Field guide / Daily operations
Questions your shop-floor data should answer every day.
Start with jobs that might slip, operations waiting on materials, and records that disagree about status. Each answer needs a source and a next owner.
Ask what needs a decision during the stand-up
Begin with “Which open jobs need a delivery review, and what is the reason?” The answer needs the customer due date, open quantity, remaining operations, material dependencies, and current holds. Show the latest source times so the planner can distinguish an active blocker from a record that needs confirmation.
Then ask “Which unresolved question changed since our last review?” Compare confirmed changes rather than repeating every open job. A newly reported hold, supplier-date change, or reopened operation can matter more than a familiar status label. Assign each exception to a role and record what evidence would close it.
Check readiness before choosing the next operation
Ask “What is ready for this resource, and what still prevents release?” Use operation sequence, preceding completion, material allocation, tooling or setup requirements when recorded, and any quality restriction. A job priority alone cannot establish that its next operation is ready. Unknown prerequisites should remain visible to the dispatcher.
Illustrative sample: WO-1106 has material allocated and the preceding operation complete, but its inspection-release field is empty. The supervisor checks whether release is pending or merely unposted before dispatch. Refresh this answer at the dispatch decision using the agreed source cadence. If the prerequisite is tracked on paper, identify the person who must confirm it.
Separate material decisions from cost interpretation
For the buyer, ask “Which jobs need material before the next confirmed receipt?” Compare requirement, usable quantity, reservations, need date, and incoming supply. Keep expected receipts distinct from available stock. The answer should name the affected job and operation, then ask for a supplier or allocation review.
For a cost review, ask “Which recorded category differs from the approved estimate?” Use estimate revision, quantity, labor and material entries, outside-work costs, and posting completeness. Refresh after the shop’s agreed posting milestones. Missing invoices or unapproved time entries should appear as incomplete evidence, with accounting or estimating assigned to confirm the comparison.
Use a small worksheet to expose missing answers
For each recurring question, write the decision, minimum fields, authoritative sources, acceptable age, and review owner. Complete one row with the people who answer it today. If nobody can name the authority for a field, resolve that before automating the answer. If a required field is absent, decide how it will be captured or confirmed.
Keep the worksheet tied to one actual review. Record why the team could not answer a question and whether the problem was access, missing capture, conflicting definitions, or stale retrieval. That gives the first workflow a concrete scope. The machine-shop solution page shows how these distinct decisions can guide a SPOF evaluation.
| Question | Minimum evidence | Suggested review role |
|---|---|---|
| Which job may slip? | Due date, remaining steps, blockers | Planner |
| Which operation is ready? | Prerequisites, allocation, holds | Dispatcher or supervisor |
| What material needs attention? | Need date, usable stock, receipt | Buyer |
| Which cost needs review? | Estimate basis, recorded entries, gaps | Estimator and accounting |
Start with one operational question.
Tell us what your team keeps looking up. We will talk through the workflow and the systems behind it.
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