Routing Manager (BC) — User Guide
How to route parts in Business Central with the new Routing Manager — the replacement for the legacy desktop Route Manager, machine-build side (MW / MA / EA). Current as of app version 1.3.1.0, running in the BC sandbox environment.
Getting in
- Open the BC sandbox in your browser and use Tell Me (🔍 or Alt+Q) → type Routing Worksheet.
- You need the PSI Routing - View permission set to look, PSI Routing - Edit to change anything (the successor to the legacy “Router Mode” — if you can’t edit, that’s your permission set, not a broken page).
Quick status edits without the worksheet: the Item Card now carries a PSI Routing section (the three statuses + Standard Date Set). Changing a status there runs the exact same rules as the worksheet.
The concepts (2 minutes)
Every manufactured part carries three routing statuses — MW (machine/weld), MA (mechanical assembly), EA (electrical assembly):
| Status | Means |
|---|---|
| (blank) | Not triaged yet |
| Y - Required | This discipline still needs to route the part — it’s in the queue |
| C - Complete | This discipline is done |
| N - Not Required | This discipline isn’t involved |
| D - Drawing Change | A drawing revision means the route needs re-touching |
| R - Re-route | The route needs redoing |
The statuses aren’t just labels — they drive the system:
- Set the last open discipline to C or N → the part’s Standard Date Set stamps today and its routing certifies automatically (BC’s “this routing is ready to use” state).
- Set D or R on a part with a certified routing → the routing drops back to Under Development automatically so you can edit it. (No more being locked out of a certified routing.)
- You can never set all three to N — at least one discipline must own every manufactured part.
- Completing a part whose entire routing is one laser-cut operation gets a warning (same rule as the old system).
The Routing Worksheet
The main screen. One row per planning line — a part the planning run says will become a production order.
Columns: part number, description, quantity, due date, prod. order no. (when one exists), the three editable status columns (change them right in the grid — the rules above fire immediately), routing no., standard date set, First Flagged (how long the part has been waiting for routing), and Level (low-level code — deeper parts are needed first).
Row colors: yellow-ish (Attention) = flagged Drawing Change or Re-route somewhere; red-ish (Unfavorable) = waiting in the queue more than 14 days.
The Show group (MW / MA / EA / All): filters the queue to rows where that discipline still has work. This is your discipline’s worklist.
Below the grid, three panes that follow your selected row:
| Pane | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Standard Routing | The part’s own routing — editable. Add operations, set setup/run times |
| Production Order Routing | What the floor is actually running for this part right now — editable under guard rules (below) |
| Routing Templates | The RT#### template shelf, filtered to your discipline, with line counts |
Routing a part, end to end
- Pick your discipline in Show — the queue and templates narrow to your work.
- Click a part. The panes load its routing situation.
- Build the standard route, whichever way is fastest:
- Apply Template Routing — pick from the shelf (SAW-WELD, LASER-BEND, the numbered skeletons…). If the part already has route lines, you’ll be asked before anything is replaced — the prompt states how many lines are at stake and defaults to No.
- Or edit the Standard Routing pane directly: operation, work center, setup, run time.
- Set your discipline’s status to C - Complete. If you were the last open discipline, the routing certifies and the date stamps — the part leaves the queue.
- Built something reusable? Save as Template — give it the next
RT####number, tick the discipline(s) it serves, done. (Unlike the old system, templates no longer need a part created in Part Manager first.)
Working a released production order
The Production Order Routing pane is editable, with the shop-protecting rules built in (they’ll tell you, not silently fail):
- An operation with posted hours can’t be re-numbered or re-timed — the ledger is already costed against it.
- No inserting or deleting at or before the last operation with posted hours; the last remaining line can never be deleted.
- Complete Operation marks a line Finished. On an outside operation (subcontract work center), it first asks “Is the operation received on the purchase order?” — answer honestly; completing an unreceived outside op corrupts costing. Default is No.
- Un-complete Operation exists — the old system’s server supported it but never gave you a button. Now you have one.
The other pages
- Queue by Part (action on the worksheet): the queue rolled up one-row-per-part — total demand across planning lines, earliest due date, first flagged. The “what does routing owe the shop” view.
- Rework Items (action on the worksheet): every part flagged D or R in any discipline, whether or not it’s in the planning queue — so a mid-production drawing change can’t hide.
Sandbox-only buttons (admins/demo)
Two actions exist only in sandbox environments and refuse to run anywhere else:
- Seed Demo Data (Sandbox) — creates work centers + twelve real machine-build parts with their actual legacy routings and planning lines. Safe to run repeatedly.
- Import Legacy Templates (Sandbox) — run this once before expecting the template shelf to be populated: it loads the real 28-template
RT.*catalog from the legacy system (operations, times, notes). Skips any template that already exists, so a template you’ve edited is never overwritten.
What’s different from the old Route Manager
| Old | New |
|---|---|
| JS column | Not on the machine-build worksheet (job shop / process services is handled by the MES side) |
| Router Mode toggle + AD groups | Permission sets (View / Edit) |
Templates were real parts (RT#### in Part Manager) | Templates are just routings — no part needed |
| Un-complete required a database fix | A button |
| Broadcast to/from other apps | Not yet — coming via the PSI BC Broadcast integration |
| Special OS / WO notes | Production-order comments and attachments (standard BC) |
| Transient parts | Pending a product decision — route per-order manually for now |
Known limits (honest list, September 2026)
- Lives in the sandbox environment only for now (DEV install pending an app-consolidation fix).
- Queue rows come from the planning worksheet — run planning (or the demo seed) or the queue is empty.
- The 14-day aging threshold is a first guess; tell us what the right number is.
Feedback → DCC. App source: PSI-BC/apps/PSI.RoutingManager; behavior spec: the legacy functional inventory.