Glossary

Routing

A routing is the ordered list of operations needed to make a part, with the work center, setup time, and run time for each step.

A typical routing for a machined bracket might read: saw, mill op 1, mill op 2, deburr, anodize (outside), inspect. Each step names a work center or vendor and carries a setup time and a run time per piece. The routing drives three things at once: the quote (hours times rates), the traveler (what the floor does in what order), and the schedule (how much load lands on each machine).

The routing should belong to the part and revision, not to a single job, so the next run starts from what worked last time. When routings live only in a spreadsheet or the owner's head, every repeat order gets re-estimated from scratch and the setup lessons from the last run are lost.

Traveler is designed to keep the routing on the part and revision. You build it once while quoting, the traveler is generated from it, and repeat jobs reuse it with the last run's actual times available alongside the estimate.

Related

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