Implement production methods
Production methods questions test whether you can model how a product is made: BOMs, routes, formulas, and the versions that control validity.
Core rules
- A BOM version holds BOM lines and has a validity period and status. Only an approved and active version is used by estimation and production. BOM lines specify item, quantity, unit, scrap, and whether the line is a phantom.
- Phantom BOMs explode through a subassembly so the parent order consumes the subassembly's components directly. Use them for items that are never stocked.
- BOM calculations can explode a BOM and calculate cost or sales price, at a specified level and date. Step consumption supports process industries where quantities change by batch step.
- Routes contain operations and route relations. A route version has a status and validity period; operations reference resources or capabilities and carry time, quantity, and cost category.
- Formula versions serve process manufacturing. They support co-products and by-products, batch attributes, potency, and yield. Co-products can carry cost allocation.
- Scrap and yield on BOM lines and formula lines affect estimated consumption.
Worked example
A subassembly is never sold or stocked; its components are issued directly to the parent production order. Model it as a phantom BOM and attach it to the parent BOM line. During estimation, the phantom explodes and the parent order shows the subassembly's components, not the subassembly item. If the subassembly were stocked, a normal BOM and a separate production order would be correct.
Traps
- Leaving the BOM or route version in draft or pending; production cannot use it.
- Overlapping version validity periods, which causes ambiguous selection.
- Confusing route version selection with BOM version selection; both are date-driven.
- Expecting co-product cost allocation on a standard BOM; it belongs to formula versions.