Hi BC gurus,
I need some advice please about this scenario:
We have 3 locations in BC - physical locations in facilities in the same city.
Production Orders typically follow a process like this:
Sales Order location is Location B (DISPATCH)
Fabrication/welding at Location A (needs materials) (PROD work centre)
Subcontracted Galvanisation
Galvanised product received back into Location B for post galv processing
Internal transfer to Location A for painting/drying (PAINT work centre)
Internal transfer to Location B for packing and shipping (DISPATCH work centre)
Dispatch from Location B
The exact order of operations is different for every manufactured product - some are not painted for example. Some items are fabricated at a third location, then subcontract Galv, then back to DISPATCH for packing/shipping.
We have BC set up with the 3 locations, however we are struggling to figure out the right approach to transfer the WIP production orders between locations, and to drive the planning engine to order materials at the correct location where they’re required. The documentation is vague about this aspect…
I am currently investigating setting all of the locations up as advanced warehouse locations, then setting each Work Centre to use the warehouse location, and set up bins for components and output processing on the WC. There are clearly some internal transfer orders needed for this process - but how do we transfer the WIP items, which aren’t finished goods, and aren’t registered as Items yet?
I would like to avoid additional complexity and bureaucracy in the process however - so I’d like some advice from the experts as to the right approach to this issue.
I am assuming there are many customers who would split the production process across locations/factories, and then combine the outputs to ship to the customer?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Hamish
Hamish,
This will be dependent on two key areas.
First, do you ever sell/store the WIP item from/in your inventory? If so, you need to break the Production Order into multiple Items so they can be produced into Inventory.
Second, if you do not sell/store the WIP Item, do you need the Transfer Order to manage the shipment of the WIP Item between the Locations, or can it be built into your Routing (no standard ship/receive process)? Again, if yes, you need to break the Prod. Order into multiple Items.
If no, you can set Bin Mandatory on the Locations (you do NOT need anything more advanced than Bins for what was described), which will allow you to set “Components at Location” on the Work Centers. This will ensure linked (Routing Link Code) material is assigned the right Location based on the Work Center of the Operation.
Hopefully this makes sense and you’re able to start triggering demand in the right Locations (make sure you have Stockkeeping Units setup). I would strongly encourage you to reach out to your partner who should be able to help with the setup and process training.
Best Regards,
Ben Baxter,
Accent Software Inc
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Thanks very much Ben!
I can’t see Components at Location on the WC card, I assume you mean the warehouse location/open shop floor bin?
Kind regards,
Hamish Duff
I should clarify the other points:
WIP is not stored as inventory, any manufactured components which are stocked are set up as independent items.
Currently we have routings set to include the move time, but we’re not using transfer orders yet (not in production yet)
Yes, Stock keeping units are set up per location
Do I need to convert these locations to be Warehouse locations for them to show in the location list on Work Centres?
Kind regards,
Hamish Duff
Answering the last question myself - no, as long as the Bin is set up and Bin Mandatory is set on the location, the Work Centre card allows you to indicate the location/shop floor bin code.
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