The workshop board

The workshop board shows work orders sorted by phase: one column per phase of the cycle (Scheduled, Received, In progress, Completed, then Delivered on request), in that order. The phases are fixed and described in Work orders. It complements the work orders list without replacing it.

To open it: Work orders page, List / Board toggle at the top right. The Board entry of the menu, in the Workshop section, also leads straight to it; the Work orders entry always opens the list. The board requires the right to view work orders; moving a card or changing a line requires the right to edit them (see Roles and permissions).

Columns and cards

By default, the board shows work orders in progress: Scheduled, Received, In progress and Completed. Tick Show delivered (last 30 days) to add the Delivered column (files delivered or modified in the last 30 days). Cancelled work orders are never on the board: find them in the list, Cancelled tab.

Each card shows:

• the work order number and the registration;
• the subject, the vehicle make and model and the client;
• line progress (“2/5 lines done”), if the Line tracking feature is on;
• attributes: Invoiced, Paid (nothing left due, or “Paid” box ticked without a cash register), Deposit paid (deposit settled, no invoice yet), Returned (vehicle return form signed), To reschedule (scheduled file with no appointment), Quote waiting for N days (quote issued with no answer from the client), part on order and block (open flags), Timer running, and Customer not notified on a completed work order whose “vehicle ready” message has not been sent yet (with the right to send notifications);
• the locks on the next move, with a padlock: what is left to do to move forward (“Vehicle reception form to sign”, “Repair order to sign”, “Lines to finish”, “Invoice to issue”, “Vehicle return form to sign”);
• the next appointment and the workers: those of the labour lines and the work order’s lead worker.

Without the right to view vehicles or clients, the registration, model or name are not shown.

The board shows 300 work orders at most. Beyond that, a message says so: use the list and its filters.

Moving a work order forward

Drag a card to another column (with the mouse, or with a finger after a long press). While dragging, only reachable columns stay active; the others are greyed out, with the reason for the refusal read from Mekaplus (“Have the repair order signed first.”, “A blocking hold is still open: lift it before completing.”…). A column is reachable if:

• the move is provided by the cycle: forward by one phase, back from In progress to Received, reopening from Completed to In progress or from Delivered to Completed (right to reopen a work order);
• no lock holds it back (quote awaiting a response, form to sign, open flag, lines not done, missing invoice…).

Dropping a card on a refused column sends nothing: the card stays in place and the message shows the reason. If Mekaplus refuses the change afterwards (the work order changed in the meantime), the card goes back to its place and a message explains why.

The invoice does not change the phase: it is issued by an explicit action, from the record (see Invoicing). Cancelled has no column: cancel a work order from its ⋯ menu (Move to… › Cancelled) or from the record.

With the keyboard or on mobile, open the card’s ⋯ menu: Move to… offers the same reachable phases.

When you drop a card on Completed, Mekaplus offers Invoice (opens the record and its invoicing flow) and Notify the client (“vehicle ready” message, see Notifications), or Later. The window shows who the message would go to (name and partly masked address), or why it cannot be sent (no address, no consent…).

Confirmations before a move

Some allowed moves deserve a pause: Mekaplus points them out and asks you to confirm. Cancel leaves the card where it is; Continue anyway moves it. What really blocks (quote awaiting approval, forms to sign, lines to finish with Line tracking) is a lock: the card does not move.

• No part available when moving to In progress: none of the work order’s stock-tracked parts is available. If only some parts are missing, the move goes ahead and a message says so. To wait for a part, place a “part on order” flag from the record.
• When moving to Completed: parts still missing from stock, lines not marked done, a timer still running. If it is yours, Stop my timer and continue stops it before completing.

Part checks require the right to view stock; without it, they are skipped.

After a cancellation

If the cancelled work order has an upcoming appointment, a message offers Delete the appointment (it stays on screen for a few seconds): the appointment is removed from the planning and its scheduled messages (reminder to the client) are cancelled, without notifying the client. This requires the right to edit the planning.

Ordering the cards

In each column, cards are arranged according to a position shared by the whole garage: a new card arrives at the bottom, then anyone can move it. A card no longer “jumps” when it is edited.

• Reorder: drag a card up or down its column; a line shows where it will land.
• Choose its place when changing phase: drop the card between two cards of the destination column (on the upper or lower half of the target card); dropped in the empty part of the column, it goes to the bottom.
• With the keyboard or on mobile: ⋯ menu › Order in the column (Move to top, Move up, Move down, Move to bottom), and Move to… offers, for each phase, the phase (at the bottom) or the phase, at the top of the column.

Changing the order requires the right to edit work orders. The order is saved: you find it again after reloading, and your colleagues see it too.

Acting from the card

The card’s ⋯ menu offers, depending on your rights and the enabled features:

• Open: the edit window (below);
• Move to…;
• Start timer or Stop timer (Time tracking feature, account linked to an active worker; see Time tracking). From the card, the timer starts on your first labour line of the work order, or on no line; the window lets you choose the line;
• Order in the column (see above);
• Notify the client: at the Completed and Delivered phases, with the right to send notifications;
• Open the full record.

The edit window

Click a card (or Open in its menu): a window opens, full screen on mobile. It lets you:

• change the phase (same reachable phases as dragging); the locks holding back the forward move are listed below;
• set the progress of each line (to do, in progress, done; Line tracking feature) and the worker of a labour line;
• assign a worker: they are set on every labour line that has none yet;
• read and add comments;
• start or stop the timer;
• open the full record.

Prices, quantities and discounts are edited in the full record. Flags (part on order, other block) are placed and lifted from the record. Lines and workers can no longer be changed once the work order is Completed, Delivered or Cancelled.

Finding your work orders

• Search: number, registration, client, subject or vehicle model; the search applies as you type, with no button.
• My work orders: the work orders you work on (on a labour line or as lead worker). This filter requires an account linked to an active worker (Settings › Workers); Mekaplus remembers it for you on this device.
• Filter by worker: the work orders of a given worker.

The board refreshes on its own every 30 seconds and when you come back to the tab: changes made elsewhere (record, another computer) show up.