Work Order "Map"

To understand the different work order types, managing departments, and statuses, we can think of Work Orders like transit systems in a city: an item enters the path of a work order, moves from station to station along the line until all of the processes are done, then goes back to its home library or on to another destination.

The Work Order Type or Process Type indicates the type of library process to be carried out on an item. Each type is a transit line in our analogy.

Note: We've included Circulation on the analogy map below. It's not a Work Order - it's an automated workflow - but it uses similar terminology and also tracks where physical items are (on Loan to a patron, in transit from one location to another, etc.).

The Work Order Statuses are the phases or steps within a Work Order Type. They’re our stops or stations along the line, and items move from status to status until all the work is completed. Some work orders use statuses to track different phases of work, some to identify specific work an item needs, and some just to 'check in' the item to that department.

Work Order Departments or Managing Departments are the physical locations where the work occurs, like neighborhoods in our transit analogy. Each work order type (or transit system) has different lines, but similar stops along the route.

Here's what the current (Spring 2019) list of work order types, departments, and statuses would look like if they were laid out transit-map style: