It is possible to process more than one Production Order simultaneously. This is especially useful when a Production Order needs to be completed in order for another Production Order to start. Instead of issuing each Production Order individually, Allocating Components and Receiving them and then closing the Production Order and then repeating for the next Production Order in the line and so on you can use the Batch Update feature.
In the simple example that follows we are putting together a DVD Box Set which includes two different DVDs in their case and a Collector's Booklet. Each of the DVD's is also the result of a separate Production Order combining the DVD itself with its case.
Creating the Production Order
In order to make the 'top-level' Box Set a usual Production Order is issued.
In case sub-assemblies are involved in this particular Production Order you are given the option to connect the initial Finished Good with the associated Production Orders and have them automatically created.
The connected Production Orders are associated with the Document Reference - see last column.
Notes:
Only products which are of type Manufactured from Production Order and which have no stock available will have their Production Order created.
If a product is identified as Buy from Supplier or Manufactured from Production Order and is included in a BoM, a Production Order for it will be created (if stock is inadequate). In other words, it will be considered to be of type Manufactured from Production Order. As such it is good practice to identify products uniquely as either Manufactured from Production Order or Buy from Supplier and not Buy from Supplier or Manufactured from Production Order as long as the product type is known and the batch processing feature will be used.
Batch Processing Associated Production Orders
You can manage each Production Order individually as usual or you can process them some or all of them in one go. Click on the ones you want to work on and click on Batch Update. A pop-up similar to the following appears.
You can decide from the drop down menus on the right how each of the Production Orders will progress. You can also drag and drop the Production Orders in the above list to indicate the order in which they will be executed. The order of execution is important as executing the top Production Orders may result in inadequate quantities for the bottom Production Orders - depending on the associated Bills Of Materials. The initial order they appear in is the one you clicked on them just before clicking on Batch Update in the previous step.
Clicking on the Batch Update will execute the selected options in the pop-up. You can do all the necessary processing here all the way to closing the final Production Order.
The combination of the above drop down menus along with the order of the Production Orders in the pop-up provides you with a very flexible and powerful tool to process your manufacturing workload very fast and without errors.