How to Create & Process a Batch of Orders

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How to Create & Process a Batch of Orders

Group several work order lines into a batch so you can pick parts, start work and move work location for all of them at once.

Updated Nov 9 2026

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Before you start

Batch List is under Production > Orders. The menu item is shown to users with the Admin role (and to administrator users); an administrator can grant others the Can See Production -> Orders -> Batch List Navigation Menu function.
Every line in a batch must be at the same location.
A line can belong to only one batch.

1
Find a batch
1. Go to Production > Orders > Batch List. The list opens showing Open batches only, although no chip says so.
2. To narrow it, click the filter search bar (Filter or search…) and choose a filter: Name, Order No, Created (an is between date range, with presets such as Last month), Created By or Status (Open, Closed or All; choose All to see closed batches too).
3. Click Apply (n) (the number is how many filter changes are waiting). Applied filters show as chips above the table; click a chip's remove button to drop it.
4. To open a batch, hover over its row and click the Edit icon at the right end (scroll sideways if the table is wider than the window). The Print Work List icon beside it prints that batch's work list.
2
Create the batch
1. Go to Production > Orders > Batch List and click Create New Batch.
2. In the Create Order Batch window, type a Name so the batch is easy to find later.
3. In Order, type the order number and select a line. Lines are listed as order number, line and location, for example 181.1-2 MN is line 2 of order 181.1 at location MN. The line is added to the table straight away (there's no separate add button), and the search clears for the next one. Repeat for each line. To take one out, click the cross in its Remove column.
4. Click Create Batch. The batch appears in the list.
3
Pick parts for the batch
1. Go to Production > Orders > Batch List and click the Edit icon on the batch's row. The window is headed Edit Order Batch: id (Location: …) (Status: …).
2. Click Pick Parts. The Pick Parts For Batch : id list combines the parts needed by every line in the batch, with each part's bins at the batch's location.
3. Enter the quantities to pick in each bin's Pick Qty/Serial Number box, or click Pick All Lines to fill them in automatically, then click Update. Cetec shows Batch Pick Parts update successfully. Print prints the pick list. Print Batch Pick Parts PDF, at the top of the Edit Order Batch window, prints it without opening the pick list.
4. Cetec shares each picked quantity across the batch's lines that need that part, filling the line with the oldest target WIP (work start) date first.
4
Start and stop work for the batch
1. Go to Production > Orders > Batch List and click the Edit icon on the batch's row.
2. Click Start Work. The Start Work window opens with the batch's lines in Batch Work Order Add. Choose the work location in Location (it starts on (Choose Location), or on the primary staging location if your site has one) and fill in the other fields as usual, such as Build Operation, Comments or Add serials, then click Start Work. Cetec shows Work record successfully created! (To log time that's already done instead, use OR ADD TIME & CLOSE AT ONCE in the same window.)
3. Close the Edit Order Batch window and open it again with Edit: it now shows Active Work (n). Click it to open Batch Active Work. The batch's work is one row covering all its lines; click Stop Work to stop it on every line. Cetec shows Work stopped.
4. To stop work across many orders at once, managers and supervisors can use Production > Mgmt > Active Work.
5
Move the batch to a work location
1. Go to Production > Orders > Batch List and click the Edit icon on the batch's row.
2. Choose a work location in Change Status To.
3. Click Move Ordlines. Every open line in the batch moves to that work location, and Cetec shows Ordline status of the Batch updated.
6
Close the batch
1. Go to Production > Orders > Batch List and click the Edit icon on the batch's row.
2. Click the red Close at the top of the window. There's no confirmation: Cetec shows Ordline Batch Closed, closes the window, and the batch's status becomes Closed. Reopen takes the place of Close if you need it back.