Overview¶
Overview¶
Online Production Control (OPC) is a shop-floor layer on top of standard Business Central Manufacturing. Operators use it to record what happens on the production floor: when they start and stop work, how much they produce, how much is scrapped, and any non-productive time. OPC posts this activity to the standard capacity ledger and output journals, so the production office sees accurate progress and cost without leaving Business Central.
Most operator tasks run from a touch-friendly Role Center and Information Board with large promoted buttons. Barcode scanning is supported throughout.
Key Concept — an operator is a Machine Center¶
In OPC, the standard Machine Center record represents both a machine and the person (operator) who works on it. An operator is a Machine Center flagged with Clocking. The operator's Employee No. and Birth Date are stored on the Machine Center card.
This matters when reading the rest of the documentation: wherever a page refers to a "resource" or "employee", it means a Machine Center.
| Machine Center flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Clocking | This Machine Center is an operator who clocks in and out. |
| Show in OPC | This Machine Center appears on the Information Board. |
| Allow Output Posting | This Machine Center can be selected as the resource that registers output. |
| Allow OPC Move | This Machine Center may move components between locations. |
| Allow Time Stamping on Concurrent Operations | This Machine Center may be logged into more than one operation at a time. |
User Roles¶
| Role | Who | Typical tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Shop-floor operator | Machine operator | Clocks in and out, registers time on operations, posts output and scrap, logs indirect time, moves components, reads the information board. |
| Supervisor / production office | Line lead | Monitors the Resource Status board, corrects capacity ledger entries, maintains information messages, runs reports. |
| Administrator | Business Central admin | Enables OPC, configures the Setup page and journals, assigns permissions, manages licensing. |
Permissions are covered in Enabling OPC & Permissions.
What OPC Connects To¶
OPC records activity against standard Business Central manufacturing objects:
| Standard object | How OPC uses it |
|---|---|
| Prod. Order Routing Line | The operations operators start, stop, and post output against. |
| Capacity Ledger Entry | Where time and output post. Corrections operate on these entries. |
| Output Journal / Item Journal | Used to post output quantity, scrap, and tracked-item output. |
| Capacity Journal | Used to post indirect time and capacity corrections. |
| Item Reclassification Journal | Used by Move Components. |
| Machine Center / Work Center | Operators, clocking, and time-deduction configuration. |
| Stop / Stop Codes | Indirect time codes sync to standard Stop records. |
Licensing¶
Online Production Control requires an active subscription through the Dynapro Licensing Client. OPC pages check the subscription when they open. See Enabling OPC & Permissions for how to register a trial or update the license.