Independent IFS Cloud practice · Business process optimisation
The shop order lifecycle in IFS Cloud: from Planned to Closed, and what holds each step
A shop order in IFS Cloud moves through statuses that the system sets itself, and each step from release to closing has documented conditions. The article follows the IFS Cloud documentation (25R2, Close Shop Order also compared in 26R1) and marks my own reading as such. It gives no accounting advice.
Key takeaways
- The Manufacturing Shop Order page lists seven statuses: Planned, Parked, Released, Reserved, Started, Closed and Cancelled. Users cannot change the status manually. The system sets it in response to actions.
- A shop order can close three ways: Auto Close within the Close Tolerance, receipt with Force Shop Order Closure, or manually through Status and Close.
- For a manufactured part on weighted average, or on standard cost with the per-serial cost level, closing triggers a cascade update of cost.
1.What is the shop order lifecycle in IFS Cloud and which steps does it contain?
The shop order lifecycle in IFS Cloud is the sequence of statuses and actions that takes a manufacturing order from planning to completion. The Manufacturing Shop Order page defines the statuses, and its wording is used throughout.
| Status | Definition on the page |
|---|---|
| Planned | A low-status order for a part you have planned but not yet decided to manufacture. You cannot reserve material or report operations. |
| Parked | An order that has been blocked and cannot or should not be processed further until the cause has been resolved. Unparking sets the status back to what it was before. |
| Released | An order released for production. |
| Reserved | At least one reserved material line, but no issued material or reported operations. |
| Started | Issued material and/or reported operations. |
| Closed | A completed order. No additional quantity can be reported or received unless it is re-opened. |
| Cancelled | An order that cannot be processed further and cannot be re-opened. |
A new order starts as Planned or Released, depending on a setting on the Site/Manufacturing page. The steps then run as follows.
- Release. Status, then Release, changes a Planned order to Released.
- Material reservation. Reserve Shop Order Material Automatically takes the order from Released to Reserved. Lines set to Reserve or Reserve and Backflush are included.
- Material issue. Issue is manual or automatic through backflush. The Shop Order Material Issue page names four backflush triggers: issuing materials for the order, issuing a material line, receiving the main product and reporting operations.
- Operation reporting. Shop Floor Reporting names the Shop Floor Workbench and Time Clock as clients.
- Receipt of the finished part. Receive Shop Order records the main product into inventory and creates OOREC transactions.
- Closing. Close Shop Order sets the status to Closed and may revalue the receipt.
2.Why do shop orders stall between steps?
Shop orders in IFS Cloud stall when a documented condition of the next step is not met, and the IFS Cloud 25R2 pages name those conditions step by step.
| Step | Condition or block the page names |
|---|---|
| Release | Status must be Planned. With the Automatic Availability Check on, the check uses the Expected Lead Time of the part and the Availability Check option in Supply and Demand Controls on the Inventory Part page. |
| Reservation | Insufficient unreserved stock. Serial numbers that are VIM, equipment or plant design objects. Outside Reserve/Backflush set to Not Allowed. |
| Issue | Status must be at least Released. Tracked parts must be reserved before automatic issue. Location hierarchy settings stop backflush. |
| Operation reporting | A Planned order cannot have operations reported. A Parked order puts its operation lines in Parked. |
| Receipt | At least one material line must exist. Serial and lot/batch numbers to receive must be reserved for the order. Without Simplified Material Check, the system verifies that enough material was issued for all lines except those with Reserve/Issue Method Manual. |
| Closing | A manual peg must be removed first. Close Operations sets the operations to Closed when the order closes. |
The 26R1 version of Close Shop Order adds a condition that the 25R2 version does not have. If WIP products received from the order are still in stock, the order cannot close unless Issue Remaining WIP Products is enabled, and the 26R1 page lists as effects that WIP products in stock are issued automatically and SOWIPISS transactions are created.
Closing also carries a cost consequence. The Cascade Update of Cost on Inventory Transactions page says the cost calculation uses an estimated cost structure at shop order receipt, updated when the order is closed. In my reading, a receipt that sits long before closing therefore carries an estimated cost for that long. In its performance section on transaction-based actual costing, the same page names the time span between receipt and cost update as a critical factor in how many transactions are affected, and for manufactured parts it gives that span as the time between shop order receipts until the shop order is finally closed.
The pages I read do not state how operation statuses roll up to the shop order status, or whether all operations must be Closed before the order closes. The Shop Order Operation page lists Planned, Released, Setup Started, Setup Complete, In Process, Partially Reported, Interruption and Closed. That list does not name Parked, although the Park Shop Order page sets operation lines to Parked.
3.How do you find stalled shop orders?
Stalled shop orders are found by reading each status definition as a filter and asking what the order should have done by now. The pages I read do not describe a stalled-order report, so what follows is my reading of the status definitions.
| Symptom | What it suggests, in my reading |
|---|---|
| Planned, demand approaching | No decision to manufacture, or a release prerequisite from section 2 is missing. |
| Released, no reservation or issue | A short component, a location rule or a missing reservation on a tracked part. |
| Reserved, nothing issued or reported | Material is allocated and nobody has started. |
| Started, with all quantity received | Finished parts are in inventory, yet the order stays open. Check Close Code, Close Tolerance, open operations and issued material. |
For the cost side, the Transaction Revaluation Events form lists the object that triggered each cascade, execution times, the involved user and the number of inventory transactions updated. The article on read-only OData monitoring describes a check that changes nothing in IFS.
4.How do you unblock a stalled shop order?
An unblocking action is chosen by the step where the order sits, using the condition that step documents.
- Planned. Release the order from Status, then Release. The Release Shop Order page asks you to check an order that came from an MRP-type requisition, and to modify components when alternates were used.
- Released with shortages. Resolve the short component, then reserve again. Reserve and Backflush Availability shows the hierarchy.
- Manual material needs. Issue manually as described on the Issue Shop Order Material Manually page. The page says you do not have to reserve before issuing.
- Receipt blocked by material. Enable Backflush on the receipt to issue material automatically when the parts are received. Without Simplified Material Check, the system checks that enough material was issued, except for lines with Reserve/Issue Method Manual; Simplified Material Check skips that normal check.
- Open order with all quantity received. Close it manually through Status, then Close, after removing manual pegs and deciding on Close Operations and Simplified Material Check.
- Cost after closing. Confirm the revaluation on a sample order. Close Shop Order revalues receipts when the primary product uses weighted average with any cost level, or standard cost with the per-serial cost level. Products with other methods, or whose method changed after the receipt, are not revalued.
The pages I read do not state a procedure for re-opening a closed order. The Manufacturing Shop Order page says a closed order takes no more quantity unless it is re-opened. For the valuation background, see inventory valuation methods and cost levels in IFS Cloud.
5.How do you stop shop orders from stalling again?
Shop orders keep moving when each step has a named owner and an age limit that someone watches. What follows is the author's practice, not an IFS procedure.
- Set an age limit per status. Agree per part group how long an order may sit in Planned, Released, Reserved and Started.
- Name an owner per step. Planning, warehouse, shop floor and one person for closing.
- Choose the close path per part group. Decide whether Auto Close with a Close Tolerance, forced closure at receipt or a manual close fits, and record why.
- Treat closing as a cost event. For manufactured parts with weighted average, or standard cost with the per-serial cost level, closing updates receipt cost and cascades onward. In my practice, closing is reviewed before period end.
- Review master data behind release. Expected Lead Time and the Availability Check option sit on the Inventory Part page; dynamic structures and MRP covers the structures that feed the order.
- Route exceptions to the owner. Exception routing sends an aged order to a person, process drift after go-live describes how agreed practice erodes, and the cost of manual monitoring frames the effort of doing it by hand.
Related: sales order without coverage and the anatomy of stock aging. Primary sources (25R2): Manufacturing Shop Order, Close Shop Order and Cascade Update of Cost on Inventory Transactions.
6.Frequently asked questions
What statuses does a shop order have in IFS Cloud?
The Manufacturing Shop Order page lists Planned, Parked, Released, Reserved, Started, Closed and Cancelled. The system sets the status automatically in response to actions, and users cannot change it manually.
Why can I not reserve material on my shop order?
Reservation needs the order at Released status or higher. Insufficient unreserved stock, serials that are VIM, equipment or plant design objects, and Outside Reserve/Backflush set to Not Allowed also stop the reservation.
How does a shop order close in IFS Cloud?
Close Shop Order lists three ways: Auto Close once received quantity meets the Close Tolerance, receipt with Force Shop Order Closure enabled, or manually through Status and then Close.
Does closing a shop order change inventory cost?
For a manufactured part on weighted average with any cost level, or on standard cost with the per-serial cost level, closing uses the total work in process to update the receipt transactions, and the change cascades to later transactions. Other valuation methods are not revalued on closing.
7.About the author
Dariusz Myśliwiec brings 18 years of hands-on work with IFS (Apps 7.5–10 and IFS Cloud). IFS Certified Associate Consultant. PRINCE2® 7. Based in Kraków, delivering remotely across Europe and globally as an independent practice, so you talk to the consultant who builds it.
Selected clients: Fugro · LGC · BVI Medical · Betafence (PRÆSIDIAD) · Barlinek · NGK Ceramics · Newag · Oleofarm.
IFS is a registered trademark of IFS AB; this practice is not affiliated with IFS AB.
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