Repeating Work Orders and Specimen Pickups
- Mark Elkomos
Applies to QESTField Scheduler
This article explains how the QESTField scheduler helps with scheduling for long-running projects and concrete specimen pickups
Contents
Overview
QESTField Scheduler provides functionality to help automate the scheduling work for long running projects and concrete specimen pickups.
Clicking on the Managing Repeating Work and Specimen Pickups icon in the Unassigned Work Orders List will display
All work orders set to Repeat on the target date and
Concrete specimen pickup work orders that can be created for concrete specimens that have been registered but not yet scheduled for a pick up.
Repeating Work
For long running projects, it is possible to define work orders that are repeating. Checking the Repeat checkbox when creating or editing a work order will cause the work order to be suggested on the days defined by the schedule that is set. Once a work order has been marked as repeating, it will appear in the Managing Repeating Work and Specimen Pickups list. This is where the work orders marked to Repeat, can be recreated for future dates.
Repeating Schedule
When the Repeat checkbox is checked, the Repeat schedule section is shown on the Create Work Order dialog. The following fields are present in this section:
Prompt | Behavior/Description | Precision |
|---|---|---|
Every | A numeric input field which denotes how many weeks pass before the work order is again suggested for creation. | Nearest 1 |
On | A checkbox group listing the days of the week that the work order will be suggested for creation on. | N/A |
Each “repeat” work order will have a single repeating schedule. Changing this schedule on the most recently created work order that is part of that schedule will change it for all future work orders created on that schedule. The behavior for repeating work is that only the most recently created work order is flagged to Repeat. When an older repeating work order is viewed (not the most recently created one), it will no longer be shown as a “repeating” work order.
If the schedule needs to be changed for “repeating” work orders, ensure the change is made on the most recently created work order. If the schedule is changed on an older work order in the repeating sequence (by enabling the Repeat checkbox again), there will be multiple work orders suggested for what is essentially the same work.
In the Managing Repeating Work and Specimen Pickups menu, schedulers can perform the following operations:
Press the Cancel button to cancel individual work orders, removing them from the list of work orders marked as continuing.
Press the Create Selected button after selecting multiple work orders to be created for the date indicated.
Information from the last repeating work order will be pre-populated for the newly created work order, and the Work Date set to the selected date. The image below is an example of how work orders marked to Repeat, and concrete specimen pickup work orders will appear in QESTField Scheduler’s Managing Repeating Work and Specimen Pickups dialog.
The tests assigned to the previous work orders will not be copied over to the newly created work order, but the previously assigned technician will be automatically assigned to the new work order as part of this process. The field technician assignment is copied over because it is assumed the previously assigned field technician will perform the work again.
Specimen Pickups
The Manage Repeating Work and Specimen Pickups menu will also list suggested concrete specimen pickup work orders. The suggested pickup work orders can be created for concrete specimens that have been registered in the QEST Platform but are not actively scheduled for pickup, marked as received or completed.
Standard Cured Specimens
Standard cured specimens will appear on the suggested concrete specimen pickup work orders table if:
If not using specimen pickup confirmation worksheets: Specimens have not had a pickup work order previously created
If using specimen pickup confirmation worksheets: Specimens do not have an active (i.e. pending) pickup worksheet associated with them
Specimens have a parent sample with a date cast set but a blank date received (i.e. have not been received)
Specimens are not marked complete with a mark from the Concrete Specimens Marks list (i.e. have not been marked as lost or destroyed)
Specimens do not have a strength value
Specimens are not site cured
There is at least one specimen on the parent sample that meets all of these conditions and is not a hold specimen
Deleting Pickup Work Orders
If a pickup work order is created for a set of specimens but is deleted, the set of specimens that were on the deleted work order will not be re-listed in the table for suggested concrete specimen pickups. Therefore, deleting pickup work orders should be done with careful consideration.
Site Cured Specimens
Specimens that are Site Cured will be shown separately from those that are Standard Cured.
Site cured specimens will appear:
If site cured specimens are set as Site Cured
If not using specimen pickup confirmation worksheets: Specimens have not had a pickup work order previously created
If using specimen pickup confirmation worksheets: Specimens do not have an active (i.e. pending) pickup worksheet associated with them
If site cured specimens have not been individually received
If site cured specimens are not marked complete with a mark from the Concrete Specimens Marks list (i.e. have not been marked as lost or destroyed)
If site cured specimens do not have a strength value
If site cured specimens have a test date defined that exactly matches the scheduler target date (i.e. the date that the dispatcher is scheduling for)
Site Cured specimen pick up rows can be identified by the Number column which will state '# Site Cure' where '#' is the number of site cured specimens in the group (see screenshots below).
Concrete Specimen Pickup Work Orders Table
The specimens appearing the concrete specimen work order table are grouped by project, work date, specimen type, and whether or not they are site cured regardless of the number of site cured specimens within the test group.
The Earliest Test date column is shown in the pickup work order row to indicate the earliest date of any specimen in the group that will need to be tested. This assists the dispatcher in identifying and prioritizing specimen pickups accordingly. The following visual queues are in place to help the scheduler easily identify specimens requiring urgent pickup, on or before the target date:
When the Earliest Test date for a group of specimens is equal to the target date being scheduled, the Earliest Test column will highlight in red and a red exclamation warning will be shown at the start of the row.
If the Earliest Test date is one day later than the target date being scheduled, then the Earliest Test column will highlight the date in yellow with a yellow exclamation warning icon at the start of the row.
Each row will display the Days in Field (the number of days specimens have been in the field). Standard cure specimens that have been in the field for two days after the scheduled date of pickup will be highlighted in yellow, and standard cure specimens that have been in the field for three or more days will be highlighted in red. Site cured specimens do not have highlighting applied to the Days in Field column. These visual queues are to assist the scheduler in identifying specimens that require pickup with a higher priority.
The image below shows all visual queues in the concrete specimen pickup work orders table.
Pickup Work Orders
By default, all outstanding specimens for a project will be included on one pickup work order. If desired, it is possible to split this out over multiple work orders by deselecting some work orders in a group and reopening the dialog a second time to create another set of pickup work orders.
To create a specimen pick up work order, a user will need to check the box(es) next to the work order ID(s) in the specimen pickup work order list and then click the Create Selected button .
After creating the specimen pick up work order(s), it will appear in the Unassigned Work Orders list for the target date. The Unassigned Work Orders card will have as part of its work instructions the number and types of concrete specimens requiring pickup as well as the storage location of the specimens if this has been set. The image below is an example of how the unassigned concrete pick up work orders will appear in the Unassigned Work Orders viewing pane.
The Work Instructions for each specimen pickup work order will auto-populate text with the following information.
For each standard cured specimen type:
The number of specimens requiring pick up and the specimen type.
If it has a value, the Specimens Storage Location for the specimen set, otherwise not included.
The text will be formatted as "[# of Specimens] [Specimen Type]s to pick up [from Specimens Storage Location]".
The image below is an example of how the auto-populated Work Instructions will appear.
For each group of site cured specimens:
The number of cured specimens requiring pick up and the specimen type.
The specimen ID (Field Sheet and specimen ID) for each specimen requiring pick up.
The storage location of the site cured specimens. If the Site Cured Specimen Storage Location has a value set, it will be used. Otherwise if the Sample Location has a value, it will be used instead. If neither has a value it will be excluded.
The text will be formatted as "[# of Site Cured Specimens] site cured [Specimen Type]s to pick up: [Field Sheet And ID 1], ...., [Field Sheet And ID N] [from Site Cured Specimen Storage Location]".
The image below is an example of how the auto-populated site cured text will appear in the Work Instructions section of the work order.
Specimen Storage Location
The specimen storage locations for standard and site cured specimens are only available for North American & UK QESTField concrete workflows.
Specimen Pickup Confirmation Worksheets
Where this worksheet type is in use, every pickup work order will automatically have the specimen pickup confirmation worksheet assigned. Please see Specimen Pickup Confirmation Worksheet for more details on this worksheet.
This worksheet is available only for those jurisdictions utilizing the QEST Web App concrete sample.
Site Cured Specimens Without a Suggested Pickup Work Order
In the Manage Repeating Work and Specimen Pickups menu, a warning will be shown for site cured specimens that will not get assigned a suggested pickup work order. This can occur if specimens have a test date that is earlier than the current date or do not currently have a test date set at all. This warning is intended to provide the dispatcher with insight into these types of specimens so that they can be addressed by project managers within QESTLab.
Samples will be included in the warning if they have specimens that:
Are set as Site Cured
Have not had a pickup work order previously created
Have a parent sample with a date cast set
Do not have a date received set on the specimen
Are not marked complete with a mark from the Concrete Specimens Marks list (i.e. have not been marked as lost or destroyed)
Do not have a strength value
If the test date is prior to the current date or is blank
A warning message will include a statement stating that there are concrete samples with incomplete site cured specimens. A table with further details on the projects to which these samples belong will be shown if the Show Details button is clicked. The image below is an example of how the warning message and Show Details button will appear in the menu.
After clicking on the Show Details button the information for the concrete samples with incomplete specimens will be shown. The information is presented in a table that is grouped by laboratory and project. information within the table includes the following: laboratory, project, project owner and number of samples. The image below is an example of how the Show Details table will appear in the dialog.
In QESTLab the Tests/Documents Site Cured Concrete - Samples Invalid for Pickup filter can be used to locate these samples and address the issue.
Custom Configuration
If an instance of QESTLab does not contain a Site Cured Concrete - Samples Invalid for Pickup filter under the Tests/Documents node please contact Spectra QEST.
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