A Task Workflows is an extension of Tracking Statuses and lets you track shop productivity and time stamp by person, station, or activity. Whereas Tracking Statuses capture major milestones within your workflow, Task Workflows provide automation of tracking status changes.

This page describes how a Task Workflow links together Task Categories, Task Definitions, Cost Categoires, Cost Types, Tools, and Stations. A Task Workflow is configured at the company level and enables a company to apply a sequence of tasks to a Part or Assembly that is in a Package and will automatically change the tracking status of a Package when task sequences are complete. In addition, a task workflow can be configured where a station can easily claim work.

See the Task Workflow (Admin) article for more information.

Example: Task Workflow

Task Workflow Initiated by a Tracking Status

Below is a Task Workflow example where the task workflow will be initiated when the Issued for Fabrication tracking is set for the part.

The Task Workflow is kicked off when the tracking status is changed to Issued for Fabrication.
For one view of the tasks, click the Package’s Items tab. There are 2 assemblies in this package both set to the MP - Carbon Steel Weld Task Workflow.
Alternatively, to view the Kanban view of the Package’s tasks, click the Tasks tab.
You can process the tasks on either the Items tab or the Tasks tab.
To process the tasks on the Items tab:
1. Click the Start button to the right of the first task.
2. The page will refresh and the button background will change to blue.
3. Notice that if you switch to the Tasks tab, the task will have been moved to the In Progress column.
4. To complete the task, you can either click the Finish button on the Items tab or move the Kanban card to Done by clicking and dragging (below).
5. Notice that if you switch from the Tasks tab, where in this example the task was set to Done, to the Items tab, the button name has changed from Finish to Done.
If you are not using the Tasks tab, you can Start and Finish all tasks within the Items tab (above).
Tasks can also be Started and Finished on the Assemblies > Viewer page where you can Start and Finish tasks for the entire assembly or for individual parts.

Configure Station Tasks for Assembly Viewer

A physical Station computer can be configured so that any shop worker using the computer can remain on the Assembly Viewer page to claim and update task progress. Each station understands which tasks it can perform. Once configured, the station image will appear in the upper right corner, next to the user badge. This enables the task workflow panel at the top of the Assemblies Viewer page and allows a station operator to perform all their work from this one page.

To configure the Station computer:

Go to Admin > Company > Stations. If you haven’t configured a station, see the Station Knowledge Base article
Click New Station.
1. Image – The current image/icon for the Station. This will display next to the STRATUS badge when the computer (device) is assigned to the station.
2. Upload (Optional) – Upload an image different than the out-of-the-box image.
3. Name (Required) – A short Station name. This will display when selecting stations during the task workflow process.
4. Description (Required) – A longer station name to help clarify. It does not display anywhere else in STRATUS.
5. Processor (Required) – Select a processor associated with the station. See the Processor (Admin) page for more information.
6. Tool (Optional) – The selection of a Tool is optional unless the tasks are related to a TigerStop.
Click Save. Configuration of the Task Definitions and device are now enabled.
1. Task Definitions – Click the Add a Task Definition button. Task Definitions defined under Admin > Company > Task Definitions will display.
  1. Select a Task Definition and then click the to confirm.
  2. Click the to add additional tasks in the task sequence.
  3. Click the to remove a task definition.
  4. Click to save the selections.
2. Assigned to this device – When you are physically logged into STRATUS on the computer that will be used at the station, click the Assigned to this device checkbox. A cookie will be written to the web browser. Note: Cookies are browser specific, so users will need to use the web browser that was used when the Assigned to this device checkbox was checked. To change to a different web browser, uncheck the Assigned to this device and then check it again with the new web browser open.
3. The station image will display next to the STRATUS badge. This indicates that computer has a special feature where Tasks can be managed from the Assemblies > Viewer page.

Tasks Claimed by a Station in the Assemblies Viewer

Once a Station is configured to receive Task Definitions, tasks for each assembly can accessed on the Assemblies > Viewer page. In addition, the Station icons will display next to the STRATUS badge.

A task definition for an assembly will display depending on how the Task Workflow was configured. In short:
1. If, under Admin > Company > Task Workflows, the Task Workflow’s Initiated by Tracking Status option is set to Manually Initiated (Default), then the Task Definitions will display for every assembly in the Package.
2. If the Task Workflow’s Initiated by Tracking Status option is set to a value other than Manually Initiated, then the Task Definitions will start to display for the assembly when the Package is in the specified tracking status.
Once task definitions display for an assembly, the task has three status buttons:
1. Start – Click the Start button to claim the task. The button will change to Finish.
2. The Finish button will be enabled.
3. The Tasks will also display on the Shops > Shop > Tasks page.
4. Finish – Click the Finish button when the task work is complete.
5. The Update Tracking Status dialog will display.
6. Click Update to save any changes or Skip so that no changes are saved. Note: To always skip or bypass the Update Tracking Status prompt, see the Bypass (Update) Tracking Status Dialog section in the Task Definitions article.
7. The task button will change to Done.
Once the first task is Done, the Station user can click the Start button for the next task.

Example: Task Definitions and Task Workflows

Create Task Definitions

With settings in the screen shot above, the following workflow will occur:

MP – Position And Tack – Based on the Task Workflow (below), this Task Definition applies to parts.
1. Part Task Start - When any part task is Started, the status of the entire assembly and the package will automatically change to Fabrication In Progress.
2. Part Task Complete - When any part task is Complete, the operator will not be prompted to Update Tracking Status (Bypass).
MP – Weld Spool – Based on the Task Workflow (below), this Task Definition applies to parts.
- Part Task Start - When any part task is Started, no status change will occur.
- Part Task Complete - When any part task is Complete, the operator will be prompted to Update Tracking Status (Bypass).
MP – QA And Label Spool – Based on the Task Workflow (below), this Task Definition applies to the assembly and is manually applied.
1. Assembly Task Start - Once all Part Tasks have been completed the joint ready for QA/QC. To Start the QA/QC process, the QA/QC operator can click the MP – QA And Label Spool button.
2. Assembly Task Complete - Once the QA/QC operator has completed the process, click the MP – QA And Label Spool button to Update Tracking Status (Bypass). In addition, the assembly status will change to Joint Complete.

Create Task Workflows

Create one or two Task Workflows where one applies to parts and one applies to the assembly:

Apply to Type = Part and/or Apply to Type = Assembly.
Task Sequence is defined.
1. When Type = Part, the Task Definitions MP – Position And Tack and the MP – Weld Spool, will be applied to each part that matches the Task Workflow criteria.
2. When Type = Assembly, the Task Definition MP – QA And Label Spool will be applied to each assembly that matches the Task Workflow criteria.
Initiated by Tracking Status is defined.
Apply to Package Category is optional.
Apply using Filter is optional but recommended.

Start the Workflow by Changing the Package Tracking Status

Trigger the Task Workflow by changing the status of the package to the Initiated by Tracking Status setting set in Task Workflows (Ex. Issued for Fabrication).
Once the tracking status is set, the Task Workflow tasks for the assembly tasks will display in the assembly bar and the part task will display in the Assemblies > Viewer > Tasks tab. Note: FP in the Package name is the Package Category abbreviation for Fabrication Production set in the Task Workflow under Apply to Package Category.

Start and Complete the Part Task - MP – Position And Tack

The MP – Position And Tack part task is Started by either clicking the task button or scanning the task QR code. The button will turn (Blue) when started.
When the MP – Position And Tack part task is Completed, the button will turn Green. In addition:
1. Apply to Tracking Status Assembly - The Assembly tracking status is automatically changed to Fabrication in Progress since under Task Definitions, Apply Tracking Status to Assembly is checked and the Apply Tracking Status is set to Fabrication in Progress.
2. Apply to Tracking Status Package - The Package tracking status is automatically changed to Fabrication in Progress since under Task Definitions, Apply Tracking Status to Package is checked and the Apply Tracking Status is set to Fabrication in Progress. Note that a Comment is automatically entered.
3. Bypass the Tracking Status Assembly Dialog – The Update Tracking Status dialog does not display since the Bypass the Tracking Status Assembly Dialog is checked.

Start and Complete the Part Task - MP – Weld Spool

The MP – Weld Spool part task is Started by either clicking the task button or scanning the task QR code.
When the MP – Weld Spool part task is Completed, the button will turn Green. In addition:
1. Apply to Tracking Status Assembly - The Assembly tracking status is not changed since under Task Definitions, Apply Tracking Status to Assembly is unchecked.
2. Apply to Tracking Status Package - The Package tracking status is not changed since under Task Definitions, Apply Tracking Status to Package is unchecked.
3. Bypass the Tracking Status Assembly Dialog – The Update Tracking Status dialog does display since the Bypass the Tracking Status Assembly Dialog is unchecked. The operator can enter the hours in this dialog for work on the part task. Depending on the company workflow, the Status and Processor for this task would remain until the status and process of the entire assembly is changed.
The shop operators would continue these steps until all tasks are complete.

Start and Complete the Assembly Task - MP – QA And Label Spool

Once all the tasks are completed, the assembly task MP – QA And Label Spool button can be clicked by the QA/QC operator.
1. The MP – QA And Label Spool assembly task button displays based on the Task Workflow MP - Carbon Steel Weld – Assembly configuration where:
  1. Apply to Type = Assembly
  2. Initiated by Tracking Status = Manually Initiated. Set this to a different tracking status and this button would remain hidden until the tracking status is reached.
The MP – QA And Label Spool assembly task is Started by clicking the task button. The button will turn (Blue) when started.
When QA is complete, click the MP – QA And Label Spool button. The button will turn Green. In addition:

Apply to Tracking Status Assembly - The Assembly tracking status does change since under Task Definitions, Apply Tracking Status to Assembly is unchecked.
Apply to Tracking Status Package - The Package tracking status is not changed since under Task Definitions, Apply Tracking Status to Package is unchecked. A workflow where the Package Tracking Status is changed once all assemblies have been through the MP – QA And Label Spool is not configured in this example.
Bypass the Tracking Status Assembly Dialog – The Update Tracking Status dialog does display since the Bypass the Tracking Status Assembly Dialog is unchecked. The operator can enter the hours in this dialog.

Hours entered for any part, assembly or package, including those entered into the Update Tracking Status dialog, will be totaled on the Packages Dashboard page under Actual Hours.