Job Cards
A Job Card is the shop-floor work sheet for one job. It tells the person at the machine exactly what to make, how much, which step they're on, and which materials to use — so the work on the floor matches the work order that ordered it. Nothing is typed twice and nothing is guessed.
You don't create a job card by hand. Every job card is generated from a work order and the route it follows, which is why this section is about finding, reading and printing one — not filling one in.
Availability depends on your plan and your role.
What a job card actually is
When you raise a work order to make a batch of something, that batch doesn't get built in one move. It moves through a series of steps — cut, assemble, polish, inspect, pack. A job card is the work sheet for one of those steps.
So a work order to make 50 chairs, running through six steps, has a job card for each step. Each card says: here is the batch, here is the step you're doing, here is what to draw and what you'll produce. Hand it to the operator, and they can do their part without walking back to the office to ask.
Think of it as the difference between the plan and the instruction on the bench: the work order is the plan for the whole batch, and the job card is the single-page instruction for the person doing one step of it.
Where a job card comes from
A job card is never a document you start from scratch. It's assembled automatically from two things you already set up:
- The work order — which product, which batch, how much, and who's responsible for it.
- The production process — the ordered list of steps the batch goes through, and what each step is meant to consume and produce.
Because the card is built straight from these, it always reflects the latest plan. Change the work order or its route, and the job cards follow — there's no second copy to keep in step.
Each card also carries the same reference for its whole life: the work order's number together with a marker for the step (for example, the work order number followed by Step 2). The card an operator is handed in the morning and the record of what they did with it share that one reference, so nothing has to be matched up afterwards.
What a job card tells the operator
A single card gathers everything one step of the job needs, in plain view:
| On the card | What it tells the floor |
|---|---|
| The product and batch | What this whole job is making, and how much — so the operator sees the batch they're part of. |
| The step | Which operation this card is for — cut, assemble, polish — and where it sits in the sequence. |
| The materials | What this step should draw (consume) and what it should turn out (produce), with the planned quantities. |
| The resource | What it needs to run — a machine, a person, a workstation or a tool. |
| The department and floor | Whose queue the step belongs in, and the location its stock is drawn from and returned to. |
| The planned window | When the plant is committed to running it, if the job has been scheduled. |
| Who's responsible | The supervisor answering for the work order the card belongs to. |
The quantities on a card that hasn't been worked yet are the planned figures — what the route asks for. Once the step is done and booked, the card shows what was actually made and used, so it doubles as the record of the work.
Where a card is in its life
A job card doesn't only describe work still to do — it stays with the step from start to finish. At any moment a card is in one of a few plain states:
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| To do | Issued and waiting. The instruction exists; nobody has started this step yet. |
| In progress | Someone is working the step on the floor right now. |
| Waiting for a check | The step is finished and booked, but its output is being signed off before the job moves on. |
| Done | The step is complete and its work is recorded. |
| Skipped | The step wasn't needed for this batch and was passed over. |
This is why the same card can be read two ways: as a fresh instruction before the step runs, and as the record of what happened once it's done.
How a job card fits the bigger picture
A job card sits at the point where the plan meets the floor:
- Before it — you raise a work order for a batch, and choose the route it follows. That's what produces the cards.
- During it — the operator draws the materials the card lists. Those draws are recorded as material movements, so stock stays honest as the job runs.
- After it — the last step finishes, its output is received, and the batch lands back on your shelf as finished goods.
The short version: the work order carries one batch, the route breaks it into steps, and a job card is the work sheet the floor actually holds for each step.
A real example
A supervisor comes in for the morning shift. She opens the job cards for the work order that's live on the assembly line, finds the card for the step that's next in the queue, and reads it: this batch, this step, draw these parts, produce these. She prints it — or opens it on a tablet at the machine — and hands it to the operator.
The operator now has everything on one page: what to make, how much, and what to pull from the store. No trip to the office, no ringing to check the parts list. When the step is done and booked, that same card becomes the record of exactly what was made — under the same reference it started with.
Related guides
- View a Job Card — find a card, read it, and print it for the floor
- Work Orders — the batch and route a job card is generated from
- Work Order Process — the steps a job card follows
- Material Issue — how the materials a card lists are drawn from stock
- Production overview — how planning, scheduling and material flow fit together
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