The increasingly competitive nature of business and the continual demands of key customers mean that the various key aspects of a manufacturing business – from inventory control and purchasing, to manufacturing and sales – have to be managed in an integrated manner.

While some of the needs of a high volume ‘make to stock’ manufacturer may differ from a low volume custom ‘make to order’ business, many key operational aspects are similar.

Hence the availability of accurate sales forecasts which drive the key operations of the business – including materials ordering, costing, production scheduling and employee management – is a powerful business tool providing a clear competitive advantage.

The Manufacturing modules include:

Bills of Material

• Multi level BOMs
• Drill down reporting on BOM structure
• Multiple raw materials at each level
• Multiple labour processes at each level
• Sub contractor management facility
• Product configuration facility
• Handling for both fixed or variable material quantities
• Set-up times, run times and handling times available
• BOM copy facility for rapid creation of new designs.

Costing

• Labour process codes with overhead absorption rate facilities
• Estimated costs, standard costs and actual costs available
• Manufactured cost break-downs prior to manufacture
• Unit manufactured cost and batch cost determination
• Comprehensive real time cost variance reporting
• Comprehensive item re-cost facilities.

Work Orders

• Automatic work order creation via sales quotes activation for ‘make to order’
• Internal manufacturing request (IMR) facility for ‘make to stock’ of individual items
• Bulk master production scheduling for ‘make to stock’ of multiple items
• Consolidation of complete assembly tree into a single work order, if required
• Work order detail tables include:
• Estimated unit and extended labour process standard times and costs
• Estimated unit and extended raw material standard quantities and costs
• Active standard cost rates at time of creation
• Sales order cross reference codes
• Group work orders by internal manufacturing request ID, if required.

Material Issues

• Manual and bulk material issues either ahead of, during or after manufacture
• Back flush raw material stocks as production units are released
• Optionally close out and issue materials for lower level assemblies, where appropriate
• Material issues adjustment facility
• Comprehensive costing of material issues at standard cost
• Automatic general ledger postings (consolidated) for material issues
• Comprehensive real time reporting and analysis of raw materials consumed.

Employee Timesheets

• Employee actual times may be recorded against each process stage
• Each timesheet may include multiple processes and multiple work orders for an employee
• Timesheets valued at standard cost for update into work in progress
• Employee standard times may be automatically recorded against each process stage closed out, if required
• Comprehensive real time labour times reporting and analysis.

Production Releases

• Work orders may be progressively released with or without back flushing of raw materials
• Over or under runs may be accommodated
• Support for by- and/or co-products through alternate item releases
• General ledger updated at standard cost for finished goods production releases
• Comprehensive real time reporting and analysis of units produced.

Work In Progress Tracking

• Work in progress tracking of:
  • Actual labour used
  • Raw materials consumed
  • Final assembly and sub-assembly completions
  • Times and costs incurre
• Multiple works order status and variance reports available
• Comprehensive real time work in progress valuation and reporting at multiple levels
• Process load management
• Manufacturing scheduled date change facility
• Manufacturing process stage change facility
• Comprehensive real time scheduled process hours and process load reporting.

Production Scheduling

• Multiple production process stages per work order
• BOMs may have multiple routing process stages
• Variable production routing using activation selection criteria
• Forward or backward scheduling (client specific methods by arrangement)
• Automatic scheduling optionally used as part of sales quote activation (‘make to order’)
• Automatic scheduling used in manual work order activation via IMR (‘make to stock’)
• Automatic scheduling used when processing an MPS run
• Real time schedule updates via bar code scanning methods, if required
• Comprehensive real time reporting and analysis.

Barcode Tracking

• Customisable bar coded production routing documents and production labels
• Point-to-point/process to process bar code scanned work order tracking
• Real time work order process stage reporting
• Daily production reporting capability
• Comprehensive real time employee performance reporting capability
• Bar code scans may trigger material issues of ingredients and raw materials
• Raw material issues may occur at either the commencement of work, as each process stage is scanned or at completion of production
• Bar code scans may trigger back flushing of production standard times using work order standard time
• Last process scanned validates all prior stages and closes them out if missed including back flushing missed materials and production standard times
• Automatic scheduling status set upon process stage scan
• Automatic WIP updates upon process stage scan
• Automatic general ledger postings (in summary) upon process stage scan
• Automatic increment to finished goods and work order close out upon final process stage scan
• Comprehensive real time reporting and analysis.

Material Requirements Planning (MRP)

• Rapid MRP re-generation using multiple MRP selection criteria
• Comprehensive material requirement reporting by item within category
• MRP reporting by critical item within preferred supplier
• MRP data includes current inventory levels optionally combined with:
  • All active work orders
  • All active forecast items
  • Active work orders and purchase orders
  • Active work orders, sales quotes pending and purchase orders
  • Forecast and purchase orders
  • Forecast, active work orders and sales quotes pending
  • Forecast and active work orders
  • Sales quotes pending activation
  • Sales quotes pending activation and active work orders
  • Active work orders, purchase orders, sales quotes pending and forecast combined

Capacity Planning

• Rough cut capacity planning
• Labour resource capacity planning
• Actual labour resource capacity with attendance scanning

Read more about the Wholesale & Manufacturing finance and distribution modules.