---
title: "Create a production work order"
description: "The Create Workorder form adds one task to the production queue: one operation, on one machine, for a quantity of a part. Only the title is required, and every other field is a chip above it. Picking a machine auto-fills the operation, the time estimate and the parts that operation reserves. The form always assigns the new task to you and has no due date control, so work created here lands in My Work and starts out unscheduled on the board. Create from the Scheduler instead when you are planning work for somebody else."
category: "Run jobs on the floor"
source_url: "https://www.iotflows.com/docs/production/create-a-job/"
---
# Create a production work order

Put a task in the queue with the machine, the operation, the quantity and the files an operator needs to run it.

The **Create Workorder** form adds one *task* to the production queue: one operation, on one machine, for a quantity of one part. It is the same form on the web and in the mobile app.

Only the title is required. Every other field is a chip in the row above the title, and each chip opens a small panel over the form.

**Before you start**

- Production Scheduler is part of the Scheduling Engine module. Seeing the **Work Queue** tab is not proof you are entitled to it. See [Module entitlement](/docs/production/overview/#entitlement).
- A part with at least one operation, if you want the task to count anything. See [Create parts and operations](/docs/production/parts-and-operations/). You can create both from inside this form, see [Operation and quantity](#operation).
- Nothing on this form is role-gated. Any member of the organization can open it and create work.
- The camera tile is mobile only. See [Install the mobile app](/docs/get-started/install-mobile-app/).

> **Info:**
> **Creating work for somebody else?**
>
> Use the board, not this form. The Work Queue form always assigns the new task to you and has no due date control.
>
> The Scheduler's **Create** button opens a longer version of the same dialog, adding **Priority**, **Due Date**, **Assignee**, **Budget** and **Notes**. See [Plan jobs on the scheduler board](/docs/production/scheduler/).

## Open the create form
1. Go to the Work Queue at `/production?select=work_queue`.
2. Press the blue circular **+** at the top right of the toolbar.

The dialog opens headed **Create Workorder**. It also opens from the **+** in the mobile toolbar, labeled **Create work order**, and from the **Jobs** tab of a machine page, where the machine is filled in for you. See [Run a job from the machine page](/docs/monitoring/operator-view/#jobs).

![The Create Workorder dialog. A header reads Create Workorder with a close cross at the right. Below it an Assigned to line carries a green pill with the creator's avatar and name. Two rows of gray chips follow: Part of Job, Operation, Asset, Required Parts and Create/Release Parts on the first, then Images, Files, Dependency and Time Estimate on the second, each with a small icon. Under the chips sits an empty title line reading What needs to be done? and a description area reading Add description. A full-width Create Workorder button fills the footer, grayed out, with the words Command+Enter to submit beneath it.](/images/production/prod-create-01.webp)

*The Create Workorder dialog as it opens from the Work Queue, with every field collapsed into the chip row above the title.*

The form resets every time it opens. Nothing is kept from the last work order you created, so a dialog you close by accident is a dialog you retype.

Press **Cmd+Enter**, or **Ctrl+Enter** on Windows, to submit without reaching for the button. The footer says which one your machine takes.

## Machine and parent job
**Asset** is the machine that will run the task. Open the chip, search by name or identifier, and pick one. The list shows thirty machines at a time, so search rather than scroll in a large plant.

**Part of Job** is the *parent job*, the order this task belongs to: a quantity of a part, due on a date, that fans out into one task per operation. Tasks that share a parent job show the same job chip on every card in the queue.

![A cropped detail of the chip row with two numbered violet callouts. Callout 1 marks the Asset chip, filled and reading HAAS VF-2 beside a wrench icon. Callout 2 marks the Part of Job chip at the head of the row, filled and reading PO-1003 beside a briefcase icon. Between them sits a third filled chip reading OP10 · BH-4021, the operation the machine filled in. The chips after them, Work Sessions, Required Parts, Create/Release Parts, Images, Files, Dependency and Time Estimate, are gray and unset.](/images/production/prod-create-02.webp)

*The Asset and Part of Job chips at the head of the chip row. Choosing a machine fills in the operation, and the parent job too when that machine already has queued work.*

Choosing a machine fills in two other fields for you. The **Operation** chip takes the operation the machine is [auto-detecting](/docs/production/auto-detect-operations/), the one its sensor is already counting against. The **Part of Job** chip takes the parent job of the machine's most advanced open task, preferring one in progress, then one on hold, then one not started.

Both are suggestions. Clear either chip and pick your own, and nothing refills it until you change the machine again.

To start a job that does not exist yet, open **Part of Job** and press **Create new job**. That opens the **Create Job** dialog, where you name the job, choose or create its part, set a quantity and a due date, and the new job is selected here when you save it.

> **Warning:**
> **Create Job can create a whole routing**
>
> The **Create a workorder for each operation** toggle in that dialog is off by default, and its button reads **Create Job**.
>
> Turn it on and the button changes to **Create Job + 4 Workorders**. Saving then posts one task per operation on the part's *routing*, its ordered list of operations, on top of the one you are filling in here.
>
> Read the button before you press it.

## Operation and quantity
**Operation** is the step this task performs, for example `OP20 Turn` on part `BH-4021`. The picker groups operations under their part, and searches both names on the server, so typing a part number finds every operation on it.

![A cropped detail of the chip rows with the Operation panel open below them. The panel's top row shows a cog icon beside the operation name OP20 Bore with the part name MS-7420 Manifold beneath it, and a small cross to clear it. Below sits a label reading Required Qty (optional) over an input holding 250, and a Done button at the bottom right. The chip the panel hangs from is outlined blue and reads OP20 Bore · MS-7420 Manifold · Qty 250, and a chip further down reads 1 day 5 hrs 10 mins, the estimate the form worked out from the cycle time.](/images/production/prod-create-03.webp)

*The Operation chip open on a chosen operation, with the Required Qty (optional) box beneath it.*

**Required Qty (optional)** appears under the operation once one is chosen. It is how many good parts this task is for, and it is what the queue counts against, for example `12/250 pcs` on the card.

> **Warning:**
> **Choosing an operation overwrites the title**
>
> The title follows the operation name, every time the operation changes. Type `Rush order for Acme` first, then pick `OP20 Turn`, and the title reads `OP20 Turn`.
>
> Set the operation first, then write the title.

### Create a part or an operation without leaving the form
Press **Create New Operation** in the operation panel to switch the panel into create mode. It works on every platform, not only in the mobile app.

1. Search for the part, or type a new name and press the create row. The form posts the part and toasts **Part created**.
2. Type the operation name. **More details (optional)** expands to a description, a quantity per cycle, an ideal cycle time in seconds, and a detection algorithm.
3. Press create. The form toasts **Operation created** and lists the new operation under the part.

A part created this way arrives with no usable operation. The API creates a placeholder called `Untitled Operation` and the form deletes it, so step 2 is not optional if you want the task to count anything. For the full field list, see [Operation fields](/docs/production/parts-and-operations/#operation-fields).

## Work sessions
A *session* is one run of a task: a start, an end, the good parts made and the scrap logged against them. The **Work Sessions** chip appears only once both a machine and an operation are set, because a session logs parts made for that operation on that machine.

Press the chip, then **Add Work Session**. The **New Work Session** editor opens with a **Start** and **End**, a **Good Parts** stepper, scrap rows carrying a reason and a note, and a free note field.

Sessions staged here are held on the form. Nothing is posted until you create the work order, so a session you stage and then delete costs nothing.

Opened from the Work Queue, the editor defaults to the last hour. Opened from a machine's **Jobs** tab it fills the gap instead: from the end of the previous finished session on that machine, or from the shift start, up to now.

The editor refuses a window it cannot store. It reads **Start time must be before end time**, **Start and end time cannot be the same**, **Session cannot start in the future**, **Session cannot end in the future**, or **Overlaps with another session** naming the job and the times it collides with.

**Set workorder status** appears under the staged sessions as soon as one of them has both a start and an end. It offers **On Hold** and **Completed**, and applies that status to the new work order after it is created. Leave it alone to create the task at **Not Started**.

Use it when you are recording work that already happened. A task you are backfilling at the end of a shift is finished, and creating it at **Not Started** leaves the queue claiming there is work to do.

## Required and created parts
**Required Parts** is what the task consumes, and **Create/Release Parts** is what it leaves behind: a part it makes, or a tool it hands back to the crib. Each line names a part, a location to take it from or put it into, and an amount.

Both lists fill themselves from the operation. When the chosen operation has material rules, choosing it stages every rule as a line and scales the amounts to the quantity you entered.

For example, an operation that takes two carbide inserts per part stages `Carbide insert CNMG-432 x 500` against a quantity of 250. See [Bind materials to an operation](/docs/production/bind-materials/).

A staged line reserves nothing until it has both a location and an amount above zero. A line missing either turns amber and reads `Set a location, or this part is not reserved`, and the chip count turns amber with it.

Pressing **Create Workorder** with an amber line stops once and explains itself: `2 staged parts will not be reserved: set a location and an amount, or press Create again to continue without them.` Fix the lines, or press the button a second time to create the work order without them.

Delete a line and it stays deleted. The prefill remembers what you removed and does not put it back when you change the quantity.

## Images and files
**Images** takes photographs and drawings that should render inline, and **Files** takes everything else. Both accept a drop as well as a click, and both upload as soon as the file lands.

Images are converted to WebP and capped at 1600 px on the long edge before upload, so a phone photograph does not arrive as an 8 MB file. The chip accepts JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, BMP and SVG, and rejects anything else with `<name> is not a valid image`. Send a PDF or a STEP file through **Files** instead.

**You do not need to attach the drawing to every task.** Attach it to the part once, in the Parts List, and every task on that part's operations shows it.

The **Files** panel in the job runner, the page an operator opens a task on, has two sections: **Work Order Files** and **Part Files**. It reads both. See [Add pictures and files](/docs/production/parts-and-operations/#files).

## Dependency
A *dependency* says this task cannot start until another one is done. Open the chip, search the production work orders by title, operation or part, and pick the predecessor.

![A cropped detail of the open Dependency panel. A row holds a chain-link icon beside the work order title Saw manifold billet, with the operation name OP10 Saw beneath it and a cross at the right to clear the selection. The chip the panel hangs from is outlined blue and reads Saw manifold billet beside a chain-link icon, and the title line behind the panel still reads What needs to be done?, so picking a predecessor does not overwrite the title the way picking an operation does.](/images/production/prod-create-05.webp)

*The Dependency chip open on a chosen predecessor. Set one only when this task truly cannot start until that one finishes.*

**Each result shows a title over an operation, and never the job it belongs to.** The same operation queued on two different orders gives two results that read identically, so a search that returns a pair tells you nothing about which one to pick. Search the title rather than the operation when the distinction matters, or set the link on the Gantt instead, where the task carries its job.

**Set a dependency only when the second task genuinely cannot start first.** Dependencies constrain the Gantt, and a schedule over-constrained on the first pass is harder to debug than a late job. Sawing before turning is a dependency; running two unrelated jobs in a preferred order is not.

Once set, the link drives three things on the board: an arrow on the Gantt, a **Predecessor is late** entry in Schedule issues when the predecessor cannot finish in time, and the red bar that goes with it. See [Link dependent tasks](/docs/production/scheduler/#dependencies) and [Waiting on a late predecessor](/docs/production/schedule-issues/#late-pred).

The operator never sees it. The job runner has no dependency field, so a task whose predecessor is unfinished still looks ready to start from the floor.

This form does not check for a cycle. The Gantt does, and refuses a link that would create one with **That link would create a circular dependency**, so an impossible chain built here surfaces the next time somebody drags it.

## Time estimate and due date
The *estimate* is how long the task should take. It is what the Gantt draws the bar from and what the optimizer packs against, and it is the field most often left empty.

**Time Estimate** takes free text. `2h 30m`, `90m`, `1 day 3 hours` and a bare `90` all parse; anything else reads **Invalid format** in red under the input and is discarded on create.

The form fills it in for you from the operation's ideal cycle time times the quantity, and says where the number came from: `Estimated from 45s cycle x 250 pcs`. Edit it or clear it once and the form stops touching it, even if you change the operation afterwards.

> **Warning:**
> **This form cannot set a due date**
>
> There is no due date control anywhere on it. A task created here has no due date, which makes it *unscheduled*: it keeps a row in the Gantt's left rail with a crossed-out calendar, and a chip pinned down the left edge of the chart instead of a bar.
>
> Give it a date in the board's Table view before you expect it to schedule. See [Schedule work that has no dates](/docs/production/scheduler/#unscheduled) and [Edit in place](/docs/production/scheduler/#inline).

Priority is set for you the same silent way. The form takes the first priority in your organization's list and offers no picker, so change it on the board if it matters.

## Create the work order
Press **Create Workorder**. The button stays grayed out until the title has text in it, which is the form's only validation.

**The form always assigns the new task to you.** The **Assigned to** line above the chip row names you, it is read-only, and there is no assignee picker. A task created here lands in your **My Work** list rather than in the Available Work list everybody shares.

![A cropped detail of the top of the Create Workorder dialog, ringed in violet. A small gray label reads Assigned to, followed by a green rounded pill holding a circular avatar and the creator's name. Nothing beside the pill is clickable: there is no dropdown arrow, no add button and no second name.](/images/production/prod-create-04.webp)

*The Assigned to line above the chip row. It always names you, and the Create Workorder form has no control to change it.*

To hand the work to somebody else afterwards, add them on the job page in the mobile app, or drag the task into their lane on the board. See [On mobile](/docs/production/work-queue/#mobile) and [Group by asset, job or operator](/docs/production/scheduler/#grouping).

On success the form toasts **Workorder created successfully**, closes, and the queue reloads. The new task appears at once on the page you created it from, and does not appear on anybody else's open queue until they reload.

### Job fields
| Field | Required | Accepts | Visible to operator | Editable later |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Title** | Yes | Free text, overwritten by the operation name | Yes, as the job title | On the board |
| **Description** | No | Rich text: bold, italic, underline, strike, lists, headings | Yes, under **Notes**, with the formatting stripped | On the board |
| **Asset** | No | One machine | Yes, in the machine bar | Yes, in the job page's **Details** panel |
| **Part of Job** | No | One existing job, or one you create inline | Yes, as a chip and the **Job** control | Yes, on the job page |
| **Operation** | No | One operation on one part | Yes, as a chip | Yes, on the job page |
| **Required Qty** | No | A whole number of pieces | Yes, as `made / ordered pcs` | Yes, in the **Details** panel |
| **Work Sessions** | No | Start, end, good parts, scrap with reasons, a note | Yes, in session history | Yes, on the job page |
| **Required Parts** | No | Part, location, amount | No | On the board, in the task drawer |
| **Create/Release Parts** | No | Part, location, amount | No | On the board, in the task drawer |
| **Images** | No | JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, BMP, SVG | Yes, in the file viewer | On the board |
| **Files** | No | Any file type | Yes, under **Work Order Files** | On the board |
| **Dependency** | No | One production work order | No | On the board |
| **Time Estimate** | No | `2h 30m`, `90m`, `1 day 3 hours`, or a bare number of minutes | Yes, as **Duration** | On the board |
| **Assignee** | Set for you | You, always | Yes, under **Assigned To** | In the mobile app, or on the board |
| **Priority** | Set for you | The first priority in your organization's list | Only as a colored dot in the queue's list mode | On the board |
| **Due date** | Not on this form | Nothing. The field has no control | Yes, as **Due**, reading `--` | On the board |

For the full field list across every production surface, including the scheduler columns and the export, see [Job and scheduler fields](/docs/production/job-fields-reference/).

## When creation fails
| What you see | What happened | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| **Create Workorder** stays grayed out | The title is empty | Type a title. Nothing else is required |
| `2 staged parts will not be reserved: set a location and an amount, or press Create again to continue without them.` | A staged parts line has no location, or an amount of zero | Fix the amber lines, or press the button again to create without them |
| **Failed to create workorder**, or a message from the server | Nothing was created. The form stays open with your work in it | Read the server's message if there is one, then try again |
| **Workorder created, but a work session failed to log** | The task exists. One or more staged sessions did not save | Open the task and add the session from its history. See [Session history](/docs/production/run-a-job/) |
| **Workorder created, but the status update failed** | The task exists at **Not Started**. The **On Hold** or **Completed** you chose did not apply | Set the status on the job page |
| `<name> is not a valid image` | The **Images** chip rejected the file type | Attach it through **Files** instead |
| `Failed to upload <name>` | That one attachment did not upload. Everything else on the form is intact | Try the file again, or create the task and attach it from the board |
| **Failed to create part**, **Failed to create operation**, **Failed to create job** | An inline create failed. The parent form is untouched | Try again, or create it in the Parts List first |

A generic **Something went wrong** or **An error occurred** means the request failed and nothing was saved. See [Troubleshoot monitoring](/docs/monitoring/troubleshoot-monitoring/).

## On mobile
The mobile app opens the same form with the same fields. Only the layout changes, and which layout you get depends on the viewport rather than the device, see [On mobile](/docs/production/work-queue/#mobile).

![The Create Workorder sheet on a phone. An Assigned to pill sits under the title, then a wrapped row of chips reading Part of Job, Operation, Asset, Required Parts, Create/Release Parts, Images, Files, Dependency and Time Estimate, a What needs to be done field, and a Create Workorder button across the footer.](/images/production/prod-create-06.webp)

*The same Create Workorder form in the mobile app. Every field is a chip: part of job, operation, asset, required and created parts, images, files, dependency and time estimate.*

One control is mobile only. **Take photo** appears as a second dashed tile inside both the **Images** and the **Files** panels, and opens the rear camera straight into the upload. A photograph taken that way goes through the same WebP conversion as a file picked from the gallery.

Everything else behaves as it does on the web, including the self-assignment. The one thing the phone adds afterwards is the **People** section on the job page, which is the only assignee control anywhere in the Work Queue. See [On mobile](/docs/production/work-queue/#mobile).

## See also
- [Start, pause, and complete a job](/docs/production/run-a-job/)
- [Find your next job in the Work Queue](/docs/production/work-queue/)
- [Plan jobs on the scheduler board](/docs/production/scheduler/)
- [Job and scheduler fields](/docs/production/job-fields-reference/)
- [Submit a maintenance request](/docs/maintain/submit-a-request/)