Concepts

Tasks

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Work Order Task Holds

Holding a work order task restricts the actions that can be performed on the task. For example, holding a task might restrict the ability to mark the task as planned. Another hold might restrict users from reporting activity for the task.

Although holds can only be placed at the task level, holding one or more tasks on a work order may affect certain work order level actions, such as Send for approval or Mark as planned.

This section explains how holds work and the types of holds that can be used.

Work Order Hold Reasons

When a user creates a work order hold, they must select a hold reason. The hold reason identifies the types of actions that are restricted by the hold:

•	Marked as planned

•	Sent for approval

•	Pick list creation

•	Requisition creation

•	Request for quotation creation

•	Purchase order creation

•

Schedule

•	Report activity

•

Close

•

Reopen

There are two levels of restrictions:

•	Not allowed: the action cannot be performed; no warning is issued

•	Allowed with warning: the action can be performed but the user is warned before the action is completed

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Events Affected by Holds

All events related to a work order task can be held, except for basic work order planning activities (adding indicators, requirements, and so on) and canceling a task. The events that are affected depend upon the holds applied to the task and the policy settings on the holds.

If you allow an action on a held work order task, then the system behaves normally. If the hold reason is set to issue a warning for an action, users are warned that the work order task is on hold, but they will not be prevented from carrying out the action.

If you disallow an action while the task is held, the affected action is either disabled or the system displays an error message if a user tries to perform the action.

The table below shows the effect of each hold reason setting on the actions that might be performed on a work order task. Actions not listed here are not affected by holds. For example, the ability to add requirements or print a work package is not affected by a task’s holds.

Hold Type	Allowed with Warning	Not Allowed
Mark as planned or send for approval	When Mark As Planned is selected a warning message is issued. The user can choose to continue, in which case the task’s status changes to “Planned”. Send for approval is a work order action. For work order implications, see Work Order Actions.	Mark as planned is disabled and cannot be selected. Send for approval is a work order action. For work order implications, see Work Order Actions.
Schedule	When a user tries to schedule a task, a warning is issued. The user can choose to continue, in which case the task is scheduled.	The action is disabled and cannot be selected. The task is filtered out of schedule backlog lists The task is bypassed if the work order is scheduled. See Work Order Actions. An error message is issued if the user attempts to schedule the task in another manner.
Create pick list	When Create pick list is selected or the task’s requirements are added to a pick list, a warning is issued. The user can choose to continue, in which case the task’s requirements are added to the pick list.	The action is disabled and cannot be selected. The task’s requirements are bypassed if a pick list is created for the work order. The task cannot be selected when adding items to a pick list. An error message is issued if the user attempts to add one of the task’s requirements to a pick list.
Requisition creation1	When a user charges a manual requisition to a held work order task, a warning is issued. The user can choose to continue, in which case the requisition is saved as usual.	When a user charges a manual requisition to a held work order task, an error message is issued. The user will not be able to save the requisition, unless they change the charging information.
Create RFQ	When Create RFQ is selected for a task requirement, or if a user tries to add a task requirement to an RFQ, a warning is issued. The user can choose to continue, in which case the RFQ process continues as usual.	When Create RFQ is selected for a task requirement or if a user tries to add a task requirement to an RFQ, an error message is issued. The user cannot create an RFQ for the task’s requirements.
Create purchase order	When Create Purchase Order is selected for a task or when Purchase is selected for a task requirement, a warning is issued. A warning is also issued if a purchase order or line is charged to a held work order task. The user can choose to continue, in which case the purchase order is created as usual.	The Create Purchase Order and Purchase actions are disabled. The task is filtered out of the list of tasks to which a purchase order or line can be charged. The task’s requirements are bypassed if a purchase order is created for the work order. An error message is issued if the user attempts to charge a purchase order or line to a held task.
Report activity (actions)	A warning is issued if any of the following actions are selected: • Report Activity • Enter Indicator Readings • Move Asset to Repair Shop • Swap Now (Component Swapping Info dialog) • Complete Repair (Component Swapping Info dialog) • Enter Timecard (on a task requirement) • Issue Material (on a task requirement) • Issue Tool (on a task requirement) • Report Tool Usage (on a task requirement) The user can choose to continue in all cases, and the action is processed normally.	The following actions are disabled: • Report Activity • Enter Indicator Readings • Move Asset to Repair Shop • Swap Now (Component Swapping Info dialog) • Complete Repair (Component Swapping Info dialog) • Enter Timecard (on a task requirement) • Issue Material (on a task requirement) • Issue Tool (on a task requirement) • Report Tool Usage (on a task requirement)
Report activity (transactions)	A warning is issued if the work order task is referenced on the following types of transactions: • Time cards • Material issues • Rented equipment receipts • Rented equipment usage transactions • Tool issues • Tool usage transactions • Service acknowledgments The user is not warned if the task is referenced on: • Purchase receipts • Invoice lines • Miscellaneous cost transactions	An error message is issued if the work order task is referenced on the following types of transactions: • Time cards • Material issues • Rented equipment receipts • Rented equipment usage transactions • Tool issues • Tool usage transactions • Service acknowledgments The user is able to reference the work order task on the following types of transactions. An error message is not issued: • Purchase receipts • Invoice lines • Miscellaneous cost transactions
Close	When Close is selected for the task or if Close task is selected when reporting activity for the task, a warning is issued. The user can choose to continue, in which case the task is closed as usual. For the Close Work Order action, see Work Order Actions.	The task’s Close action is disabled. The Close task option is disabled on the Report Activity dialog. For the Close Work Order action, see Work Order Actions.
Reopen	When Reopen is selected for the task, the user is warned. The user can choose to continue, in which case the task is reopened as usual.	The tasks’s Reopen action is disabled. The task is not reopened if the work order is reopened and the Reopen task option is selected. See Work Order Actions.

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Requisitions that are automatically created when a work order task is marked as planned are not affected by holds.

Note: The holds on a work order’s tasks can also affect the actions that are available at the work order level. See Work Order Actions.

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Work Order Actions

The holds on a work order’s tasks can affect the actions that are available at the work order level. This table shows how work order actions are affected by work order task holds:

Work Order Action	Effect of Work Order Task Holds	Allowed with Warning	Not Allowed
Mark as planned	Holding any work order task from being marked as planned holds the work order	A warning is issued and the work order is marked as planned	The action is disabled when one or more tasks are held from being marked as planned
Send for approval	Holding any work order task from being sent for approval holds the work order	A warning is issued and the work order is sent for approval	The action is disabled when one or more tasks are held from being sent for approval
Close work order	Holding any work order task from being closed holds the work order	A warning is issued and the work order is closed	The action is disabled when one or more tasks are held from closing
Reopen	Holding all closed or canceled tasks from reopening holds the work order from reopening	A warning is issued and the work order is reopened	The action is disabled when all closed or canceled tasks are held from reopening If only some tasks are held, the action is allowed but held tasks are not reopened if the Reopen tasks option is selected
Schedule work order	Holding all open tasks from scheduling holds the work order from being scheduled	A warning is issued and the work order is scheduled	The action is disabled when all open tasks are held from scheduling If only some tasks are held, the action is allowed but held tasks are not scheduled

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Multiple Holds

Multiple holds can be in effect at the same time on a work order task. In this case, the user is not able to perform any of the actions that are not allowed by any of the task’s holds.

The most severe setting of all of the holds is applied to the work order task. The severity of the policy settings is:

•	Allowed (lowest)

•	Allowed with warning (higher severity than “Allowed”)

•	Not allowed (highest)

For example, if Hold 1 says that closing a task is “Allowed with warning”, but Hold 2 says that closing a task is “Not allowed”, then the task cannot be closed as long as Hold 2 is in effect.

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Releasing Holds

Releasing a hold removes any restrictions on work order task actions that were in place as a result of the hold. Work order task holds can be released manually or at a set date and time. An APM scheduled action releases any holds that have exceeded their release date. Date-based holds can also be manually released at any time.

If a hold has the option Only [employee name] is allowed to modify or manually release this hold selected, only the hold creator, or employees with special authority can release the hold.

When a date-based hold is released by a scheduled action, the hold is released the first time the scheduled event is run after the release date is reached. If the scheduled event is not run at the appropriate frequency or early enough in the day, holds can stay in effect longer than expected.

For example, a hold is scheduled to be released on Saturday, November 10, 2012. When the hold is actually released will vary depending on the frequency at which the scheduled event is run, and the time of day it is run:

Frequency of Scheduled Action	Time of Day Scheduled Action Runs	Hold is Released
Daily, every day of the week	12:00:00	Just after midnight on November 10, 2012
Daily, every day of the week	16:00:00	After 4 p.m., November 10, 2012
Daily, MTWTF	12:00:00	Just after midnight on Monday November 12, 2012 (because the action does not run on Saturdays or Sundays)
Weekly every Friday	12:00:00	Just after midnight on Friday November 16, 2012

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Standard Task Holds

You can set up automatic holds for new work order tasks by entering holds on standard tasks. If you add a hold to a standard task, the hold comes into effect when the work order task is created.

You can set an automatic release date for a set period of time after the work order task is created. For example, you could say that the hold will be automatically released 10 days after the work order task is created. The hold will be released using the same scheduled action as other work order task holds, and will follow the same rules.

See Releasing Holds.

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Holds and the Unplanned Work Orders Policy

The restrictions placed by holding a work order task are in addition to the restrictions associated with the site’s unplanned work orders policy. Placing a hold on a work order task does not allow an action to be performed that is not permitted by the site’s unplanned work orders policy.

For example, assume that the site’s policy is set to “do not allow activities”. An “in planning” task is held with a reason that allows activity reporting but restricts the task from being closed. A user cannot enter indicator readings because the task is not marked as planned.

Likewise, the site’s unplanned work orders policy does not lessen the effects of the task’s holds. For example, the site’s policy is set to “allow activities with a warning”. An “in planning” task is held, and the hold does not allow activity reporting. When a user attempts to enter indicator readings on the task, the action is disabled.

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