Batch Work Order Job Parameters and Considerations

REMEMBER: Only designated staff members are permitted to run jobs. Refer to the matrix at Jobs & Batch Processes to see which staff members are approved to run which jobs.

If you need to put a number of items into the same Work Order for the same kind of work - sending materials to Imaging Services, for instance - you can create a set and run a job to initiate the work order. This process can also be used to request items in batch from offsite storage facilities for processing.

Create a Set

First, create the set of records you want to put into the work order. In order to run a job, you must create a set for it to work with.

1. From Admin >> Manage Sets, click on Add Set >> Itemized
2. Name the set something descriptive so you can easily find it when you're initiating the job
3. Set Content type as Physical items.
4. If someone other than you is going to initiate the job (such as LTS or someone else in your unit), make sure to make the set Public.
5. Once you create your set, Add members (item records) to the set one by one or by uploading a file of barcodes. See the functional documentation on creating itemized sets for step-by-step instructions.

Run the Job

Next, run the batch job to initiate the work order and place requests on those items.

1. Go to Admin >> Manage Jobs and Sets >> Run a Job
2. Search for the job named Create physical item work orders. Select this job by clicking on the circle next to the name and clicking Yes
3. The next step is to select your set. In the search box with Name selected, search for the set you created in Step 1, then click Next.
4. You are now on the Task Parameters: Create Work Order Requests screen.
   1. From the Work Order Type drop-down menu, select the work order you want to place on the items.
   2. From the Department drop-down menu, select the department where the work order items should be sent.
   3. For Do not pick from shelf:
      
      1. If you already have the items in hand, check the Do not pick from shelf box.
      2. If you do not have the items in hand (you need to request them from other libraries/offsite storage), leave the Do not pick from shelf box unchecked.
5. Click Next.
6. The Review and Confirm screen appears. 
   
   1. Change the name of the job to begin with your initials - as many as you need to make them unique. (Think GRRM.) This will make it easier to find the results of this job later if you need to look at them.
   2. Confirm that the rest of the information looks correct and click Submit.
7. The job will queue up and run. You will receive a confirmation email once the job completes. Upon completion, you will see that the items in your set now have a pending work order request on them. See the Verifying & Monitoring section below for ways to monitor the process after this.

What happens next?

If the item was not already in hand, and the Do not pick from shelf box was unchecked, items will appear on the pick lists of the owning libraries. If the items are in Offsite Storage locations, requests will be transmitted in the next feed to HD or Recap. These request feeds go out three times a day.

When the items are scanned at any circulation desk other than the work order location (for example, at the owning Library’s circulation desk or at the work order destination library's main circulation desk), a pop-up will notify the operator to transit the item to the work order department that you selected when you ran the create the work orders job.

The items will need to be scanned in at the work order department to remove them from transit, and then processed per local Work Order workflow. For more on Work Orders, see the functional documentation.

Verifying & Monitoring Requests

To verify pending requests or track where items are in their work order process, you can either look for individual items or the entire set of items, whichever makes more sense.

To find a single item's requests:

• You can see the request by performing a physical item search for an item’s barcode and then clicking on the hyperlinked number next to the word “Requests” in the item display to view the item’s request queue.
• From the main Alma search bar, perform a Requests search on the item’s barcode. All active and waiting requests will appear.

In the event that there are multiple requests on an item, the most recent request will appear last in the queue. However, you can force the priority of a request (see Fulfillment Requests documentation).

To find all of the requests on that work order:

• Under Admin >> Manage Sets, find the itemized set you created, click on Members, then scan the list to see what the current Status and Process type (workflow step) are for each item in the set.
• Use the Resource Request Monitoring list, if the items are still mostly in the work order (not Done):
  1. Go to Fulfillment >> Resource Requests >> Monitor Requests & Item Processes
  2. Use the facets on the left to limit the list:
     1. Request/Process Type of the Work Order Type you created (such as Imaging Services Work Order)
     2. Pickup Location (the work order department) or Owner (your unit)
     3. If needed, use Request Date to narrow it further, and then any other facets that will help.
  3. Review all of the requests and their current workflow step there. 

Related Links

Harvard Documentation

Work Orders

Initiating Work Orders in Batch

Sets documentation and online training materials

Ex Libris Documentation

Managing Requests and Work Orders

Running Manual jobs on Defined Sets

Overview of Jobs – Batch Job Planning Guidelines (for time)

Managing Jobs and Sets section page