New Workflow Manager - Suggestions

[ricmorin]

We were having a meeting today about Workflow Manager and how we are almost ready to replace our whiteboard with it. Some interesting ideas came up....

1. We have a lot of statuses. Even after paring down we still have 2 full screen widths. Someone suggested that unused statuses auto-hide. Note we'd change status on the desktop or tablet. Another suggestion was to have the rows repeat below the first.

2. We don't assign technicians on whole orders, just at the job level. Many reasons for this; too numerous to get into here. Because we don't need to see technicians in WM, hiding them leaves a lot of unused space below them main rows. Couple this with the fact that after a certain number the tiles minimize while all this space is available. The suggestion is to let the tiles grow without minimization to a user defined quantity. That way we can tailor the layout to the individual.

Great work with WM. Keep it coming!!!

[Auto Repair Coach]

Hey Ric,
Some good ideas here that I will immediately put in for development to look at.

Thanks

[ricmorin]

Thanks JB.

Two other ideas came up during that meeting that I forgot to mention. Maybe the developers will like....

1. Allow for check box marking within WM.
2. Allow for color naming/labeling.

We are temporarily disabling our whiteboard and running WM solely so we can shake out all the needs we will find. Change is scary sometimes but progress is good.

[ricmorin]

We are experimenting with colors on the tiles. One thought was to reflect that color change onto the tablets so it is easy to let the techs in on the coding. Change a tile to yellow, the corresponding item in WIP on the tablet also changes.

[Auto Repair Coach]

Got it. Another good idea.

[ricmorin]

I'm fairly sure I've asked this before but I can't find it. Any thought of putting the hat # on the tile? Doing so would allow techs to associate numbered keys with jobs by simply looking at the WorkFlow screen. Right now we have to open an order on a tablet.

[Auto Repair Coach]

Ric,
Double left click on the tile to open the info window and you will see the fleet number to the right of the VIN and Tag. Does that work?
See attached.

[ricmorin]

That's not the Hat#. We are looking for Hat# visible on the tile without any interaction.

Back in the day and maybe today still at some shops there was a vehicle identification/association system called a hat. We no longer use the actual hats but still associate a key tag with this number/vehicle. There's a specific place for this number in Manager.

car_top_hats-id100_1024x1024.png (631.92 KiB) Viewed 20448 times

Our goal is to place a large screen above the keys where my whiteboard once stood so that anyone can easily associate a key number with a customer car.

[Pauls Automotive]

I agree with Ric. The Hat# being visible on the tablet would be very helpful. We use it everyday!

[ricmorin]

I agree with Ric. The Hat# being visible on the tablet would be very helpful. We use it everyday!

Thanks Paul. My request is actually to have it visible on the tile in WorkFlow Manager, but showing it on the tablets on the WIP screen without opening an order is a great idea too.

[Auto Repair Coach]

Doof! Sorry. Since we current do not support the Hat# on the tablet or WorkFlow, my default use was the Unit number.
I'll put in the request.

[Wanda]

I keep the Work Flow Manager open all day. It would be very helpful to have it with it's own button to open it. And open separate window like Message Manager.
***It closes when Report Pro is closed.

[Pauls Automotive]

Hi Wanda. You can do that today. Go into report Pro and click the "Tools" tab and on the left you will see a "Workflow Manager" icon. If you click it workflow manager will open in it own window and be independant of report pro. You never have to worry about it closing out.

[Wanda]

That is how I am using it. However if you close the Report window you have to go through all the steps to open it again. I feel it would be helpful if it was an independent window.

[ricmorin]

Yes. Workflow Manager does have a separate window, but it's not independent from Report Pro. Close report Pro and *poof*, the window is gone. The thought is to have it's own button (read launcher) similar to Report Pro, Message Manager, Lube Sticker Pro, etc.

workflowmanager.png (14.54 KiB) Viewed 19509 times

[Pauls Automotive]

That is how I am using it. However if you close the Report window you have to go through all the steps to open it again. I feel it would be helpful if it was an independent window.

My mistake. Sorry I didn'y quite get what you meant.

[Auto Repair Coach]

I will enter a request to make Workflow Manager "live on it's own" and have it's own app button on the launcher.

[ricmorin]

We were having a meeting today about Workflow Manager and how we are almost ready to replace our whiteboard with it. Some interesting ideas came up....

1. We have a lot of statuses. Even after paring down we still have 2 full screen widths. Someone suggested that unused statuses auto-hide. Note we'd change status on the desktop or tablet. Another suggestion was to have the rows repeat below the first.

2. We don't assign technicians on whole orders, just at the job level. Many reasons for this; too numerous to get into here. Because we don't need to see technicians in WM, hiding them leaves a lot of unused space below them main rows. Couple this with the fact that after a certain number the tiles minimize while all this space is available. The suggestion is to let the tiles grow without minimization to a user defined quantity. That way we can tailor the layout to the individual.

Great work with WM. Keep it coming!!!

I found a workaround for those who have a ton of statuses. Simply take the independent version of WM and the Report Pro version and place them on the same screen, split top and bottom. This allows for 28 statuses to be displayed on one screen, up to 4 tiles per status.

WM.jpg (149.17 KiB) Viewed 17903 times

This completes our transition from the whiteboard, which has been gone for months.

old whiteboard.jpg (43.53 KiB) Viewed 17903 times

Still waiting on being able to see Special Orders in WM. That would be nice. Also would like to see the HAT number on the tile, along with the ability to check off boxes within the tile. Overall, this display is a far cry from the old whiteboard.

Please share how you are using Workflow Manager. If you aren't using it, share how you control work through your shop.

[Auto Repair Coach]

I have requested this be addressed during the "clean up phase".

[ricmorin]

Thanks JB. We love the new WM program.