Build Order Maintenance
“Made to Order” Production Instructions
“Made to Order” Production Instructions
Build Order Maintenance is a Business Management Software (BMS) program upgrade designed to use individual items from system inventory to create “Kits” or “Made to Order/Stock Items” to sell as a single unit. Stock mini-blinds, as well as installation kits, are good examples of kit assembly projects. Essentially, parts and pieces from existing inventory are combined into one new inventory item to be sold as a single unit. To get started, a BMS Customer Service Representative must turn this feature on in your system.
Setup for a Build Order (B.O.) item starts with designating catalog items as B.O. Constructed Items and then utilizing the Associated Products feature to tie all the parts and pieces together. First, in the Catalog Maintenance module, create the main catalog item to be sold as a single inventory unit per the illustration below. Next, click the B.O.M. Constructed Item checkbox to activate the item in the system. Then, access the Associated Products tabs to Add, Edit, or Delete all the parts and pieces that will make up the single inventory item—these are also existing Catalog Items in the system.
If you check the Only Display B.O.M. items checkbox in the Associated Products tab screen, the system will remove any non-B.O. items. When you right-click to Edit or click the Add Association button, the system will prompt a Product Association box as follows:
When editing a Product Association, the screen will appear as above. The Update Item (1) button can be used to change out the existing part. When adding a Product Association, that button will appear as Select Item, allowing you to select a new part to add to the overall kit. In the box below, option (2) relating to BOM Items needs to be checked and appears as follows: Item is part of B.O.M. To enter the number of components required to make up one Main B.O. Item, click next to Exact and then enter the number of components in the box to the right of the option, as in the example above. The Width and Length options will rarely, if ever, be used and requires setup to be completed in Product Code Maintenance via clicking the Dimensions option in that screen and then completing Dimensions Maintenance from the Special Setup menu. These options will likely be used for window coverings and floor mats. Before leaving this screen, click the Update or Add button when changes/additions are complete.
Additional setup for adding overhead costs to B.O. Constructed Items is found in the Product Code Maintenance module from the Special Setup menu. That option appears as follows: Overbill Percentage Setup. When you click on this option, the system will prompt an Overbill Percentage Setup box as follows:
By determining the percentage of Labor, Overhead, and/or Waste incurred when constructing B.O. Items, you can use these fields to send additional costs to the Job for Job Costing purposes. These percentages are factored based on the total material costs but do not report to the General Ledger, much like standard Overbill and Overhead costs. Click Save or Continue to keep any additions/changes.
When setup is complete, you will initiate selling/processing a B.O. Item from Quote or Order Entry, much like any other material line. When you are in the Find and Add Line Items screen, when a B.O. Item is selected, the system will prompt a B.O.M. Created alert as follows:
This alert reminds the User to assign the Build Order to get processing started by following these next few steps. Complete the steps in the screen above and follow the prompts to the Inventory Review screen, as in the screenshot below:
The From Inventory tab screen will default if the item is designated as both a Stocking Item and a B.O. Constructed Item in the Catalog. If the item is B.O. Constructed but not designated as Stock in the catalog, the From Build Order tab screen will default as follows:
Any existing stock inventory B.O. Orders will appear in the screen above. Available B.O. inventory can be selected via the Assign button at the bottom right of the screen, much like regular stock inventory. To create new Build Order, click the Create Build Order button at the bottom middle of the screen. The system will prompt an Add B.O. Screen as follows:
At the Required Date field, select the date on which you need the production of the B.O. Item completed--this date is separate from the Install Date on the Job. Click the Save button to continue. The Status on the Line Item will display B.O. Created, much like the Purchase Order process. When the B.O. Item is put into production from the Build Order Processing module, the Status will update to B.O. Released.
As soon as a B.O. Item order is created in Order Entry, it can be accessed and processed from the Build Order Processing module in the Inventory Control menu. When you enter that module, a Build Order Processing screen will appear as follows:
The default sort order for B.O. Items is by Branch and then BO# (Year/Month/Day) and Sequence # for the day. A “C” to the left of the BO# indicates the B.O. Item was created from Order Entry and therefore tied to a specific customer order. B.O. Item stock orders can be made from this module. Much like the Purchase Order screen, you can click on any of the column headings to resort the data by that criteria. The Status column will display a blank status to indicate an initial “B.O. Item Created” status. A Released or Part. Released status means the B.O. Item is in process or production. The Print BO Report option at the top left of the screen will print a list of all B.O. Item Orders that appear in the screen below, much like the Print Job Report. You will see much more detail if exported to Excel than the printed report.
To sort the screen to display a list of only BO#’s that need to go into production (including Part. Released status items), click the Show Unreleased Only box and then click the Build button as follows:
Select a B.O. Item by clicking a line item from the display list and clicking the View BO button. The system will prompt a Build Order Maintenance screen as follows:
The components of an existing B.O. Item Order will be displayed in the B.O. Line Detail screen above. When a line item is highlighted, the system will show additional data relating to the item at the bottom of the screen. The Notes icon (1) can be clicked in the box at the top left to prompt a Notes screen for this specific BO#. The Req. Date (2) prompts from Order Entry but can be changed in this screen. The Item Qty. (3) field also prompts from Order Entry. However, if you click on the button, an Edit Item Quantity box will prompt as follows:
From here, you can change the Item Qty and/or click the View Reserved button to prompt a BO View Reserved Inventory box as follows:
Click the Save button if any changes to the quantity are made. Then in the Order Cost section (4), click the magnifying glass icon to prompt a BO Total Detail screen as follows:
It is essential to review the Catalog costs vs. the B.O. Item costs to ensure they are current and correct. There is no A/P Cost update feature tied to this module. If there is a cost discrepancy, it must be investigated and corrected before going into production, where costs are finalized.
To send the B.O. Order to production, from the Functions menu, select Assign and Release. All items with a Factor ID of 08 will automatically assign from inventory. Non-08 items must be assigned by right-clicking on the line item to Assign Material Line. If all items are instantly assigned, the system will prompt the following Build Order Print box:
This box can also be accessed via the Functions menu. You can Print and then Release the B.O. Order at different times or click the Print And Release option to complete both tasks simultaneously. The Print option will generate a one-page report with component details that can be given to the warehouse to assemble the B.O. Item. This will not ship the item out of the warehouse; you must still print a Work Order after the B.O. Item is released. To complete the process, from the Functions menu, select Finalize Build. This option is similar to receiving a Purchase Order. The system will close the current Build Order, and Job Cost will now be visible on the Job.
There are some additional maintenance/print options available within this module. The first appears under the Functions menu in the main screen as follows: Mass Update BO Catalog Cost. This option allows mass cost updates to be completed in Catalog Maintenance on B.O. Constructed Items. From time to time, price changes to B.O. Item components will occur, and for the system to read updated pricing, this option should be run periodically. Once the material, freight, and overbill costs are updated for each component item and rolled up into an updated B.O. Item cost, the system recalculates any programmed Overbill Percentage costs to be added for Job Cost. The system also writes a history record of the catalog item.
In the Build Order Maintenance screen, if changes are made to any of the component lines, including quantities, or a component is added or deleted, you can update the main B.O. Item in the Catalog by clicking on the Options menu at the top left and clicking on Update B.O.M. If the change will only pertain to the current Build Order, there is no need to use this option.
When you click on the Print menu option, the system will prompt the following print options:
The Select Printer option will allow you to select a different printer. The Print Single Item Build Order is the same report that prompts from the Build Order Print box, explained above. It prints a very detailed single-page report for the B.O. Item. If you have more than one B.O. Item on a Job, you must print one report for each. The Print Complete Job Build Order option prompts a modified Work Order screen as follows:
This option produces a document more akin to a system Work Order. It includes all lines on a Job with B.O. Items created. You will see finished goods to be constructed, with components and quantities required for each listed. This report assumes the User knows what parts and quantities are needed to build each item listed. This report typically prints one page per Job.
With the proper printer and label size selected, the Print Labels option prints a Label for any B.O. Item created from Order Entry. Also, with regard to the Committed Inventory functionality, Build Order inventory that is Unassigned displays in an additional field on the screen, BO Unassigned. Build Order inventory is also included in the Committed column of the Inventory Usage Report.