The Many Features of the Manufacture Order Module

July 6, 2018
Factory processes need to function like a well-oiled machine, Fishbowl BlogThe Manufacture Order module gives you the tools you need to organize all of your work orders for a variety of manufacturing jobs. We’ll talk about the five types of work orders, how to create new manufacture orders, how to edit manufacture orders, and what reports are available in this module. Let’s work our way through the Manufacture Order module.

Work Order Types

A manufacture order is made up of work orders and the bills of materials that are associated with them. To create a work order, click the green plus sign on the right under the “Work Orders” header. There are five options:
  • Standard: This is used for most regular manufacturing jobs.
  • Reverse: Turn finished goods into raw goods.
  • Disassemble: Take apart a finished good.
  • Repair: Make a damaged raw good usable again.
  • Custom: Make changes to the work order as you go.
Then select a bill of materials to build from and the quantity you want to manufacture. The final thing you’ll need to do is schedule the start time for the work order to go into effect and also add any notes you may want to include with it. Once you’re finished, you’ll be asked to assign users to start picking items for the order, labeling raw goods as consumed, and adding a finished good to your inventory.

Navigating Manufacture Orders

When you create a manufacture order, it automatically generates a number for it that directly follows the previous one. If you want to change it, you certainly can, but it’s nice that they follow in such a logical way so you can easily go back and find which ones were created in chronological order. You can also update the scheduled date, location group, and other information about the manufacture order. When you open an existing manufacture order, you’ll find a wealth of information about the work order(s) contained in it, including their:
  • Status
  • Bill of materials number
  • Production stage
  • Work order number (if issued)
  • Part description
  • Date scheduled
  • Quantity
Click on any line item to go to its bill of materials. You’ll also find a number of options in the header to help you get the ball rolling on the manufacturing process. These include:
  • Issue/Unissue
  • MO to PO
  • Quick Fulfill
  • Auto MO
  • Duplicate

Reports

There are plenty of reports available in this module, such as:
  • Manufacture Order Projected Cost
  • Manufacture Order Traveler
  • Work Order Consumption
  • Work Order Flag
  • Work Order Instructions
  • Work Order Report
  • Work Order Traveler
That brings us to the end of the Manufacturing module group. We’ll continue with the Accounting module group next time.