Business Central and Insight Works provide several ways to review production orders. The right option depends on whether you are investigating costs, material consumption, production time, shortages, capacity, individual time entries, or trends across multiple production orders.

Enhanced Planning Pack Production Order Analysis

Use Production Order Analysis when you need to investigate a specific production order and understand where it differed from expectations.

It provides expected, actual, and variance information for areas such as:

• Component consumption
• Setup time
• Run time
• Material and capacity costs
• Subcontracting and overhead costs
• Total production cost

See Analyzing Production Order Variances with Production Order Analysis.

Enhanced Planning Pack Routing Analysis

Use Routing Analysis when the question is broader: Are our routing times accurate based on historical production?

Routing Analysis examines completed production activity and compares actual operation run times against expected routing times. It is useful for identifying recurring differences and determining where routing standards may need review.

See Routing Analysis.

Investigating Individual Shop Floor Time Entries

When you need to understand who recorded time, when it was recorded, and which production order or operation it was recorded against, review the detailed entries rather than an aggregate report.

With Shop Floor Insight, use Posted Time Card Lines to review the individual posted shop floor entries.

Field	Description
Work Date	The date the work was performed. This is also used as the posting date for the resulting entries.
Employee No.	Identifies the Shop Floor Insight employee who performed the work.
Employee Name	The name of the employee associated with the time entry.
Activity Code	Identifies the Shop Floor Insight activity recorded on the line. The activity code can be used to help understand normal work vs re-work and to help categorize productive and non-productive time.
Activity Description	The description of the selected activity.
Document Type	Identifies the type of source document, such as a production order or project.
Document No.	Identifies the specific source document associated with the time entry.  For production data this will be the production order number. For project/jobs this will be the Project/Job No.
Document Line No.	Identifies the applicable line on the source document.
Task No.	Identifies the task within the source document. For production orders, this is the operation number. For Projects/Jobs this will be the Project/Job Task No.
Task Description	The description of the task associated with the entry.
Task ID No.	Provides an additional source-line identifier where applicable. For projects, this could be the project planning line number in some specific circumstances when billable time is configured.
Description	Describes the work performed.
Work Center No.	Identifies the work center or machine center associated with the entry.
Time Entry Unit of Measure	Indicates whether the entered time is expressed in seconds, minutes, hours, or days.
Setup Time	The setup time recorded for the production operation, expressed in the selected Time Entry Unit of Measure.
Run Time	The run time recorded for the line, expressed in the selected Time Entry Unit of Measure.
Setup Time (Hours)	The recorded setup time converted to hours.
Run Time (Hours)	The recorded run time converted to hours.
Total Time (Hours)	The combined setup and run time, expressed in hours.
Exported	Indicates whether the time entry has been exported for payroll processing.

For production entries already posted into Business Central, use Capacity Ledger Entries to review the resulting production capacity transactions.

Available fields on the Capacity Ledger Entry for reporting:

Field	Source	Description
Posting Date	Business Central	Date on which the capacity usage or production output was posted.
Order Type	Business Central	Identifies the type of order that generated the capacity entry, such as a production order.
Order No.	Business Central	Identifies the order associated with the posted capacity entry.
Type	Business Central	Identifies whether the capacity is associated with a work center or machine center.
No.	Business Central	Identifies the specific work center or machine center associated with the entry.
Operation No.	Business Central	Identifies the production routing operation associated with the entry.
Item No.	Business Central	Identifies the item for which the capacity or output was posted.
Description	Business Central	Description associated with the capacity ledger entry.
Quantity	Business Central	Amount of capacity consumed by the entry, expressed using the applicable capacity unit of measure.
Output Quantity	Business Central	Quantity of production output recorded by the entry, in the item’s base unit of measure.
Scrap Quantity	Business Central	Quantity recorded as scrap by the entry, in the item’s base unit of measure.
Direct Cost	Business Central	Direct capacity cost associated with the entry.
Overhead Cost	Business Central	Capacity overhead cost associated with the entry.
Entry No.	Business Central	Unique sequential number identifying the capacity ledger entry.
Global Dimension 1 Code / Global Dimension 2 Code	Business Central	Dimension values assigned to the entry. These columns are displayed when the corresponding shortcut dimensions are configured.
Shortcut Dimension 3–8 Code	Business Central	Additional shortcut dimension values assigned to the entry, when those dimensions are configured for display.
SFI Employee Name	Shop Floor Insight	Name of the Shop Floor Insight employee associated with the entry.
Time Card No.	Shop Floor Insight	Identifies the posted Shop Floor Insight time card from which the capacity entry originated.
Time Card Line No.	Shop Floor Insight	Identifies the specific posted time card line associated with the capacity entry.
Activity Code	Shop Floor Insight	Identifies the Shop Floor Insight activity under which the time was recorded.
SFI Shop Floor Employee No.	Shop Floor Insight	Identifies the Shop Floor Insight employee who created the entry.
SFI Output Recorded DateTime	Shop Floor Insight	Timestamp when the output represented by the entry was recorded.
SFI Cumulative Output Hours	Shop Floor Insight	Cumulative elapsed hours up to the point when this output was recorded. Useful when analyzing output throughout an operation.
SFI Time Since Last Output	Shop Floor Insight	Hours elapsed since the previous output was recorded, useful for analyzing individual output cycles or multi-shot reporting.
SFI Units per Hour Snapshot	Shop Floor Insight	Snapshot of the units-per-hour performance when the output was recorded.
SFI Hours per Unit Snapshot	Shop Floor Insight	Snapshot of the hours-per-unit performance when the output was recorded.
SFI Posted DateTime	Shop Floor Insight	Timestamp recording when the capacity entry was posted.
License Plate No.	Shop Floor Insight	Identifies the Warehouse Insight license plate against which the output was recorded, when applicable.

Analyzing Production Time By Shift with Shop Floor Insight

Shop Floor Insight provides the more reliable method when production must be attributed to the people working a particular shift. The Shift Pattern on a posted time card line comes from the employee and time card context, rather than relying only on a shift code entered during production posting.

Before creating the analysis, configure the applicable shift patterns and employee schedules as described in Shift Scheduling with Shop Floor Insight. Operators must then record and post their production activity through Shop Floor Insight.

To create the analysis:

1. Open Shop Floor Posted Time Card Lines.
2. Select Enter analysis mode on the view.
3. Rename the new analysis tab Production by Shift.
4. In the Analysis Filters pane, set Document Type to Prod. Order.
5. Add a Work Date or Posting Date filter for the period being reviewed. To report only lines containing recorded production, optionally set Output Quantity to <>0.
6. In the Columns pane, clear the currently selected columns and turn on Pivot Mode.
7. Move Shift Pattern to Row Groups.
8. To provide additional detail, place one or more of the following fields beneath Shift Pattern in Row Groups:
   • Employee No. or Employee Name
   • Work Center No.
   • Document No.
   • Task No.
9. Move the applicable measures to Values and leave their aggregation set to Sum:
   • Setup Time (Hours)
   • Run Time (Hours)
   • Total Time (Hours)
10. To compare shifts across periods, move Work Date Month or Posting Date Month to Column Labels. The corresponding year or quarter fields can also be used for a higher-level comparison.

The resulting pivot displays production quantities, scrap, and labor time by the shift recorded on each employee’s posted time card line. If several employees work on the same operation, establish which employee records the output quantity so the production quantity is not recorded more than once. Each employee can still record their own labor time.

If you need to do this task on a version of Business Central prior to Business Central’s analysis views being available then you can export the same data to Excel and use Excel’s pivot table feature to group by shift following the same concept.

Using Business Central Capacity Ledger Entries to Report Production Time By Shift

Base Business Central can also analyze production time by shift, but only when the Work Shift Code has been populated on the production journal entry before it is posted. The value is carried to the resulting Capacity Ledger Entry.  The problem with this approach is that the work shift code defaults in from the Work Center, making it extra steps in base Business Central to change the work shift from a work center.  If a work center is only used in one shift then this data-entry problem becomes minified, however if the same work center is used in multiple shifts then you’ll need to use a tool like Shop Floor Insight which reduces that operational burden of manual time entry and shift reporting.

Analyzing Production Output by Activity Code (useful for rework, employee grouping)

When time, consumption, and output are recorded through Shop Floor Insight, the associated time card line with a related activity code are available on the capacity ledger entries.  The Shop Floor Activity code can be used to help categorize time and output by a number of factors such as re-work, changes in specifications, or even different employee groupings such as shift, skill, location, etc…  For example, let’s say you want to report through the capacity ledger entries and have one set of employees grouped differently than another set for normal production time you could create two different activity codes for each group, then change the ‘default production activity code’ on the Shop Floor Employee cards for the different groupings.   This will not change existing time cards, nor existing posted data to the capacity ledger entries, however any new time that is created and posted from newly created time cards will have that grouping available for analysis.

Reviewing the Current Status of a Production Order

For a production order that is still in progress, the Prod. Order Routing page provides an operation-by-operation view of where the order currently stands. Business Central shows the planned routing, scheduled dates and times, and the status of each operation. Shop Floor Insight adds the shop floor activity associated with each routing step, including posted and unposted setup/run time, pending output, finished output, and employee assignment. Together, these fields can help answer questions such as Which operation is currently in progress? How much time has been recorded? Has that time been posted? How much output has been reported? Is additional output still waiting to be posted? Microsoft identifies production orders and their routings as key tools for controlling current manufacturing, and routing operations can be Planned, In Progress, or Finished.

Business Central Production Reports

Business Central also includes several built-in manufacturing reports and pages that can help with investigation and analysis. The following are some of the most useful depending on the problem you are trying to solve.

I want to understand actual production cost and variance

Use Production Order Statistics.

This report analyzes actual production costs and the variance from expected costs for production orders.

Use it when asking:

• Did this production order cost more than expected?
• Was the variance caused by material, capacity, or another production cost?

I want a detailed breakdown of production order costs

Use Prod. Order Detailed Calc.

This provides a detailed cost analysis by material, capacity, overhead, and other cost components.

Use Prod. Order – Calculation when you need a simpler list of production orders and their costs.

I want to understand what should be produced and how long it should take

Use Prod. Order – Precalc. Time.

This estimates the time required to complete production orders based on routing information, work centers, and machine centers.

This is useful for reviewing planned production time, rather than actual time already recorded.

I want the components and routing for a production order

Use Prod. Order – Job Card.

It provides details of the components and operations required to complete a production order.

I want to find component shortages

Use Prod. Order Shortage List.

This compares production component requirements with projected inventory availability so you can identify materials that may not be available when required.

I want to understand capacity or overloaded work centers

Use the capacity reports:

• Capacity Task List – analyze work-center or machine-center capacity.
• Work Center Load – analyze work-center load.
• Machine Center Load – analyze machine-center load.
  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-ca/dynamics365/business-central/production-how-to-view-the-load-on-work-centers
• The overload reports identify work centers or machine centers that are overloaded according to the production plan.
• You can also use Graphical Scheduler to visualize work center load
  • https://kb.dmsiworks.com/knowledge-base/how-to-visualize-work-center-capacity-and-load-in-graphical-scheduler/
• You can optimize capacity constraints with the MxAPS scheduler app.
  • https://kb.dmsiworks.com/knowledge-base/introduction-mxaps-userguide/

I want to understand the cost structure of a manufactured item

Use:

• Rolled-up Cost Shares – see total manufactured-item costs broken down into material, capacity, capacity overhead, subcontracting, and manufacturing overhead.
• Single-Level Cost Shares – see the cost contribution at each individual BOM level.
• Detailed Calculation – review manufacturing cost details including BOM components, routing operations, expenses, and scrap.

These are most useful for analyzing the standard/product structure, rather than the performance of one specific production order.

I want to understand the BOM structure

Use:

• Quantity Explosion of BOM – see the complete hierarchical BOM structure and quantities.
• Where-Used (Top Level) – find which finished or parent items use a component.
• Item BOM Compare List – compare costs between similar final products.
• You can also use the Multi-Level BOM tool in the Enhanced Planning Pack to visualize and investigate a BOM structure.
  • https://kb.dmsiworks.com/knowledge-base/multi-level-bom-viewer/

I want an overview of many production orders

Use Production Order – List.

This provides an Excel-based overview of production orders, including status, item, source, location, and important dates. It is useful for analyzing orders by period, location, or status.

See Production Reports and Analytics in Business Central.

Business Central Manufacturing Power BI

Use the Manufacturing Power BI app when you want broader manufacturing analytics and trends across many production orders.

It is better suited to questions such as:

• How are production times trending?
• Where are consumption or capacity variances occurring?
• Which work or machine centers are most heavily utilized?
• How are production costs and output changing over time?

See Manufacturing Power BI app.

Which option should I use?

I want to…	Use
Compare actual production order cost against expected cost	Production Order Statistics
Get a detailed breakdown of production order costs	Prod. Order Detailed Calc
Review planned production time	Prod. Order – Precalc. Time
Review the components and operations for an order	Prod. Order – Job Card
Find production component shortages	Prod. Order Shortage List
Analyze work or machine center load	Capacity and Load reports Work center load can be optimized with MxAPS.
Analyze the cost structure of a manufactured item	Rolled-up Cost Shares / Single-Level Cost Shares / Detailed Calculation
Review BOM structure or where components are used	Quantity Explosion / Where-Used or the Multi-Level BOM viewer in Enhanced Planning Pack
Review many production orders in Excel	Production Order – List
Analyze trends and KPIs across many production orders	Manufacturing Power BI app
Investigate expected versus actual results for one production order	Enhanced Planning Pack Production Order Analysis
Compare historical actual routing times against expected routing times	Enhanced Planning Pack Routing Analysis
Investigate individual shop floor time entries	Shop Floor Insight’s Posted Time Card Lines (Posted Time Card Lines) or Time Card Lines (for Unposted Time Card Lines)
Investigate production capacity entries posted to Business Central, with or without Shop Floor Insight.  (Shop Floor Insight will append standard Capacity Ledger Entries with re-work codes, operator references, and more detailed timestamps and time card references).	Capacity Ledger Entries (enhanced with Shop Floor Insight)
Report Production Time by Shift	Shop Floor Insight’s Posted Time Card Lines (Posted Time Card Lines) or Time Card Lines (for Unposted Time Card Lines)
Report Production Output by Shift	Capacity Ledger Entries (enhanced with Shop Floor Insight) combined with Shop Floor Insight’s Posted Time Card Lines (Posted Time Card Lines). You could add a simple flowfield from the capacity ledger entries to look up the shift from the Shop Floor Insight Posted Time Card line, or alternatively add a flowfield on the Shop Floor Posted Time Card Line to summarize all posted output to that production order through that time card.
See the current progress of an unfinished production order or routing operation	Prod. Order Routing, enhanced with Shop Floor Insight, or Shop Floor Time Card Lines for active and unposted time entries.