Materials, Standard Operations, Routings
This page introduces the Materials, Standard Operations and Routings settings in the Production module.
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The Production Operation feature in Standard ERP allows you to configure and implement a complex Production process with several assembly stages. This feature offers the following benefits:
- You can record each stage of the Production process separately, so you will always know exactly how each Production is progressing;
- Components will be removed from stock as you use them, not at the end of the entire Production process; and
- You can record Work in Progress in the Nominal Ledger.
Dividing a Production process into stages requires you to determine the following:
- What the stages are;
- Which components will be used in each stage (and which assembled Items if any will result from each stage); and
- The sequence in which the stages should be carried out.
In Standard ERP, the term given to a stage in the Production process is "Operation". There are two types of Operation:
- When you divide a Production process into stages, you will first create template or model Operations. These are known as "Standard Operations". A Standard Operation record should contain the normal specifications for a stage in the process.
- When you implement a Production process, you will create a Production record in the normal way and choose the Recipe. You will then create Operations specific to that Production, using the relevant Standard Operations as templates. The Operations that are specific to a particular Production are known as "Production Operations".
To divide a Production process into stages, follow the steps described below. In these steps we will use as an example a basic Production process that requires three stages: welding, painting and assembly. The Recipe will include Input Items for all three stages: the metal (e.g. box section and/or metal sheet) used in first stage, the paint used in the second stage and the nuts and bolts used in the third stage. The third stage will also result in an assembled Item (a set of shelves) being added to stock.
- Define the various stages by entering separate records for each stage in the Standard Operations setting.
The example process will require three Standard Operations: "WELDING", "PAINTING" and "SHELF_ASSEMBLY".
Depending on the circumstances, you may find that you can define a single generic Standard Operation such as "PAINTING" that can be used in many Recipes. In other cases (for example single- and multi-colour painting), you may need to define several more precise Standard Operations, so that you can choose the most appropriate one for each Recipe.
- Now you should allocate the Input and Output Items in the Recipe to the relevant Operation. To do this, you need to classify those Items according to their type or task. This classification is given the name "Material". A Material is simply a name for the basic type of Item or task, but it is also the mechanism that connects the Items with the Operations.
In the example Recipe, the Input Items for metal box section will be used during the first Operation, paint will be used during the second Operation, and the nuts and bolts will not be required until the final Operation. To use the nuts and bolts as an example, proceed as follows:
- Define the Material(s) that you need in the Materials setting. In this example, create a Material "NUTS_AND_BOLTS".
- You will have listed the nuts and bolts of various sizes as separate Input Items in the Recipe, so that you can control stock of each size. As you will use the nuts and bolts at the same time, and they are all the same type of Item, you can assign the "NUTS_AND_BOLTS" Material to each of these Items on flip B of the Recipe.
- You will use the nuts and bolts as part of the assembly stage of the Production process. Open the "SHELF_ASSEMBLY" Standard Operation that represents this stage of the process and include "NUTS_AND_BOLTS" in the list of Materials.
Steps ii and iii connect specific Input Items (the nuts and bolts) with a particular stage in the Production process (in this case, the last stage). The nuts and bolts will be removed from stock when this stage is completed.
As "SHELF_ASSEMBLY" is the final Standard Operation, it should also include a Material such as "FINAL_ITEM". The Material of the Output Item in the Recipe should also be "FINAL_ITEM". This connects the Output Item with the final "SHELF_ASSEMBLY" Operation: when this Operation is completed, the Output Item will be added to stock.
- Use the Routings setting to define the order in which the Operations should be carried out.
In the example Production process, the Routing will specify that the "WELDING" Operation will be first, followed by "PAINTING" and finally by "SHELF_ASSEMBLY".
- Having configured the Routing, return to the Recipe and enter the Routing in the Default Routing field.
Please click the links in the numbered points above for more detailed descriptions of each setting.
To implement a multi-stage Production process, create a Production record in the normal way and choose the Recipe. As the Production represents a multi-stage process, you cannot simply mark the Production as Finished in order to remove the components from stock and add the assembled Item to stock. Instead, you need to create the Production Operations that represent each stage in the process, and mark each Operation as Finished in turn.
Choose 'Production Operations' from the Create menu (Windows/macOS) or + menu (iOS/Android) of the Production. This function uses the Standard Operations as templates to create Production Operations specific to the Production, as follows:
- The function will refer to the Routing specified in the Production to obtain the sequence of Standard Operations.
- The function will then refer to the first Standard Operation in the sequence to obtain a list of Materials.
- The function will then look in the Production to find the Input and Output Items that share the first Material in the list in step 2.
If an Input Item in the Production has a Recipe (i.e. the Input Item is a sub-assembly), the function will also look in the sub-assembly Recipe for Input and Output Items with the Material in question.
- A Production Operation will be created, containing the Input and Output Items found in step 3.
- Step 3 is repeated for each Material in the Standard Operation, and the Input and Output Items that share those Materials will be added to the Production Operation created in step 4.
- Steps 2-5 are repeated for each Standard Operation in the Routing.
If any of the Input Items in the Production are
Phantom Items (Plain Items with Recipes) whose Recipes contain Routings, the sequence described above will be carried out for those Routings first, before being carried out for the Routing in the Production itself.
You can now work through the Production Operations in turn. In effect, each Production Operation is a Production in miniature. As you Finish each one, the relevant Input Items will be removed from stock and the relevant Output Items if any and if they are Stocked Items will be added to stock. If you have specified in the Account Usage Production setting that Nominal Ledger Transactions are to be created after each Production Operation, the value of the Production Operation will be posted to the Work In Progress Account (again, specified in the Account Usage Production setting). Work In Progress will be cleared when you Finish the last Production Operation in the sequence.
Dividing Productions into Stages - Configuring Materials, Standard Operations and Routings:
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Go back to:
Introduction to Settings in the Production Module
