Business Central: Selling configurable sets/bundles — what does “shell/housing (Hülse)” mean?

Business Central/NAV
1

Context (general question):
We use Business Central (mainly Sales/Purchasing so far). We sell sets/bundles made of multiple components (e.g., board, drive unit, battery, charger, wing, remote), each with several variants. To avoid creating thousands of item masters for every combination, we’d like to assemble sets directly on quotes/invoices from individual components.

Our ERP consultant said this can be done using “Hülsen” (German for “shells/housings”). I don’t recognize that as a standard BC term—what exactly might they mean?

Questions:

  1. Meaning of “Hülse”: Is this likely an Assembly (Assemble-to-Order) item with an Assembly BOM acting as the set header? Or a container/service item line as a header with indented component lines beneath it?

  2. Pricing model: How do you model a bundle price? Price only on the set header with component lines at 0 (for inventory/cost), or another approach?

  3. Discounts: Best practice to apply a single discount to the whole set or document total (e.g., invoice/line discount) without discounting each component individually?

  4. Print layout: On quotes/invoices, can you show price only on the set header and list components without prices (optionally) using standard reports, or is a report modification typically needed?

  5. Variant swaps per order: Can the Assembly BOM be adjusted per sales order (e.g., swap wing/battery variants)? Any caveats?

  6. Tracking: Experiences with serial/lot tracking (e.g., batteries/drive units) in this set/bundle setup?

This is a general BC question (no company-specific context). Thanks for any guidance and best practices!

1 Like
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Hi Sarah,

This setup can be managed using Assembly (Assemble-to-Order) items in Business Central.

  • “Hülse” likely refers to an Assembly item acting as a header with an Assembly BOM listing all components.

  • Pricing: Keep the price on the header, components carry cost only.

  • Discounts: Apply on the header or document total, not individual parts.

  • Print layout: To show only the header price, a small report tweak is usually needed.

  • Variant swaps: You can edit or substitute BOM components per order if allowed.

  • Tracking: Serial/lot tracking works at the component level, not the header.

In short, use Assemble-to-Order items as “shells” for flexible bundles, pricing, and tracking.