apply labor averages from estimating to the production control bill of materials.

Production codes exist on several levels:

Global: Production codes that can be used in all jobs in both Production Control and Estimating
Estimate-Specific: Production codes that can only be used within a specific estimating job and the linked production control job.
Production Control-Specific: Production codes only for the production control job

Production codes can be as broad or as specific as you like. For example, you can use one production code for the entire estimating job to add the labor estimates to the production control job. The hours will then be calculated based on all the work that must be done for the entire job. However, you can also set every piece mark to have its own production code, so that hours in the estimating job and in the production control job match for each item.

You can set this in Imports - Use as Production Code as default behavior when importing an estimating job. See Define company standard settings for Estimating

You can override the estimated hours and use aggregate units to calculate the planned labor time on a job. This labor time can then be used in production schedules and project schedules.

We recommend that you assign matching production codes to parts in both Estimating and Production Control. This way, you can view the planned and executed labor times in the project schedule.

You can also create a report that lists all production codes used in an estimating job. The report is called Production Code Summary. For more information on creating reports, see Estimating reports.

Access the Production Codes dialog

In the Estimating dialog, click the Estimating ribbon tab.
On the menu, select Production Codes.
The Production Codes dialog opens.

Show Production Codes: Select an option to filter the production codes that are displayed:
- Global: Production codes that can be used in all jobs in both Production Control and Estimating
- Estimate-Specific: Production codes that can only be used within a specific estimating job and the linked production control job.
- In Use: Production codes that are in use
Production Code: An abbreviation for the production code

Description: A description for the production code. For example, you can use B1 for beams or C1 for columns.

Override Hours: Select if you want to use aggregate units for the planned hours instead of the original estimated hours. Then type the hours in the field.

However, if the manual override is used, the labor information does not include labor group percentages. Therefore, the labor group percentages cannot be applied to any production control stations.

Further, the information cannot be applied to tasks in the project schedule and to resources that feed information to the production schedule.

Manually overriding hours can also prevent you from comparing the linked production control job with the estimating job.

Aggregate Units: Select the suitable units in the drop-down menu.

The planned hours that you define here are automatically used in the project schedule. However, if you link the production control to a matching estimate, the estimated hours are automatically used in the project schedule.

The hours associated with the production codes are only used in Production Control. Production codes do not affect or apply labor to estimating items.

Create a production code

When you create production codes within the Estimating module, they only apply to the current estimating job. Globally available production codes are created in Maintenance > Production Control > Global Production Code Maintenance.

At the bottom of the dialog, click New.
Name the production code and type a description.

Do any of the following:


To	Do this
Use the estimated labor times of items within the production code in Production Control	The hours associated with the production codes are only used in Production Control. Production codes do not affect or apply labor to estimating items. The purpose of the hours is to pull labor information from the estimate in the form of hours per ton and labor percentages by labor group. In the Aggregate Units list, select a calculation option.
Override the estimated labor time of items within the production code in Production Control	Manually overriding hours applies an aggregate unit, hours per ton, that can be applied to production control items. However, if the manual override is used, the labor information does not include labor group percentages. Therefore, the labor group percentages cannot be applied to any production control stations. Further, the information cannot be applied to tasks in the project schedule and to resources that feed information to the production schedule. Manually overriding hours can also prevent you from comparing the linked production control job with the estimating job. Select the Override Hours checkbox. Type the labor time in the field on the right side of the checkbox. To change the units, right-click in the field and select a suitable option in the context menu.

Click Add.

The new production code is added.

Modify a production code

Select the production code that you want to modify.
Modify the properties.
To update the production code properties, click Save.

Delete a production code

Select the production code that you want to delete.
Click Delete.
In the confirmation dialog, click Yes to permanently delete the production code.