Labour

Modified on Wed, 1 Apr at 7:59 PM

Processes (also referred to as labour items) represent the work tasks required to complete the project. Unlike parts, processes can be added at three levels:

Proposal level — General project-wide processes (accessed via the module listing page).
Module level — Processes specific to a module (accessed from within a module).
Station level — Processes specific to a station (accessed from within a station).

Each level works with the same grid interface.

Process Grid Columns

Column	Editable	Required	Description
Process Name	Yes (lookup)	Yes	Select from a predefined list of processes. The dropdown is searchable with a filter row.
Description	Yes	No	A free text description of the specific work involved.
Previous Actual Hours	No	—	If the proposal was converted from a previous project, this shows the actual hours that were recorded for this process. Useful as a reference when estimating.
Hours	Yes	Yes	The estimated number of hours required. Must be 0 or greater. A small PERT icon appears next to the field when PERT analysis is available.
Contingency Hours	No (calculated)	—	Automatically calculated from the hours and the labour contingency percentage set on the station/module. Visible with labour contingency permissions.
Internal RPH	No (calculated)	—	Rate Per Hour for internal costing. Derived from the chargeout rates configured on the Rates tab, based on the Employee Level. Visible with financial permissions.
Employee Level	Yes (lookup)	No	The skill level required for this process (e.g., Senior Engineer, Technician). This determines the internal and external hourly rates. Visible with financial permissions.
External RPH	No (calculated)	—	The external (customer-facing) rate per hour. Visible with financial and profit permissions.
Use Custom RPH	Yes	No	When ticked, allows the use of a custom rate per hour instead of the one derived from the employee level. Visible with financial and profit permissions.
Internal Total	No (calculated)	—	Hours × Internal RPH. The cost to the company. Visible with labour cost permissions.
External Total	No (calculated)	—	Hours × External RPH. The customer-facing charge. Visible with financial and profit permissions.
External Contingency Total	No (calculated)	—	Contingency Hours × External RPH. Visible with financial, profit, and labour contingency permissions.
Margin %	No (calculated)	—	The profit margin on this process: (External Total − Internal Total) / External Total × 100. Visible with financial and profit permissions.
Notes	Yes	No	Additional notes for this process line.
Edited By / Edited On	No	—	Audit fields showing who last modified the row and when.

Summary Row

The grid footer shows totals for:

Total Hours
Total Contingency Hours
Total Internal Cost
Total External Cost
Total External Contingency Cost

Adding Processes

Navigate to the appropriate level (proposal, module, or station).
In the processes grid, click Add Row.
In the new row, click the Process Name cell and select from the dropdown list.
Enter the estimated Hours.
Optionally set the Employee Level to determine applicable rates.
Add a Description and Notes as needed.
Click Save to persist all changes.

PERT Analysis

When PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) analysis is enabled for the proposal, you can use it to calculate estimated hours based on optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic scenarios. Look for the PERT icon next to the Hours field. PERT helps provide more accurate time estimates by accounting for uncertainty.

PERT calculations use the formula: (Optimistic + 4×Most Likely + Pessimistic) / 6.

Access to PERT functionality is controlled by user permissions. See the Proposal Details chapter for related settings.

Removing Zero-Hour Processes

Over time, processes may be added but left with zero hours. A Remove Zero-Hour Processes option is available in the grid toolbar. This removes all processes with an hours value of zero, helping keep the grid clean and focused on active work items.

Editing and Deleting Processes

The processes grid uses batch editing. You can:

Click any editable cell to change its value.
Delete rows by selecting them and pressing delete.
All changes are accumulated until you click Save or Undo Changes.

Understanding Labour Rates

Labour rates are configured on the Rates tab. Each Employee Level has an associated internal rate (cost) and external rate (charge to customer). When you assign an Employee Level to a process, the Internal RPH and External RPH are automatically populated.

If a particular process requires a different rate, tick Use Custom RPH and the rate fields become editable.

Understanding Labour Contingency

Each station and module has a Labour Contingency percentage. This is applied to all process hours within that station/module to calculate contingency hours. For example, if a process has 100 hours and labour contingency is 10%, the contingency hours would be 10.

Labour Summary Tab

The Labour Summary tab (at the proposal level) provides a read-only aggregated view of all processes across all modules and stations. The grid is grouped by module for easy navigation.

Summary Grid Columns

Column	Description
Module	The parent module (used for grouping).
Station	The station the process belongs to (if at station level).
Description	The process name/description.
Module Quantity	The quantity of the parent module. Factored into total cost calculations.
Station Quantity	The quantity of the parent station. Factored into total cost calculations.
Hours Per Station	The estimated hours for this process per station.
Contingency Hours Per Station	The contingency hours for this process per station.
Hours	Total estimated hours (Hours Per Station × Station Quantity × Module Quantity).
Contingency Hours	Total contingency hours.
Internal RPH	The internal rate per hour for this process.
External RPH	The external (customer-facing) rate per hour.
Internal Total	Total internal cost (Hours × Internal RPH).
External Total	Total external charge (Hours × External RPH).
External Contingency Total	Total external contingency charge (Contingency Hours × External RPH).
Margin	The profit margin percentage on this process.

Use the Expand/Collapse All checkbox to quickly expand or collapse all groups. The filter row allows searching across all processes.