When you work with production scheduling in Business Central, the manual priority field gives you a direct way to control the order in which operations are processed. You sort the operation lines by manual priority, with the lowest priority number placed first in the queue.
You can change the manual priority directly on the operation line. When you change it, you choose whether the change applies to a single operation or to the entire production order. If you choose No, only that one operation is updated. If you choose Yes, all operation lines on the production order get the new priority.
This is useful on a work center or machine center when something happens that requires you to delay a production order or push it through as urgent.
How manual priority controls the sorting of operation lines
On the operation lines you have the field manual priority. Normally you sort the lines by manual priority so the lowest priority number is at the beginning of the list. This determines the sequence in which the operations are processed.
In the example, production order 145 has a manual priority of 20. The production order lines page shows the same value, so you can see how the priority is reflected across the different views.
Changing manual priority directly on the operation line
You can change the manual priority directly in the operation line window. For example, on production order 145, operation number 10, you can change the value from 20 to any other number.
When you make the change, you are asked whether you want to change this one only:
- If you press No, only that single operation is changed. The new priority applies just to that operation on that operator.
- If you press Yes, the full production order is updated. All lines belonging to that production order get the new manual priority. In the example, all lines on the production order are set to manual priority 17.
The change updates both the operation line window and the production order line window above it. To recalculate all the lines and see the new sorting, you need to refresh the view.
When to use manual priority on the shop floor
The reason for changing the manual priority this way is to react to situations on the shop floor. An operator on a work center or machine center may discover that something has happened, so you need to delay a production order, make it urgent, or change its place in the queue.
From that point of view you can postpone a production order by lowering its priority, or prioritize it if you have a setup that needs to run through quickly.
Q&A
How are operation lines sorted by manual priority?
Operation lines are sorted so the lowest manual priority number comes first. The number determines the sequence in which the operations are processed.
Can I change the manual priority for just one operation?
Yes. When you change the value on the operation line, you are asked whether you want to change this one only. Press No to change only that single operation.
How do I change the priority for an entire production order?
Change the manual priority on the operation line and press Yes when asked whether to change the full production order. All lines belonging to that production order are then updated with the new priority.
Why doesn’t the line sorting update after I change the priority?
You need to refresh the view to recalculate all the lines. After refreshing, both the operation line window and the production order line window show the updated priority and sorting.
When should I use manual priority?
Use it to react to events on the shop floor. If an operator at a work center or machine center needs to delay a production order, make it urgent, or run a particular setup through quickly, you adjust the manual priority accordingly.