Write work instructions

A work instruction (WI) is the set of steps a technician follows at a machine. The engineer (Daniel Tan) writes it in the work instruction studio. The machine tablet shows it when the technician scans the machine to start setup, and the steps must be confirmed in order before the run can start.

%% title: Write a work instruction
flowchart TD
  A["Create the work instruction (Draft)"] --> B["Link it to an operation"]
  B --> C["Open the studio"]
  C --> D["Generate steps, or add them one by one"]
  D --> E["Add photos, cautions and readings"]
  E --> F["Submit for review"]
  F -->|"No steps"| X["Refused: add at least one step"]

Create the work instructionCopy Anchor Link

1. Open Engineering and choose Work instructions (/engineering/steps). Choose Add.
2. Enter the Title, an optional Internal reference, Category, Equipment / area, Language (BM, EN or BM + EN) and Rev. Save. The Doc no. is assigned on save, for example WI-032, and the instruction starts as a Draft.
3. Link it to an operation: on the production method, choose the operation and set its Work instruction, or set it on a machine option. See Define the production method.

You can also create one from the form where you need it: choose + beside the Work instruction picker of a machine option or an operation, fill in the header and save. The step editor opens for the new work instruction straight away. When you close it you are back on the form you came from, with the new work instruction selected.

Open the studioCopy Anchor Link

Open the work instruction (for example /r/WI-001). On the steps tab, Steps & images, choose Open step editor. The studio opens as WI-001 · work instruction studio.

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1. 1The document number. Open one to see its steps.
2. 2Title and category.
3. 3Revision and status. Only a Draft can be edited.

Generate the steps from the operationCopy Anchor Link

On the left the studio shows Generate from and the operation, for example OP 10 · Compression moulding. It drafts steps from the operation's station, components, machine options, parameters and first-off checks.

1. Switch on what to include: Materials, Machine & tool, Safety, Parameters, First-off checks.
2. Choose Generate steps. If there are already steps, choose Regenerate to replace them or Append to add to them.
3. Review every step before release. The draft is a start, not a finished instruction.

Write and edit stepsCopy Anchor Link

Each change is written to the document's history. A step's photo moves with its text.

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1. 1Generate from the operation. Switch on what to include.
2. 2The steps. Each shows its instruction, confirmation and photo.
3. 3Edit and Preview switch the view; Technician view opens the tablet preview.

Show machine settings and checks at a stepCopy Anchor Link

A work instruction belongs to one operation. In the studio, under each step, Machine settings lists the process parameters of that operation and Checks lists its inspection plan lines. Each row shows its value, for example Barrel temperature · 230 °C (220–240), and its status.

1. Select a step.
2. Tick the settings and checks that this step shows the operator. Clear a tick to remove a row from the step.
3. To add a row, choose Add setting or Add check. The form opens with the product, production method and operation filled in. A row that you add from a step is ticked for that step.
4. To change a row, choose its edit button. The row keeps its own rules and approvals: the studio never approves a setting or a check.

A row that no step shows says Not shown on any step, so that you do not forget it. The ticks can change only while the work instruction is a Draft. If the work instruction is not linked to an operation yet, link it first: the settings and checks then show.

On the tablet, the technician sees the ticked settings and checks under the step during setup, with the values from their own records. The traveller shows the same rows on the card of each operation, so the screen and the paper copy match.

Print the instructionCopy Anchor Link

On the Steps & images tab choose Print illustrated WI. If nothing opens, allow pop-ups for the site. The printout says Controlled copy only when printed from Factory OS with the current revision.

Only a released revision prints. While the instruction is a Draft, or while a new revision is being drafted, the print sheet is switched off and says why. Releasing a new revision supersedes the copies printed at the old one, and making the instruction obsolete revokes them. See Release the product documents.

See what the technician seesCopy Anchor Link

Choose Technician view in the studio. The preview shows the steps as they appear on the tablet at the station, as Setup mode preview, one step at a time with Confirm & next, Back and Finish. Readings typed here are not recorded. At the real machine, a reading outside the validated range shows Outside {lo}–{hi} {unit}. Adjust and re-enter, or stop and call the setter.

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1. 1The document, revision and the progress, for example 2 of 8 confirmed.
2. 2The step, its photo and the validated range.
3. 3Confirm & next moves on once the step is confirmed.

When the steps are lockedCopy Anchor Link

Only a Draft can be edited.

• In review: the steps are read-only. Return it to draft to edit.
• Released: locked. Start a new revision under an approved change note. The current revision stays in use until the new one is released: while the new revision is a Draft or in review, the tablet and the phone show the steps of the released revision, and the new steps appear when it is released.
• Obsolete: kept for history only.

Submit the work instruction on its record page with Submit for review, see Release the product documents.

If the system refuses a step here, see Product development: why the app refuses.