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MES Overview: Work Orders, Recipes and Instructions
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The MES pages sit under Monitor in the sidebar. They track jobs, keep parameter sets for each product, and hold step-by-step instructions.
| Page | What it does | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Work Orders | Jobs with a part number, target quantity, device and optional recipe; pending → active → complete | Work Orders (work_orders) |
| Recipe Management | Named sets of tag values per product, written to a machine on demand, with history | Recipe Management (recipe_management) |
| Work Instructions | Step-by-step instructions with media and sign-off flags | Work Instructions (work_instructions) |
| Labor Efficiency | Operator time against labor standards and work order counts | Labor Efficiency (labor_efficiency) — see Labor Efficiency |
All are switched off by default. An admin turns them on at System > Settings → Feature Toggles → Manufacturing Execution (Labor Efficiency is under Production). A feature must be licensed, switched on, and not restricted for the user. See System Settings.
How the pieces connect — and where they don't
| Connection | What really happens |
|---|---|
| Work order → recipe | The work order stores the recipe. Activating always records a copy of it in history. It also writes the parameters to the PLC when the work order has "Download recipe on start" ticked — off unless someone asked for it. |
| Recipe → PLC | The Apply to device button (or POST /api/recipes/:id/apply), activating a work order set to download on start, and a device's part number tag on the Part Numbers tab. Each download is read back and checked. |
| Part number → recipe | A work order with no recipe takes the enabled recipe for its part number; a part number tag selects (and optionally downloads) one. |
| PLC → work order counts | Optional, per order: Produced / Scrap Counts can follow the device's OEE count tags or tags you pick. Otherwise counts are the +1 / +5 / +10 buttons or the API. |
| Work order → OEE | Not connected. |
| Work instruction → work order / recipe | Not linked to recipes. On the Sign-offs tab you pick a work order, and each sign-off you record carries it. |
| Workflows, scripts | No work order trigger, no "apply recipe" node and no recipes script API. Scripts can list, start, complete and count work orders through workOrders (see Scripts), but not create them. |
A realistic changeover, step by step
Example: a bottling line switching to 500 ml PET.
- Admin: enable Work Orders and Recipe Management in Feature Toggles.
- Monitor > Recipes → New Recipe: Name
Filler – 500 ml PET, Part NumberBTL-500, parameters for the filler, capper and conveyor. Create Recipe (v1). See Recipes. - Monitor > Work Orders → Create: WO Number
WO-24117, Part NumberBTL-500, DeviceFiller PLC, RecipeFiller – 500 ml PET (BTL-500), Target Quantity24000, Priority High, and tick Download recipe on start. Create Work Order. - On All Orders, click Activate. The parameters go to
Filler PLCand a Recipe download notification says how many were written. Read it — a partial download leaves the line on a mix of old and new setpoints. - If you left the tick off, an editor or admin opens Recipes, clicks Apply to device, picks
Filler PLCand the work order, and clicks Apply. See Applying a recipe. - During the run, operators use Good and Reject buttons on the Active tab.
- At the end, click Complete.
- Recipes → History shows a row against WO-24117 with the status of the download: Applied, Mismatch (a value read back different), Partial, Failed, or Recorded only when nothing was sent.
Note: An operator can activate a work order but cannot apply a recipe from the Recipes page — that needs editor or admin. Ticking Download recipe on start is how an editor authorizes the download in advance, for that recipe on that device.
Roles summary
| Action | Minimum role |
|---|---|
| View work orders, recipes, history, instructions | viewer |
| Activate, complete a work order; update counts | operator |
| Sign off a work instruction step | operator |
| Create, edit, cancel, delete work orders | editor |
| Release or reject a completed work order (batch release) | editor |
| Create, edit, delete, apply recipes | editor |
| Create, edit, delete work instructions | editor |
| Delete a sign-off record | admin |
| Choose which actions need an electronic signature | admin |