Ability to add multiple Work Order numbers to a single card

[Joseph Lynch]

Hello all, I'm a complete noob when it comes to Jira as I've just started using it this past week. I do not have an admin rights or any special powers within the program. I just don't feel like waiting for our IT team or others to figure it out. Hoping the community can help and I can make the suggestion on how to clear the clutter. It does get a bit annoying having to drag multiple cards over for the same Assembly when it should just be one. 

My question is this:

Is there a way to have multiple Work Order/Batch Numbers tied to a single card in the Kanban Board? Currently whoever is creating the cards will have 1 card for each work order/batch. This is leading to, in my opinion, too much clutter on the Kanban Board. For instance, we have 3 cards for 1 Assembly. This is repeated 3 times so we have a total of 9 cards for 3 Assemblies. It will only get worse as some Assemblies will have 6 Work Orders/Batches.

Thanks for any help. I've provided a screenshot of what I'm talking about.

[John Funk]

Hi Joseph - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

I am not familiar with your industry or what constitutes an assembly, work order, batch number, etc. but what if you created the card with the Summary being the Assembly and then added the details (multiple work orders/batch numbers) to another field - either labels or a custom field?

Are any of these things static? Or will the values always be different?

[Florian]

Hi. There are several ways. Each one has it’s drawbacks. 

1. Work with swimlanes. Swimlanes allow you to group tasks by some criteria. You can then focus on the swimlane related to let’s say your department. To create swimlanes you need admin rights for the board. 
2. Work with quick filters. Basically the same idea as above. But instead of grouping all the clutter the unnecessary tasks are completely hidden. Again you need admin rights for the board. 
3. Create your own board that suits your needs. When you create a board you are automatically admin for this board. But maybe you are not allowed to create boards. 
4. work with automation. This is the most complex idea and you definitely cannot do this without your IT department. Under the assumption that all these task are not used in parallel but in sequential order you can create one task after another. When task one is closed let the system create task two automatically. When task two is closed let the system create task three. And so on. Then you have only active task and future task will pop up just in time. 
5. ignore the board and work with lists. In the top menu you find a button called „issues“. Then you can create queries there filter all the task you need. You can then save these filters so that you do not have to write you query over and over again. Drawback: There’s is no board. The filter will bring you a simple list. 

[Joseph Lynch]

Hi John, 

I'm in the manufacturing PCBs. So Assembly Number is the board number, Batch/Work Order is just the number for the order which has details like quantity. I'll look into what you suggested about adding details to another field. Not sure what you mean by are these things static, values always be different. I apologize, still learning the Jira lingo :).

Hi Florian,

Thank you very much for the suggestions. This is something I'd have to look into. I can create a board but I'm worried if I use a board from an existing project and changes I make will effect the original. I do have Jira installed on a seperate PC that I can use to tinker with these type of changes. It's how I plan on learning the ins and outs. 

[John Funk]

So is the Assembly Number an item that you have in stock? Or are you constantly creating new Assembly numbers in the system? That's what I mean by static. In other words, could you create a dropdown list of the Assembly numbers you have? 

So, another thought - are the work orders processed individually? Or all at the same time for the Assembly Number? If all at the same time, you should be able to add those to another field. 

[Joseph Lynch]

Is the Assembly Number an item that you have in stock? Yes

Or are you constantly creating new Assembly numbers in the system? No

In other words, could you create a dropdown list of the Assembly numbers you have?  That would be nice but as I mentioned, I am not able to create the cards.

Are the work orders processed individually? Individually

If there was a way for me to save the FB Board and give you that information it would probably help you out. So, if there is a way to do that let me know how and I can do it.

Thanks for the help.

[John Funk]

Are you not a Jira Administrator? Can you update the values of Custom Fields? 

That would be where you add the Assembly Numbers. But it needs to be created as a Select List (single choice) type of custom field. Then you can add the values. 

You should be able to take a screenshot of the board if you like. Just hide any sensitive information. 

[Joseph Lynch]

No I am not a Jira Admin. I cannot update Custom Fields. I'm just trying to collect as much information I can to present it to IT so they know what to do. 

I attached two images, one with the Custom Fields being used and the other with colored arrows showing how often multiple cards of the same Assembly Number is being used. 

Appreciate all the help.

[John Funk]

I would pass along my suggestions above - Create a custom field that holds the Assembly numbers. Then create one card per Assembly number with the information needed for that Assembly number. 

[Joseph Lynch]

Thanks again for the help, I'll take a look into this further and make the suggestion. Hopefully they agree to make the change.

[Joseph Lynch]

Hey John, question, if we do use the suggestion you gave, and we have multiple Work Orders for the same Assembly. If we add those Work Order numbers to the same card, and lets say later down the road someone wanted to search for that work order, is that possible?

[John Funk]

Yes, you can always search on a field for a value.  :-)