Excel: Part Routings
How each part is made, as a refreshable Excel and Power BI table
Overview
How each part is made, as a refreshable Excel and Power BI table
One row per part operation: the part, the operation number and code, its description and type, the default workcenter, and the standards that drive costing and scheduling — standard value and quantity, fixed run time, required units, quoted rate and crew, outside and additional cost, container type and count, plus the shippable and active flags.
Take the .xlsx link rather than .csv. Part numbers that start with a zero are common, and CSV carries no type information, so Excel would quietly turn 00124735 into 124735. The xlsx feed keeps it as text.
How to connect it
Open the script, click Connect to Excel and copy the link. In Excel, Data → From Web, paste, choose Anonymous, and Load. From then on Refresh All re-runs the query — there is no exported file to hunt down, nothing is scheduled and nothing is emailed around.
How current is it?
This table reads Plex over its ODBC reporting connection, not the live transactional system. That copy can trail production by up to about four hours, so treat the numbers as recent rather than real-time. Refreshing re-runs the query, but it re-runs it against the same reporting copy — it does not reach past it.
That is the right trade for reporting, review meetings and models. Anything that has to be accurate to the minute — shipping a container, releasing a job — belongs in Plex itself, not in a workbook.
Filters
Every input is an optional URL query parameter on the link, so one script serves a whole team: two sheets can be the same feed with different values. For example ?part_no=VALUE&workcenter=VALUE.
| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
part_no | substring match on Part No or Part Name |
workcenter | substring match on Default Workcenter or its code |
operation | substring match on Operation Code or Operation Description |
active_only | true = keep only active routing steps |
max_rows | keep only the first N rows |
What this installs
The Excel Data - Part Routings script and one saved SQL query it runs on. The SQL lives in the SQL editor, so a column you want added is an edit in one place that every workbook picks up on its next refresh. The table has 23 columns as shipped, and no row cap — a cap would truncate silently and the workbook would look complete.
What you need
One ODBC credential pointed at your Plex reporting connection. The install wizard asks for it once and applies it to the query. If you do not have one yet, create it first in Script Engine → Credentials with type odbc.
What's Included
Use Cases
- Review standard times across a workcenter in one sheet
- Find every part routed through a machine before taking it down
- Compare quoted rates against actual production
- Audit outside-processing costs by operation
Benefits
- Re-queries the source on refresh instead of holding an emailed copy
- Routing standards and workcenter in one row, no second lookup
- Filter to one workcenter or one part family by URL
- The .xlsx feed keeps leading zeros that CSV destroys
Configuration Steps
After installation, you'll configure:
- Plex ODBC connection