Charge Element

The Charge Element form contains data that has been downloaded from your ERP via the data download. It displays the different charge elements to which an event can be posted. You can also manually add and maintain charge elements on the Charge Element form.

Examples of a charge element are work order, account number, or department. When an employee tries to post an event to a specific element, the system will check if the element is listed on the Charge Element form.

Administrators can also configure the background and foreground colors that display on the timecard (row or cell) when a specific charge element posts on the timecard.

Note: This form requires the Charge Element Forms module to be licensed and enabled.

Detail forms:

Charge Element Dtl

Element Color

Element Premium/Rate

Filter Group

See Also:

Charge Element Field Descriptions

Find a Charge Element

Add a Charge Element

Modify a Charge Element

Delete a Charge Element

Copy a Charge Element

View Flex Fields

Restrict Access to Charge Elements

Stop Labor for an Inactive Charge Element

 

Charge Element Field Descriptions

Note: All of the fields in this form may not apply to your company.

Charge Type

This field indicates the type of charge being defined. Available options are defined on the Charge Type form.

Note: When you are adding a Charge Element in this form, you cannot select the Order, Operation, or Activity Charge Type. However, you can select these Charge Types when you are finding records.

Element Node

The values listed here represent the combination of the charge elements. This field also represents the path of the current node.

For example: Order 3000 has Operation 20 and Operation 20 has Activity 10. The Element Node for Activity 10 would be 3000/20/10.

Element Name

This field indicates the type of record (element) to which an event can be posted. The available Element Names are defined for the Charge Type on the Charge Type Element tab.

Parent Element

The Parent Element field (Parent Element Value field in the Filter area of the form) is available when you are adding or modifying a charge element. Use it to select an Element Value that is one level higher than the Element Name of the charge element you are configuring.

Element Value

This field indicates the name that identifies the charge element. The Element Value is what the user will enter on the client terminal or Web timecard.

Element ID

Element ID is used to house an equivalent ID that is downloaded from the external system. For example, it is used to store the confirmation number for SAP PP/PM/PS orders.

Example of confirmation number: Operation 10 belongs to work order 1000. SAP would have its own internal ID that references work order 1000 and operation 10. The internal ID is the confirmation number, which would be reflected in the Element ID field in the charge_element table.

Description

This field  description of the charge element.

Record Status

This status indicates whether the charge element record is Active or Inactive.

If a charge element is Active, a person can start and stop a labor for the charge element.

If a charge element is Inactive, a person can stop labor for the charge element but cannot start a labor for the charge element. However, if the charge element is an Order or Operation, additional validations are performed when the labor is stopped that may prevent it from being stopped. See Stop Labor for an Inactive Charge Element for more information.

Sender Name

This field indicates sender from which the data was downloaded.

When you use the Sender Name field in the Filter area of the form, the available options may be affected by your Security Data Role. If your Security Data Role includes the SENDER_NAME item, this setting will restrict your access to Sender Names.

Data Group Name

This field identifies the Data Group to which this record applies.

Element Group Name

If you are using Data Access Rights to restrict access to charge elements, you can use this filter field along with the Element Group Value filter field to display only those charge items enabled for a specific facility. Select Facility in this field and select the name of the facility in the Element Group Value field. See Restrict Access to Charge Elements for more information.

Element Group Value

If you are using Data Access Rights to restrict access to charge elements, you can use this filter field along with the Element Group Name filter field to display only those charge items enabled for a specific facility. Select Facility from the Element Group Name field and select the name of the facility from the Element Group Value field. See Restrict Access to Charge Elements for more information.

If your Security Data Role does not include the FACILITY item, then no values will be available in the Element Group Value field.

Level Number

This field identifies the hierarchical level of the element. The level depends on the record's Parent Element. For example, if the Parent Element is at Level 1, the record you add to the parent will be at Level 2. Level numbers are defined for the Element Name on the Charge Type Element tab form.

Location Source

This field identifies if the location source is from an Organizational Hierarchy or Ad Hoc. Organizational Hierarchies are created on the Hierarchy Definition and Hierarchy Elements form. If you select Hierarchy, you must also select a Location Elmt Node.

Location Value

The location value houses the actual value of the location.

Location Elmt Node

If the location value is associated with an Organizational Hierarchy, this field will list the location value's path inside the hierarchy.

Default Flag

This field indicates whether the charge element is the default charge element.

To change the Default Flag setting, select the Charge Element and click Modify.

Planned Hours

This field indicates how many hours were planned (budgeted) to complete the labor for this charge element. This value will be used if Sho Floor Time is configured to display the planned, actual (consumed), and remaining hours for a particular job that a person is starting.

Start Date, End Date

These are optional fields that determine the effective dates for the charge element. The default value for the Start Date will be the current date. The default value for the End Date will be infinity (12-31-9999).

Certification

Enter a value in this field if the charge element requires certification. When a charge element requires certification, the system can check to see that the person posting the event has a CERTIFIED assignment that matches the charge element’s Certification value. If both certifications match, the labor will post. If the certifications do not match, an error will display.

For example, the charge element Work_Order_101 has a Certification called “WO_Cert.” The charge element Work_Order_102 has no certification. The charge element Project_100 has a certification called “PROJ_Cert.” A person is only certified for “WO_Cert.”

The person will be able to post labor for Work_Order_101 because it requires certification and its certification matches the person’s certification. The person can also post labor for Work_Order_102 because it does not require certification. However, the person cannot post labor for Project_100 because it requires a certification that the person does not have.

If you enter a Certification value, make sure that persons who are authorized to post labor to this charge element also have a CERTIFIED person assignment. You must also make sure the certification check is included for the appropriate event prompt. See Certification of Charge Elements and Persons for information.

Update Date, Updated By

These fields display when the record was created or updated, and the person who created or updated the record.

 

Find a Charge Element

  1. Click Main Menu > Administration > Charge Element > Charge Element.

  2. If the record you are searching for is not visible on the form, you can use the filter to search for it. Click the Filter button to display the fields.

    To narrow your search, use the Charge Type, Element Name, Element Value, Record Status, Sender Name, Data Group Name, Element Group Name, and Element Group Value filter fields.

    To find the detail (child) elements of a particular charge element, enter the charge element’s value in the Parent Element Value field. For example, to find all the operations for Order Number 1001, enter 1001 in the Parent Element Value field.

  3. Once you define your filter criteria, click Find. The records that match your criteria will display.

    When you select a charge element in the middle of the form, you can view its detail elements on the Charge Element Dtl tab.

 

Add a Charge Element

Note: You cannot add an Order, Operation, or Activity using the Charge Element form.

  1. Click Main Menu > Administration > Charge Element > Charge Element.

  2. Click Add.

  3. Select a Charge Type.

  4. Select an Element Name.

  5. If applicable, select a Parent Element. Use this field to select an Element Value that is one level higher than the charge element you are adding. For example, if you are adding an Activity, use the Parent Element field to select the Operation for which the Activity is defined.

  6. Enter an Element Value.

  7. Select if the Record Status is Active or Inactive.

  8. Select the Data Group Name to which this record applies.

  9. Check the Default Flag box if this is the default charge element.

  10. Enter a Description for the Charge Element.

  11. Select the Sender Name from which the Charge Element was downloaded.

  12. Select if Location Source is Hierarchy or Ad Hoc. Organizational Hierarchies are created on the Hierarchy Definition and Hierarchy Elements form.  

  13. If you select Hierarchy as Location Source, select a Location Elmt Node.

  14. If you select Ad Hoc as the Location Source, enter a Location Value.

  15. If you want to change the effective dates for this charge element, change the Start Date and the End Date.

  16. In the Planned Hours field, enter the number of hours that are planned (budgeted) to complete the labor for this charge element. This value will be used if Shop Floor Time is configured to display the planned, actual (consumed), and remaining hours for a particular job that a person is starting.

  17. Enter a value in the Certification field if the charge element requires certification.

  18. If you want to add more than one charge element, click Save and Add to save your settings and keep the Add Charge Element pop-up form open. Or click Save to save your charge element and return to the main form

    You can use the Charge Element Dtl tab to add child elements to the charge element you just created. You can also use the Element Color tab to specify the colors that will display for this charge element in the timecard. If you created a JOB_CODE, POSITION, or PREMIUM_CODE charge element, use the Element Premium/Rate tab to define the premium associated with the charge element.

 

Modify a Charge Element

Note: You cannot modify an Order, Operation, or Activity on the Charge Element form.

  1. Click Main Menu > Administration > Charge Element > Charge Element.

  2. Find and select the record you want to change.

  3. Click Modify.

  4. Modify the record and click Save.

 

Delete a Charge Element

  1. Click Main Menu > Administration > Charge Element > Charge Element.

  2. Find and select the record you want to delete.

  3. Click Delete.

  4. Click OK to confirm the action.

 

Copy a Charge Element

  1. Click Main Menu > Administration > Charge Element > Charge Element.

  2. Find and select the record you want to duplicate.

  3. Click Copy.

  4. Modify the record as necessary and click Save.

 

View Flex Fields

Flex fields are used by some ERP systems to define charge element properties that are not included in the Charge Element form fields. Flex fields are imported from the ERP system into the charge_element_flex_field table.

  1. Click Main Menu > Administration > Charge Element > Charge Element.

  2. Select the charge element.

  3. Click the Flex Fields button.
    The Flex Field pop-up form displays with the Flex Field Names and Values (if any) defined for the charge element.

 

Restrict Access to Charge Elements

You can use a person’s Facility Data Access Rights to control which items they can view and modify on the Charge Element form and the Order form. Data Access Rights (also called “DAR”) refers to the data that a user can access in the application. This access is controlled by a Security Data Role, which is defined on the Security Data form.

To restrict which charge elements or orders a person can view, you must:

 

Stop Labor for an Inactive Charge Element

The Record Status of a charge element can be Active or Inactive.

If a charge element is Active, a person can start and stop labor for the charge element.

If a charge element is Inactive, a person can stop labor for the charge element but cannot start a labor for the charge element. However, additional validations are performed when stopping an Order or Operation that may prevent it from being stopped.

If the charge element is an Order or Operation, the status of the Order/Operation and the Stop on Closed Order/Operation settings in the person's Order Policy will determine if the person can stop the labor.

For example, a person starts labor for a work order and operation. While the person is still working on this labor, it is discovered that the order number was released in error and the charge element record needs to be made inactive. In the ERP system, the charge element's Record Status is changed from Active to Inactive and this change is sent to Shop Floor Time. The charge element record in Shop Floor Time now shows the record is Inactive.

When the person attempts to stop the labor, the system will look at the Order Status for the work order and compare this to the Stop on Closed Order setting in the person's Order Policy. In this example, the Order Status of the work order is Complete and Stop on Closed Order in the Order Policy is set to Not Allowed. These settings indicate labor cannot be stopped on an Order with a status of Complete. An error message will therefore display when the person tries to stop the labor.