Glossary · Manufacturing systems
Work center
Also known as: Workcenter, Work centre
German: Arbeitsplatz
In manufacturing planning, a work center is a production resource or group of resources, such as a machine, line or group of workplaces, defined in the ERP system with its capacity, costs and scheduling data, at which operations are carried out.
- Manufacturing systems
In one sentence
A work center is a production resource defined in ERP with capacity, costs and scheduling data, where operations are carried out.
Example
The routing assigns the grinding operation to work center 4210, which groups two identical cylindrical grinders with 16 hours of capacity per day.
How it applies
- Planning: Operations in a Routing (manufacturing) are assigned to work centers; capacity planning and costing use the work center's available capacity and rates.
- ISA-95: In IEC 62264, work center is also a level in the equipment hierarchy (enterprise, site, area, work center, work unit), with process cells, production units and lines as types of work center.
- Operation: Actual times and quantities are confirmed per work center, which makes its data a basis for OEE and costing.
- Documentation: Keep work center IDs consistent between ERP, MES, shop-floor signs and documents. The German Arbeitsplatz can mean both work center and workstation or workplace; decide which translation fits each context.
Work center vs. workstation
A workstation is the physical place where a person works. A work center is a planning unit that can include several workstations or machines.