Manufacturing: what it does and where to start
The Manufacturing add-on: versioned BOMs with routings and approved changes, manufacturing orders that run as workshop jobs, planning, travellers and real build costs.
Where it is
Settings for this
- Manufacturing → Settings — BOM change approval rules.
- Manufacturing → Work centres — Capacity, labour and overhead rates.
- Settings → Workshop → Work Centres — “Use work centres” must be on.
- Settings → Billing & plan — Manufacturing is an add-on.
- Settings → Team → Roles — The four Manufacturing permissions.
Manufacturing is in the main sidebar. Its own menu has:
- Production: Overview, Orders, Make from sales order, Planning.
- Engineering: BOMs, Change requests, Work centres, Settings.
- Shortcuts: Traceability and the Workshop calendar filtered to manufacturing jobs.
The Overview
- Get manufacturing running checklist until it's done (or you hide it): turn on work centres, set them up with a labour rate, create your first BOM, add its routing and release it, raise your first order.
- Buttons: New BOM, Make from sales order, New order.
- Tiles: Open orders, Due this week, Late, and Work in progress at cost (or Ready to complete if you can't see costs). Each opens the orders list filtered.
- Needs attention: short on materials, waiting for QC sign-off, ready to complete, outside work not sent or at the contractor, drafts blocked by BOM options or waiting on a BOM release, sold lines not in production, and BOM changes awaiting approval.
- This week: orders starting or due in the next seven days (and every late one) by work centre. Print job sheets prints their travellers in one go.
How it fits together
- Set up work centres.
- Build a BOM and its routing, and release it.
- Raise a manufacturing order and build it. Releasing it creates a workshop job with a task per operation; techs clock onto it like any job.
- Plan what to make and buy, or start from a sold line with Make to order.
- Settings: who approves BOM changes.
Who can do it
The add-on must be on (Settings → Billing & plan). In Settings → Team → Roles:
- View BOMs, routings and change requests: opens the module.
- Create and edit BOMs; raise changes: also creates, releases, edits and closes orders.
- Approve or reject BOM changes.
- Build: issue materials and book output.
Cost figures need See cost of goods (COGS). Travellers never show costs.