Work Orders

A work order is a single manufacturing step within a job. Each operation on a part — milling, turning, welding, grinding — becomes its own work order that you can assign to a specific machine and track independently.

How Work Orders Are Created

When you create a job from a quote, Forge automatically generates work orders from the operations defined on each quote part. The routing (sequence of operations) carries over from the quote, including:

The operation type (e.g., CNC Milling, Welding)
The assigned equipment
Estimated programming, setup, and cycle times
Whether the operation is performed in-house or by an outside supplier

You can review and edit the routing on the job detail page before starting production.

Editing the Routing

To view or modify the work orders for a part:

Open the job detail page.
Find the part in the Parts section.
Click Edit Routing to open the routing editor.

The routing editor shows each operation as a card that you can modify:

Reorder operations — drag and drop to change the sequence.
Change equipment — pick a different machine from the dropdown. Only machines configured for the operation's process type are listed.
Adjust time estimates — update programming time, setup time, or cycle time per unit. Cycle time is multiplied by the part quantity to calculate total run time.
Assign operators — assign a team member to each phase (Programming, Setup, Running). Assigned operators receive a notification and see the work order on their personal production view.
Add operations — click Add Operation to insert a new step. Choose between an in-house operation (assigned to your equipment) or an outside operation (sent to a supplier).
Remove operations — delete a step you no longer need.
Revert to default — reset the routing to match the original quote operations if you've made changes you want to undo.

Click Save when you're done. Changes take effect immediately on the production board.

In-House vs. Outside Operations

Work orders come in two types:

In-house operations are performed on your own equipment. They track:

Programming time (minutes)
Setup time (minutes)
Cycle time per unit (seconds)
Assigned equipment

Outside operations are work sent to an external supplier (e.g., heat treating, plating, specialty machining). They track:

Estimated lead time (days)
The supplier or process name

Outside operations appear in their own column on the production board, grouped by operation type.

Time Estimates

Each in-house work order tracks three types of time:

| Phase | Stored as | Description | |---|---|---| | Programming | Minutes | Time to write the CNC program. Skipped if set to zero. | | Setup | Minutes | Time to fixture, tool up, and prepare the machine. Skipped if set to zero. | | Running | Seconds per unit | Actual cutting/machining time per part. Multiplied by quantity for total run time. |

Forge uses these estimates to calculate total expected time and to compare against actual time once work begins. A work order only passes through phases that have a non-zero estimate — if programming time is zero, it skips straight to setup (or running if setup is also zero).

Dependencies Between Work Orders

Work orders for the same part are executed in sequence by default — earlier operations in the routing must complete before later ones can start.

The production board shows dependency status on each work order card:

A Blocked badge means the work order can't start yet because a prior operation for the same part hasn't been completed, or required materials haven't been received.
The badge shows how many items are blocking it (e.g., "Blocked (2)").

When you select a work order on the production board, Forge highlights all related work orders for the same part and draws connector lines between them, so you can see the full routing flow at a glance.

Material dependencies: Work orders also check whether the required raw materials and purchased items have been received. If a purchase order hasn't been fully received yet, the work order shows as blocked even if prior operations are complete.