What is Work Centers and Machine Centers in Business Central?
In Business Central, you can have work centers or machine centers on a production order routing. This means if you’re working with production orders and you would like to define a routing on how to create your items, you can define steps on the routings and the retail on that step would be either a work center or a machine center.
This is what happens in the video
In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, work centers and machine centers define the capacities you use on a production order routing. A machine center is part of a work center, and you can place either one on a routing line to describe how an item is produced.
You group work centers into work center groups, such as machines, employees, or stock gear. Each machine center belongs to a work center and can have its own capacity.
If you want to use employees as machine centers or work centers, you must set them up as concurrent capacities for the system to handle them correctly.
Work centers and machine centers on a production order routing
In Business Central, you can use work centers or machine centers on a production order routing. When you work with production orders and want to define a routing that describes how to create your items, you define steps on the routing. The detail on each step is either a work center or a machine center.
The hierarchy of work centers, machine centers, and work center groups
Work centers sit at the top level, and machine centers sit below them. You number your work centers 100, 200, 300, and so on, and you can bundle them into work center groups.
For example, you might have a work center group called machines, another called employees, and a third called stock gear. Within the different work centers, you define machine centers. Under machines you could have drilling machines, deburr machines, and thread machines. Under employees you could have unskilled and skilled work centers, with machine centers called mechanics.
The machine center is a part of a work center. Each machine center can have its own capacity. In this scenario, that could be two for one machine center and one for another.
Using employees as machine centers or work centers
You can define either the machine center or the work center on the routing line. If you want to work with employees as machine centers or work centers, set them up as concurrent capacities so the system can manage them.
Where to set this up in Business Central
A work center, such as an assembly department, has a lot of definitions. You set up the work center on its card. A machine center is part of a work center, and on the machine center you have a work center number field where you assign the machine center to a specific work center.
Q&A
What is the difference between a work center and a machine center in Business Central?
A work center sits at the top level and can be bundled into a work center group. A machine center is part of a work center and sits below it in the hierarchy. You can place either one on a production order routing line.
Can you use employees as work centers or machine centers?
Yes. To do so, set them up as concurrent capacities so the system can manage them correctly.
How do you assign a machine center to a work center?
On the machine center, use the work center number field to assign the machine center to a specific work center.
What do you define on a production order routing?
You define the steps that describe how to create your items. The detail on each step is either a work center or a machine center.