Manufacturing: BOMs, Work Orders and Consumption
What to know
Manufacturing links a bill of materials to a manufacturing order (MO). A BOM lists components with quantities, optional operations (executed at work centers with expected durations), and byproducts. BOM types include Manufacture this product (creates an MO), Kit (no MO: components are delivered directly when the kit is sold), and Subcontracting (components are resupplied to a subcontractor).
The MO lifecycle: confirm → check availability/reserve components → plan (schedules work orders on work centers) → produce/register production → mark as done. Component consumption can be set as At once (reserve all at confirmation), Manual (no automatic reservation), or with a warning when the actual consumption deviates. Byproducts are registered at completion. Unbuild orders reverse a finished product back to components. Lead times: manufacturing lead time plus days to prepare the MO. Manufacturing costs combine component costs and work center costs to give the finished product's valuation.
Traps
- A kit BOM never generates an MO; questions describing a kit expect component moves on the delivery.
- Reservation versus consumption are different states; components can be consumed without being reserved.
- Work orders only exist if operations are defined on the BOM and work centers exist.
- Subcontracting requires the resupply route and a subcontractor location, not just a vendor.
- MOs can be done partially; backorders of components follow the standard logic.
Rule of thumb
Scale the BOM: if one desk needs 4 legs and 1 top, an MO for 10 desks consumes 40 legs and 1 top, whatever the lot or variant.