Work Orders in Epsilon3 help your team manage the manufacturing, integration, or assembly of parts and systems within a Build. Each Work Order serves as a controlled record of the tasks, components, and resources required to complete a defined scope of work.

Work Orders ensure traceability, accountability, and efficiency across all stages of your manufacturing or testing process.

Work Order Priority will be displayed as a visual indicator on the Work Orders List screen.

This screen can be filtered by Project or Tag, sorted by Work Order #, Project, Priority, Status, Quantity, Part, or Assignees, and exported to CSV using the vertical 3 dot menu in the top right corner.

Navigate to the Work Orders section of the Builds module and select +New Work Order.

New work orders will be created in the Planned stage. You will be able to view Components Needed and any other details entered when creating the work order.

The amount of components needed and assigned will be displayed. If there is insufficient inventory on hand, then this will be indicated by a red circle next to the amount needed.

The Activity section will display any actions taken on the work order.

To move the Work Order into the Running stage, click the Start button, or Run one of the associated Work Instructions.

If a run is started on a Work Order that is in Planning there will be a popup to notify that the Work Order will be moved to Running.

Tags can be added to work orders for easy sorting and organization.

See Tags Management article for more details!

Custom Fields can be added to Work Orders. Navigate to Builds Settings by clicking the gear icon next to the Builds Module.

Click +Add Field.

Select a global custom field from the drop down (See: Custom Input Field Management) or type in the field to create a new field.

The Custom Fields will only be visible on the work order when there is data input.

On the Work Order screen, click the 3 dot menu next to details and select Edit Custom Details.

Fill out the desired details and then they will be visible on the Work Order under the Details section.

The Work Instructions section defines the procedures that will be executed for a work order. These instructions act as the operational plan for completing the build and are directly tied to the runs performed by your team.

Work instructions are automatically populated based on the selected build and associated procedures. A

ny procedure that includes an Add New Inventory block for the ordered part is automatically linked here, ensuring that required build steps are included without additional configuration.

You can adjust the instruction set at the work order level to reflect the exact work required.

Select Edit within the Work Instructions section to modify the list. From here, procedures can be added, removed, or reordered to match the desired execution flow.

Each instruction includes an Owner field, allowing responsibility to be assigned at the procedure level. This makes it easier to coordinate execution across multiple team members and provides clear accountability for each step.

To begin execution, select Start on any instruction. This creates a run tied directly to the work order. All runs initiated from work instructions are tracked in the Runs section, where you can monitor progress, participants, and timing details alongside the defined instruction set.

Many records in Builds now support file and image attachments, making it easier to keep important documentation alongside active work. This includes Work Orders, Sales Orders, Shipments, Customers, and Vendors.

Attachments can be uploaded from an Attachments tab on a work order, helping teams reference drawings, photos, or external documents without leaving the workflow.

Click Attach and select a file or image from your device.

Click on the Attachment to download it.

NOTE: Drag and drop is not supported in Work Order Attachments at this time.

If no runs have been started, the procedure can be moved back into the Planning stage using the 3 dot menu in the top right.

Assembly items that are checking in during the run(s) will appear in the Created section with clickable links for traceability.

Once created parts are added to the work order, a new ABOM tab will appear which shows all of the As Built information.

The Run progress of any associated runs will be visible in the Work Instructions tab.

Work Order runs still appear in the Runs list like other procedures, as well.

The Schedule tab provides a dynamic, visual timeline of your work order and all related activities. This view brings together tasks, dependencies, materials, tools, locations, and user assignments into a single, interactive scheduling workspace.

The schedule updates in real time as the work order runs, helping teams plan confidently, avoid bottlenecks, and keep builds on track.

The timeline is fully interactive:

Select any task block and drag it to adjust the planned start or duration. All date changes sync instantly with the work order.

Create task dependencies by dragging from one task to another. Dependencies automatically maintain their relationships as tasks shift.

Double-click any task to edit its assignee, duration, dates, or notes without leaving the schedule view.

The schedule gives teams a clear, consolidated look at everything influencing start and end dates, including:

Instead of navigating multiple sections, you can review and adjust your entire plan directly on the timeline.

If any scheduling conflicts occur—such as overlapping user assignments or tasks set earlier than their dependencies allow—the schedule highlights them. This allows you to review and resolve issues before execution begins.

Workback Scheduling allows teams to create a draft plan by scheduling backward from a target assembly date or delivery milestone. Instead of starting from a blank timeline, Epsilon3 generates a structured plan with dependencies and durations pre-populated from your BOM, historical procedure runs, and vendor lead times.

This gives you a realistic starting point that can be iterated on before committing anything to execution.

As you build the plan, infeasible dates, inventory shortages, and resource conflicts are surfaced in real time. This allows you to adjust scope, sourcing decisions, or timing before publishing.

When the draft is finalized, publishing the schedule automatically creates the associated work orders, purchase orders, and shipments linked to the work order.

Workspace hours define when work can be scheduled. Admins can configure the standard weekly schedule by selecting working days and defining start and end times.

Schedule exceptions allow you to override the standard schedule for specific dates. These can be used to define holidays, extended workdays, or other special conditions that impact scheduling.

Default durations are used when calculating the draft plan. These define how long different entity types typically take, such as procedure runs, purchase order approvals, purchase request approvals, inbound shipments, and inspections. These values are used in combination with historical execution data and vendor lead times to build the schedule.

Navigate to the work order and open the Schedule tab, then select Planning.

The Planning tab is a dedicated workspace for building draft schedules. It is separate from the live schedule and allows you to iterate without creating real work.

If no draft schedule exists, click the calendar icon in the top right to open the Generate Draft Schedule workflow.

The draft schedule is created in three steps:

Select the target assembly and define the target assembly date. This acts as the anchor for the workback calculation.

You can also enter an optional milestone label, which will be used to create a milestone event in the schedule.

Click Continue.

Epsilon3 evaluates the BOM for the selected assembly and compares required quantities against available inventory and on-order quantities.

Each component displays:

Part
Required
Available
On Order
Shortage
Decision

Assemblies can be expanded to view nested subcomponents, allowing you to understand how decisions at higher levels impact downstream requirements.

For parts with shortages, choose whether they should be Made or Bought. This decision determines whether additional manufacturing steps or procurement activities are introduced into the schedule.

Selecting Make may cascade into additional requirements for subcomponents, while Buy routes the requirement into procurement.

When inventory is available, Epsilon3 defaults to using on-hand quantities. Parts that do not require a make-or-buy decision are not editable.

If no flexible make-or-buy decisions are required, the workflow will indicate that there are no decisions to make.

Click Continue.

The procurement step organizes all parts that need to be purchased.

Epsilon3 can suggest purchase orders based on preferred vendors. Parts without an assigned vendor remain unassigned and can be manually grouped.

Select parts and add them to a purchase order. You can create multiple POs, assign vendors, and review quantities before continuing.

Each purchase order groups its assigned parts along with the associated shortages and quantities.

Click Generate Draft to create the draft schedule.

The Planning tab displays the generated draft schedule as a timeline of phases, tasks, and milestones. This draft includes procurement, inspection, manufacturing, and assembly work, all sequenced backward from the target date using calculated dependencies and durations.

In addition to the generated timeline, component readiness is visible directly within the work order. Parts are labeled with their procurement strategy such as Make, Buy, or Make/Buy, along with shortages and assignment status. This provides a quick way to validate whether sourcing and manufacturing decisions align with the schedule before publishing.

If the selected target date cannot be met based on current constraints, the schedule will surface feasibility issues. Conflicts such as insufficient time, inventory shortages, or scheduling constraints can be identified here. Adjust the target date, update inventory decisions, refine durations, or modify schedule settings as needed, then regenerate the draft.

Once the plan is finalized, publish the workback schedule.

Publishing converts the draft into real execution objects. This includes creating the associated work orders, purchase orders, and shipments, all linked to the original work order.

You will be prompted to confirm before publishing.

Click Publish to proceed.

When the Work Order has been filled and there is no more work to be performed, move the Work Order to Complete.

Completed Work Orders will be listed in the Ended tab of the Work Orders module to retain all traceability.

If a work order is moved to Completed but associated runs are still active, the current status and completion percentage for the run will still be displayed. So if the run is ended later it will update.

Specific inventory items can be allocated per work order, making sure component items needed do not get consumed for other purposes.

To assign inventory items to the work order from the Resource Check tab of the work order detail screen.

Click the 3 dot menu to the right of the quantity assigned for the component and then select Assign Inventory.

This will bring up a modal to assign items as required for the selected work order. Click the +ADD button to assign, and then select an inventory item from the drop down.

Once all of the desired components are assigned, click Confirm.

This will be denoted on the work order detail screen. The same 3 dot menu is also used to edit the assigned items.

Assigned inventory items will be listed first in the inventory drop downs in the associated run(s).

Assigned items that are consumed are no longer listed as assigned, however if assigned items are not consumed in the linked run, they will remain assigned and restricted for use in that work order only unless unassigned from the Resource Check screen.

Users can save search terms, filters, and custom column settings as Saved Views on all Builds screens.

Access and switch between views from the new dropdown in the top-left corner.

Click + Save View in the drop down to save a new view of the current settings.

Check the "Publish to Team" box to make the saved view available to others.

Hover over an existing view and use the pencil and trash can icons to edit or delete the view.

Users can now create or link Purchase Orders (POs) or Work Orders to an existing Work Order.

This feature helps track procurement of component parts needed to complete the existing Work Order, giving you end-to-end visibility into your build process.

From the Resource Check tab within the Work Order, you can see the Procurement Type of the components needed, and the preferred vendor if designated.

Click on the box to the left of an item or items with a Buy Procurement Type and click the +Add to PO button. You will be able create a new PO or add to an existing PO.

If a preferred vendor is designated, that vendor will automatically be populated on the PO, along with the cost from the product catalog.

Items received from a PO created through a Work Order will automatically be marked as assigned to the Work Order from which it was created.

The same can be done with parts with a Procurement Type of Make, but adding a Child Work Order.

With at least one part selected, click +Work Orders on the parent Work Order.

Click confirm and the Child Work Order will be linked.

The Child Work Order will be linked back to the parent in the Details section.

Inventory completed and checked in via the Child Work order will automatically get assigned back to that Parent Work Order much like with POs.

You can now easily view hierarchical relationships between work orders directly in the Work Orders List screen.

Work orders that are linked to other parent work orders will appear nested under their parent in the list, making it easier to understand build dependencies and relationships at a glance.

To further customize your view, you can configure the grid to include the Parent column. This column displays the direct parent work order for each item, allowing you to quickly trace connections without opening individual records.

💡 Tip: Use this view to monitor complex build structures or multi-stage assembly processes, where multiple child work orders roll up to a single parent.

1. What’s the difference between linking a Purchase Order and linking a Work Order?
Purchase Orders are typically used for external procurement (vendor-supplied parts).
Work Orders are used for internal builds or sub-assemblies that contribute to a larger project.

2. Can I link multiple POs or Work Orders to a single Work Order?
Yes. You can link multiple related Purchase Orders or Work Orders to a single parent Work Order. This allows for complex assemblies or systems to be built from several concurrent sub-orders.

3. What happens when items from a linked Purchase Order are received?
When received into Inventory, Epsilon3 automatically assigns those items to the parent Work Order. This ensures parts are properly attributed without manual updates.