Repair Orders

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Manage Repair Orders From Intake to Completion With Connected MRO Workflows

Aviation repair work depends on clear control of incoming items, vendor or internal repair activity, work scope, piece parts, charges, files, shipping, receiving, and cost tracking. When repair details are scattered, teams can lose visibility into status, cost, and customer commitments.

Vista-Suite Enterprise gives teams a connected repair order workflow for assigning outbound and inbound shipping addresses, calculating piece part costs from prior transactions, applying charges to part numbers, mixing inventory sources, supporting multiple transaction types, linking related orders, printing documents, and managing repair order templates.

Repair Order Workflow and System Navigation

Vista-Suite Enterprise transactions are designed with a variety of features to streamline processing. The clone feature is no exception, but it's more than just a copy. With Vista-Suite Enterprise, you can clone a repair order by selecting one or more customers to create new repair orders for. Yes, that's right. You can create as many new repair orders as you need at once.

Quickly select from a list of predefined clauses on the repair order header and individual items without searching through documents or relying on manual entry. Unlike legacy systems with inefficient clause management, Vista-Suite Enterprise provides an organized selection of clauses to support the flexibility required for different business scenarios. Sales teams can quickly apply the correct terms without rewriting text or risking inconsistencies. This ensures every repair order is accurate and customized for the situation while keeping the process fast and efficient. Additionally, you can assign more than one clause as your default, manually apply more than one clause at a time, and easily edit your clauses before use.

Include both outbound and inbound addresses on a repair order so that shipments are properly tracked and delivered to the correct locations. The outbound address specifies where the item is being sent for repair, while the inbound address designates where it should be returned once the work is complete. This is essential for cases where the repaired item needs to go to a different facility, such as a warehouse or another department. Efficiently manage core exchanges by directing returned defective units to the correct location for credit or overhaul.

Activate editing for all line items' input fields at once, reducing the need to select and save each line individually. This approach allows for rapid data entry across all lines and item fields by reducing repetitive actions, saving valuable time while providing a smoother, more intuitive experience.

Selecting piece parts in a repair order can calculate costs based on the last sales order price, customer quote price, or purchase order cost. If you attempt to use piece parts that do not match the customer property of the item being repaired, a helpful warning will appear. During receiving, any unused piece parts can be returned to inventory as normal stock. Shipping is handled like standard inventory, simplifying the process for warehouse staff to pick, pack, and ship. Additional piece parts can be sent as needed until the repaired unit is received. Finally, all piece part shipments are linked to both the items they are associated with and the linked orders section of the repair order.

International businesses transact in multiple currencies, and Vista-Suite Enterprise can support that. But we give you more than just a currency code table. With our integration to online real-time currency tracking services, you can update your exchange rates any time you desire with just a few clicks of the mouse. Currency codes, exchange rates, and rate effective dates are all held against the transactions, so updating your exchange rates won't interfere with your historical data.

Have you ever done an exchange core charge? A repair charge or an over-and-above repair charge? Some systems let you record those types of transactions but keep the charges separate from the parts. That can reduce visibility into charges related to parts in your transaction history. Vista-Suite Enterprise lets you create charges for part master records, so related part and charge activity can stay connected.

All transactions provide special charge fields in the header for Freight and Miscellaneous costs that will bypass the tax calculations and appear in the totals of the transactions. These are in addition to the traditional line item charge capabilities.

Some inventory lot systems restrict you to selling inventory on a single line item only from a single lot. With Vista-Suite Enterprise Inventory Pools, part 145 repair stations can mix and match regular, consigned, and non-consigned pool inventory on a single line item. This helps reduce friction when dealing with consignments or pools while adjusting repair order requirements.

Sometimes, you need to adjust the cost of Pools up or down manually. You may manage your consignments differently or need to add or subtract costs to accommodate special circumstances. Manual cost adjustments are easy to make, and those adjustments are recorded in the adjustment logs for easy audit support.

Providing shipping details on your repair orders is essential, including export details such as INCO terms and ECCN characteristics. These are all part of the negotiated contract the repair order represents. Vista-Suite Enterprise keeps those details close to the repair order so teams can keep repair work moving.

Every line item is capable of displaying crucial information on the repair order, such as tag/certificate number, tag date, tagged by, traceability, and serial number. The details can be populated based on the selected inventory's data or from the source transaction to reduce data entry, separate communication, or urgent documentation sharing.

Unlike other systems that limit alternates to a single predefined item, Vista-Suite Enterprise allows for greater flexibility in specifying alternate parts. Users can select alternates from a predefined list of linked part numbers or choose from the entire master parts catalog, ensuring more options when creating repair orders involving exchanges. Multiple alternate lines can be added, including linked and unlinked parts, providing greater adaptability in arranging repair orders.

Include a mix of line items having different transaction types such as outright sale, cost-plus exchange, flat-rate exchange, rental, brokered repair, bench check, overhaul, modification, and inspections, all within a single repair order. This flexibility reduces the need for separate repair orders for different transaction types or unexpected changes to the repair order requirements.

Supporting the business process is critical in an aviation ERP and MRO software. With Vista-Suite Enterprise, you can transition orders from one to the other. The repair order is no exception. When a repair is no longer the right option for the customer, you can quickly convert a repair order into a sales order. All of the quote header and item details are carried over. Available inventory records can be allocated if they are still available.

If you are seeking repair services, whether it is through an external broker or from your own 145 repair station, the repair order module is designed to assist you in that process. Vista-Suite Enterprise can create a receiving event for inbound items directly from a repair order. From there, you can create work or repair orders, for example, keeping the process connected and flexible for your business.

When a repair transaction leads to the sale of a replacement part or service, seamlessly link the repair order to a sales order. This creates a direct, trackable connection between the two transactions, ensuring smooth management of cases where a sale is necessary instead of completing the repair. By integrating these processes, you can easily handle non-standard orders and maintain organized records.

While some estimated charges appear on the initial repair order, the final charges may be added throughout the process. Receive charges on Vista-Suite Enterprise repair orders with ease, and allocate charges to specific line items on the repair order or to the overall order so the actual cost of each item or the entire order is accurately reflected and recorded in the corresponding transaction.

Vista-Suite Enterprise has an audit log system that is expanded routinely. The audit log system provides visibility of the date, time, and details of record changes for header and item activities. It also shows ancillary activity, such as attaching files or creating a note, through secondary audit logs. Primary and secondary audit logs give teams a clearer view of what is happening in transactions.

Productivity and Automation

A row of signal icons accompanies each repair order line item, so you don't have to waste valuable time searching to find if it involves hazmat, is linked to a shipping or receiving record, is allocated, shipped or invoiced, is approved or is a piece-part.

Each top-level transaction or record has its own unique URL. This is important when it comes to software. Having that unique URL means you can share the link directly to transactions with your co-workers, or reports can have embedded hyperlinks so you can open the transactions directly, and that hyperlink technique also works great in email notifications.

Easily access all related transactions directly from an order or individual line item, ensuring complete visibility across connected workflows. This feature allows users to seamlessly navigate between linked orders, such as repair orders, purchase orders, quotes, invoices, repairs, work orders, shipping, and receiving, without searching manually. Users can quickly track order progress, verify dependencies, and make informed decisions more efficiently by providing a clear view of all associated transactions.

Vista-Suite Enterprise browse grids offer quick visibility to child records. For example, when you are searching repair orders, you do not have to open the repair order to view the line items. Just click the sub-browse and view the line items on the spot.

Many transactions inside Vista-Suite Enterprise have what we call the "Shazam" feature. This super helpful tool lets you select a part-type line item and copy it to a charge-type line item with just one click. It references the original line item using the item numbers, so it's easy to see what the charge is related to. This feature is popular with users who need to create extract charges for exchanges, repairs, or even price adjustments.

The Shazam button is a one-click feature that simplifies the complex process of billing over-and-above repair charges while preserving inventory accuracy. Traditionally, users of other systems may need to create fake inventory lines and manually shift costs to avoid inflating inventory values, all while trying to keep transactions properly associated. Shazam reduces that workaround by moving the excess repair cost off the inventory line and onto a charge line.

When clicked, the user is presented with an input prompt that says, "Specify the amount for labor, misc, and part cost you wish to move to a new charge line item." By nudging the user to specify the amounts for labor, misc, and part costs, the over-and-above repair costs can be quickly categorized for accurate billing. From there, you can select the charge and generate a linked sales order to invoice the customer.

This ingenious method ensures that the overage is treated as an expense while maintaining complete linkage to inventory and transaction records. With Shazam, what used to be a multi-step manual process is now fast and cleanly integrated.

File attachments are critical, and with Vista-Suite Enterprise, you can attach files to many types of records, including repair orders. Suppose you are emailing your repair order and choose to attach a file to an outbound email from your local computer. In that case, Vista-Suite Enterprise can save those attachments to the repair order header files area for you.

Aviation is a document-heavy industry, and transactions frequently require printing multiple types of documents. With Vista-Suite Enterprise, you can select all of the documents you wish to print at once and have them attached to your outgoing email with a single click. This feature can save time when producing required documents for your transactions.

When choosing to print (generate) a repair order from the templates available, there is an option to save the repair order PDF directly to the transaction's files, ensuring a reliable record of what was sent at a specific time. This feature is valuable for version control and audit purposes, preserving historical repair orders even if pricing or details change later. While the system can regenerate repair orders on demand and provide an audit trail of actions, this feature adds an extra layer of flexibility to various workflows.

Speed is everything. That's why we incorporate shortcuts to everyday tasks all over our system. Printing is a great example. Just look up the order from the main browse, and you can print your default documents without even opening the transaction. Our convenient action menus offer several features of different kinds depending on where you are in the system.

Printing (generating) a repair order from the templates available provides access to email messaging capabilities, and the repair order PDF is attached. Other files from the order, stock, company, and main library are also available as attachment sources.

With Vista-Suite Enterprise, you can upload and store unlimited files like technical manuals, documents, photos, and videos. All company media is organized into a central file library for easy access. When attaching files to a repair order, choose files from the main file library, company files, linked order files, inventory files, and files from your computer.

With the advent of online business process tools, managing projects in card-like layouts is becoming the norm. We have applied this concept to your transactions, giving you a visual and interactive Kanban board that lets you manage your business process by driving the transactions through different statuses. The boards can auto-refresh, filter, and give you drag-and-drop capabilities to help streamline business processes.

User Experience and Customization

A useful feature available throughout Vista-Suite Enterprise is the capability of unique user-defined fields (UDFs). You can create as many UDFs as you need to track data elements, from notes to selection lists, currency, numbers, or even dates. UDFs are presented in a spreadsheet-like fashion, which promotes fast data entry, and the fields can be pulled into reports for data analytics. Colored tabs quickly identify UDF values being filled in partially, entirely, or not at all.

The ability to rearrange and hide columns makes the line item grids fully customizable. Each user can adjust the visible information to their preferences for optimal productivity. This same feature is utilized across the system wherever data tables are present.

Transaction numbering is critical. Numbering can be used to separate transactions for different departments, products or services, and other valuable purposes. More importantly, if you have a data migration, you want your migrated data to show your original transaction numbers. This is possible with Vista-Suite Enterprise, and the number log system lets you define as many number logs for any transaction as you wish. With pre-fix and post-fix options, your numbering schemas can be simple or complex, depending on your needs.

User-defined line item category codes can help you segregate line items inside your reports and dashboards so you can quickly report on groups of transactions.

Vista-Suite Enterprise's pinned notes system lets you create system-wide pins or categories with which notes can be created. Each pinned note is date and time stamped and shows the creator of the note. You can also attach files to a note, lock a note, search, filter on notes, and even run reports on different pin categories. Some companies use pinned notes as part of their CRM-style activity tracking.

All transactions in Vista-Suite Enterprise have an external notes feature that lets you input separate notes meant just for the customer. Most systems believe that one note area is sufficient, but we understand the importance and difference between an internal note and a note the customer or vendor should see. So, we make it easy and straightforward by giving you that special area for external communication on your transactions.

The document customization in Vista-Suite Enterprise offers the flexibility to design and edit your own materials. Although the data structure and design tools available are made with both beginners and advanced users in mind, our team can design and build custom documents as an additional service.

Repair Order List View Expanded

The expanded portion reveals repair order line items and at-a-glance signals that indicate if an item is a hazardous material, allocated, shipped, invoiced, linked to a receiving or shipping event, is approved, or has piece parts. Among the customizable columns displayed is the item disposition, allowing for quick awareness of progress without the need to open the record.

View A Dedicated List Of Ordered Items

The "Ordered Items List" layout quickly surfaces ordered items and the corresponding repair orders, reducing the tedious process of manually identifying ordered items and related details. The quick-action menu enables options to edit the repair order, print docs, view files, and view item notes.

Repair Order Kanban Layout

Kanban layouts can be a useful tool for managing repair orders due to their visual workflow, making it easier to track each order's status and progress.

Repair Order Transaction Header

Intuitively structured header information and tabbed access to additional repair order essentials help teams manage repair order details from one connected screen.

Working With Piece Parts

Repair Order Transaction Lower Detail

At the top is an expanded line item where linked orders are displayed. Below is a view of record history, and the repair order’s summary of totals.

Standard Reports Include:

Repair Order Document: Provide suppliers with a well-structured, professional repair order that clearly communicates expectations, such as precise delivery and payment terms, repair requirements, pricing, and other essential details.
Open Repair Orders: A record of all pending repair orders that have been created but not yet resolved, fulfilled, or shipped. The report is presented in a clean, spreadsheet-style format that feels familiar to users accustomed to working in Excel. While the default output is a static PDF for easy sharing and printing, the report can also be exported to Excel for those who prefer to filter, sort, or manipulate the data in a more interactive way. If a different layout or style better fits your team's preferences, we can tailor the report format to suit your workflow as an additional service.
Repair Order Status: A report summarizing the status of repair orders, such as created, hold, warranty, shipped, received, and closed, for example. Customize the status names to your own requirements. The report can be tailored to list details such as repair station name, buyer, terms, number of unique items, etc.
Repair Order Piece Parts: Provides detailed information about all the individual parts used, required, or ordered to complete repair jobs associated with your repair orders.
Pack Slip: A document included with repair order shipments detailing the contents of the package for verification upon receipt.

Samples:

Repair Order Document

Provide suppliers with a well-structured, professional repair order that clearly communicates expectations, such as precise delivery and payment terms, repair requirements, pricing, and other essential detail

Open Repair Orders

A record of all pending repair orders that have been created but not yet resolved, fulfilled, or shipped. The report is presented in a clean, spreadsheet-style format that feels familiar to users accustomed to working in Excel. While the default output is a static PDF for easy sharing and printing, the report can also be exported to Excel for those who prefer to filter, sort, or manipulate the data in a more interactive way. If a different layout or style better fits your team's preferences, we can tailor the report format to suit your workflow as an additional service.

Repair Order Status

A report summarizing the status of repair orders, such as created, hold, warranty, shipped, received, and closed, for example. Customize the status names to your own requirements. The report can be tailored to list details such as repair station name, buyer, terms, number of unique items, etc.

Software development moves fast, and features evolve over time. While we strive to keep this and other pages accurate, some information may not reflect the most recent changes. For the most current details, we recommend scheduling a live demo at ambryhill.com/demo.

Back to Core Features List

Repair Orders

Manage Repair Orders From Intake to Completion With Connected MRO Workflows

Repair Order Workflow and System Navigation

Clone Entire Repair Orders Or Line Items

Header And Item Clauses

Include Outbound and Inbound Shipping Details

Edit Several Items At Once

Working With Piece Parts In Repair Orders

Supports Multi-Currency

Supports Charges For Part Numbers, And Not Just Charge Codes

Separate Charge Fields For Cost Passthrough

Mix and Match Regular Stock, Consigned Stock, and Pool Stock On The Line Items

Support Manual Cost Adjustments

Include Freight Information, INCO Terms, And ECCN Details

Line Item Level Traceability, SN, And Tag Details If Desired

Specify Alternate Parts For Line Items

Supports Multiple Transaction Types

Create Sales Orders Directly From Repair Orders

Create An Inventory Receiving Event From A Repair Orde

Link To A Sales Order From A Repair Order

Receive Charges Within A Repair Order

Header And Detail Audit Logs

Productivity and Automation

Signals Indicate The State Of Each Line Item

Transactions Have Unique URLs For Easy Sharing With Co-Workers

View Linked Orders At The Item And Order Level

Embedded Sub-Browses For Easy Visibility Of Items

Shazam A Line Item

Attach Files

Print Multiple Documents With A Single Click

Save Printed Repair Orders To Repair Order Files

Print And Email Right From The Main Browse

Integrated Emailing Capabilities

Attach Files To Outgoing Emails From Multiple Sources

Kanban Boards To Manage Repair Order Stages And Business Process Flows

User Experience and Customization

User-Defined Fields For Headers And Items

Customizable Browse Grids For Line Items

Customizable Numbering System With Unlimited Number Logs

Categorize Line Items With Category Codes

Internal Pinned Notes

External Notes

Customize Repair Order Documents To Fit Your Needs