Optional Prerequisites for Shop Floor Tracking:

The Shop Floor Tracking Module is used to record detailed transactions of all of the user’s Work In Process (WIP) activity.  This screen is a critical piece in the communication process.  This allows production to update the system as products move through the shop floor.  Production can add notes and indicators to identify current issues and delays.  This information is readily available for program managers and others so they have important information when it is needed and without chasing it down in production.

From within this module, the following functions are available, depending on the user’s configuration:

For further detail of these functions see Article #3107 . 

Quality Inspection Entry Screen Field Definitions

Defect Information Screen Field Defintions

Enter the SQLMANEX.EXE (within the ManEx root directory) This action will then prompt the user for a password
The following screen will be displayed, select Production/Shop Floor Tracking by Work Order

 

The Main Screen will be displayed:

Depress the Find Button displays the following screen:   Select the desired Filter: by selecting the appropriate radio button - Open, Closed/Cancelled, or All. Select the desired Find: by selecting the appropriate radio button -  Work Order Number, Product Number, Customer, Sales Order Number, or All.  Enter the information into the red box, depress the Enter key and the information will populate the screen.    If you do not know the exact number, Customer, etc you may enter in a partial number, letter, etc, then once you depress the enter key the system will pull up the matching record onto the screen or a list of all Work Orders that contain the partial number, letter, etc. entered, to select from.

If user selects ANY of the Filters: and Find by All - a screen will appear listing all the Work Orders filtered by the selection,  in numerical order, along with the part number, and Customer name.    The user has the option to view the work order by either entering the work order number into the red box, or scrolling down the list, highlighting the desired record and double click on it.    And the information will populate the screen as displayed below:

The Shop Floor Tracking screen is then populated with the appropriate data.

Find the desired Work Order record within the system.

Highlight the current Work Center where quantity is displayed, as illustrated:

 

 

Depress the “Transfer” button. The system will prompt for a password. The following dialogue box will be displayed. The user may elect to transfer material within work centers (WC) or within activities (A) by pressing the appropriate radial button on the screen. ManEx will determine the next area to transfer product based on the product routing, and enter the location in the “To:” field. The user may elect to change this location by pressing the down-arrow button next to the field and selecting a different location.(NOTE: The user MUST have "Skip rights" or "Supervisor rights"  setup within the Security module in order to skip work center locations, or move product backwards) Exception to this rule is if user clicks on the Transfer to RWRK button. t will move all qty's in current selected WC to Rework WC without the need to have "Skip WC Rights"

Next, ManEx lists the number of products at the current location. The user may move all items, or select the quantity to be moved. This may be done by simply over-writing the quantity or by using the “arrows” to raise or lower the quantity shown. The user may also elect to print a traveler to accompany the parts at this time. Once the Print Traveler box is checked, a Footnote button appears, as shown.   Any Footnotes that a person enters within this screen is just temporary and is only printed on the Traveler report.    If the user elects to have the “Pop up printer Selection dialog” marked. The system will not print directly to the default printer. It will then bring up the Printer dialog box and allow the user to select which printer to send the traveler to.     In order to Print Traveler or Labels when completing work orders to Finished Goods, the system setup for SFT Defaults  must be set to have the printer ON for FGI Labels.

Depressing the Footnote button will bring up a note screen.

Depress the Edit button, Type in the footnote. Depress the Save button. Depress the Exit button.

Transferring Serialized product

If the work station being used to transfer serialized material is assigned to use a default work center in Production Work Center/Activity Setup module, when the user first opens the module, the module will use the default work center assigned for this workstation, if the transfer is "FROM" a different work center other than the default and user is NOT a supervisor or has the  option "Allow Changing Default Work Center for Serial Number Transfer" box checked within the Security module, they will receive the following message:

When user depresses "OK"  a supervisor approval is required to continue.  After supervisor’s password is entered, the default work center will be changed to the one that the supervisor entered password for.   For example:  the workstation is assigned to use “TU” as default work center, now if user chooses to use “AI” to transfer, the system will ask for supervisor’s password, if user cancels the password, the default work center will still be “TU”, but if the supervisor enters his/her password on this machine, the default work center will be changed to “AI”.  If now the user tried to transfer from “TU” again, the system will ask for supervisor’s password again.  If user exits the module and come back, the default work center will be “TU” again.

If the user is using tracking by serial numbers, and if the user is transferring a lesser quantity than displayed, ManEx will display a screen from which to select the serial number(s) to be moved in the transaction.  The user may select one or more serial numbers to match the quantity being transferred, and then press the OK button.

The user must select the proper number of serial numbers or the transaction will be cancelled. 

Depress the OK button. The material will transfer and the Traveler will go directly to the default printer. (This report requires that the user have the bar code font available).

 

Since less is being transferred, the following message will appear Yes – will bring up the Transfer Material screen again. No – will bring you back to the regular Shop Floor Tracking module.
If there are kit shortages remaining on kit, the following message will be displayed when transferring product into FGI.  User can select to continue moving the product into FGI or select "No' to cancel  the transfer.

 

If the product is included in an active Cycle count, or Physical Inventory count, the following message will appear after depressing the OK button on the transfer screen anud user  will not be allowed to transfer product until the count has been completed and posted.

 

Discussion on the Accounting Entries

If the user also has accounting installed, then the appropriate journal entries will forward to the Accounting “Release to General Ledger” screen. Briefly, assuming that the user has the material cost set up in the Inventory Control Item master, then when the product reaches the Work Center “Finished Goods Inventory”, the entry will be to debit Finished Goods Inventory (or the warehouse home general ledger number of the product) and to credit WIP .If the product ended up in the Work Station “Scrap”, then the debit would be to the default scrap general ledger account, as set up in the Accounting Set Up.

Configuration Variance

If the Material Cost per the product was not equal to the sum of the standard costs per the BOM components, then a configuration variance will be created.

Please refer to the “Wip Value" Article #913 for further explanation.

Entering a Defect Code Entry to a Work Order

For closed Work Orders:  In the Security module, there is an option which must be checked per user for the “Defect Code Entry”. Once the Security right has been entered, the user may edit a “closed” Work Order.

 

 

Enter the SQLMANEX.EXE (within the ManEx root directory)  This action will then prompt the user for a password
The following screen will be displayed, select Production/Shop Floor Tracking by Work Order Module Find a Work Order in SFT by WO Module

When a valid location is entered, then system searches the Bill of Material to find manufacturers approved for the product, and displays a list of the approved manufacturers for the user to identify which manufacturer was associated with the defect observed. The user double-clicks on the manufacturer's name for the defective part, and the manufacturers name is placed in the defect information screen.   (Note:  the location field MUST be populated if using the Test and repair module)

The user then must select an Employee from the pull down.  The employee's being displayed in the pull down are only the employee's that are assigned to work centers (in the Security module) that are the same work centers listed in the Shop Floor Tracking by Work Order module and is sorted by the Employee User ID Number. 

 

 

The user may also enter a brief comment about the defect, for future reference.

The completed screen should appear as follows:

Depress the Save record action button to save changes or the Abandon changes action button to abandon changes.

If you depress the Save record action button, the following message will be displayed:

If you want to add another defect record for the same user "ONE" then depress YES, if you want to add a defect record for a different user (Example user "TWO"), then you must depress NO.  Depress the Add record action button and enter user "TWO"s password and continue to enter the defect information.

When the user has completed the defect information, they may click on the Test & Repair tab, to enter more information about the part.

NOTE:  The Test & Repair is actually a separate OPTIONAL module, but has been included into the Defect Entry screen for ease of use for the operators.  For further detail about this module see Article #4211..

Adding Work Order Defect Information With Serial Number Tracking 

 Enter the Defect Entry screen. Depress the Add Record action button.  Un-check the "Skip Serial No Field" 

If the user is tracking serial numbers, then the first field to be entered (or bar-code scanned) is the serial number of the product being inspected. (Not the Work Order number).

Enter in a serial number. When the serial number has been entered, ManEx will complete the work order and product information. ManEx will also enter the current work center location of the serial number supplied.

The user now has the option of continuing to scan (or type) serial numbers, and log the defect information for each one later, or enter a serial number then the defects for that serial number, enter the next serial number, then the defects for the second serial number, etc. When multiple serial numbers have been entered, the data will refer to the serial number that is highlighted in the Serial Number list.

ManEx will enter in the lot size according to the quantity of serial numbers showing in the serial number list.

Go to the Defects Information Tab to enter in the Defect info for each SN entered:

The next field, “NPF” is provided for the user to record when observing the product and finding that there is “No Problem Found”. If the serial number had previously been rejected, and analysis of the product yield no further problem, either with cosmetics or function, then the user may change this number to 1, meaning the first time it was inspected or tested, no problem was found. If the product serial number is subsequently rejected again, and a second inspection finds no problem, the number may be incremented to a “2”. This will alert users to repeated rejections of a product serial number, one or more times with no discernable defects.

If the number of times that a part has experienced an NPF exceeds that established in the system setup/Quality Defect Codes the user will receive the displayed warning message and will allow you to proceed on with the Inspection.  This is just a notification that the board has passed the maximum NPF cycle. 

Entering Defect Information

This screen operates as described under Entering Defect Information without serial numbers, except that the user must enter data for each serial number recorded. The serial number may be chosen by highlighting the serial number in the serial number box on the first screen, or in the defects information screen, by pressing the down arrow button next to the serial number field and selecting a serial number.

Defect information is entered in the same fashion as described above, except that the user should remember that the data being entered is for one part at a time, by serial number of the part.

The other difference in using serial number defect tracking is that on the Test & Repair screen, the user may view the Serial Number History tab. This view will display both the transfer history of the serial number through the work centers, and the history of defects associated with the serial number of the product.

(Note: if you are entering Defect information and not using the Serial No, then this screen will remain blank)

The user completes the defect entry for the first defect code (The location, quantity of defects observed, etc.). The process is repeated for each defect observed, storing the location and serial number to be analyzed at a later time.

At the conclusion of defect entries for the lot, the Save action button is pressed to retain the data.  If the user elects to ignore all data entered in this session, the Abandon  changes action button may be clicked to void any entries. Notice that ManEx computes the total number of defects observed for the defect code and displays the number next to the defect code. 

Entering Defect Information Without Serial Number Validation

The “Enter Serial Number without Vailidation” option will only be enabled if the user skips the regular Serial number entry, and if the Work Order Product has not been serialized within the ManEx system.   

This feature has been added to allow the users the ability to inspect Serial Numbers that do not actually exist within the ManEx system. (for example serial number created outside of ManEx, by customer or other software, etc. . .)  If the user checks the “Enter serial number without validation” then ManEx does not validate when the users enters the Serial Number.  The system just records the entry for later SQC analysis purpose.  

Enter the Defect Entry screen. Depress the Add Record action button.  Select “Enter Serial Number without Validation. ”

 

 

The remaining process will then be the same as listed above.

In order to have the "DPMO by Employee" report create valid data, the user must be sure to enter the opportunities for defects (PPM) in the Work Order Traveler Setup and the employee must inspect the board and be assigned to the defects.  The "DPMO by Employee" report only gathers data if BOTH "Inspected By" and "Emp" are the same user, and the PPM is setup.   See Article #3156  for further detail on DPMO.   The following steps need to be followed to collect and track defects per employee. 

All data must be Entered in the Quality Inspection Entry and Defect Information screens, with in the Shop Floor Tracking Module.

Entering a Defect Code Entry to a Work Order for the "DPMO by Employee" report

Enter the SQLMANEX.EXE (within the ManEx root directory) This action will then prompt the user for a password
The following screen will be displayed, select Production/Shop Floor Tracking by Work Order

Depress the "Inspection" button located at the top of the screen.

The following screen will appear:

Entering Quality Inspection Data

The first information tab records information about the work order. This includes lot size, failures, inspection quality, date, etc. 

Depress the Add action button.  Enter the password of the Employee that has inspected the product and will be assigned to the defects.  Example:  If user "ONE" is going to be assigned to the defect(s) then you must enter user "ONE"'s password. 

Check the Skip Serial No. Field (if not applicable).

Enter the Work Order number, choose the Inspection Work Center from the pulldown, enter Lot Size inspected, Inspected Qty, and Failed Qty.

The Date, Time, Pass Qty, and Yeild % will default in.

Depress the Defects Information tab and the following screen will appear:

The user may then enter a defect code by manually typing in the code, or by scanning a bar-code menu, or by double clicking on the field to review a list of defect codes.

The list displayed will depend on which view is selected. If Work Center Defects is chosen, only those defects associated with the work center (as established in the Quality Defect Codes setup) will be displayed. If All Defects is chosen, then every defect entered in the Quality Defect Codes  setup will be displayed.

The user may select one or more defects from the list by holding down the Control Key while clicking on the defects to be selected.

After completing the selection of the defects involved with the current inspection, clicking on the OK button loads the selected defects into the defect information screen.

Although Manex will enter a Charge To Work Center code based on the work center entered or the location of the part, the user may modify the originating work center by clicking on the field and selecting another work center from the list.

The user may (optionally) then enter in the location (reference designator) where the defect was observed.

The user then must choose the Emp from the pull down, which would be "ONE", because it needs to be the same user that has been entered in the "Inspected By".  The user is allowed to enter other user's name on Defect detail page in the "Emp" column.  But when the "DPMO by Employee" report is run, it will not display the records assigned to the different users.  

The system will check the BOM to be sure that the location entered here matches locations entered on the Bill of Materials. 

When a valid location is entered, then system searches the Bill of Material to find manufacturers approved for the product, and displays a list of the approved manufacturers for the user to identify which manufacturer was associated with the defect observed. The user double-clicks on the manufacturer's name for the defective part, and the manufacturers name is placed in the defect information screen.

Manex defaults the number of defects to one item, but the user may overwrite the quantity with an observed quantity greater than one.

The user may also enter a brief comment about the defect, for future reference.

The completed screen should appear as follows:

Depress the Save record action button to save changes or the Abandon changes action button to abandon changes.

If you depress the Save record action button, the following message will appear:

If you want to add another defect record for the same user "ONE" then depress YES, if you want to add a defect record for a different user (Example user "TWO"), then you must depress NO.  Depress the Add record action button and enter user "TWO"s password and continue to enter the defect information.

When the user has completed the defect information, he/she may review the "DPMO by Employee" report Article #815, or may click on the Test & Repair page, to enter more information about the part.

The Test & Repair is actually a separate OPTIONAL module, but has been included into the Defect Entry screen for ease of use for the operators.  Please see the Test & Repair Management (T&R) article for more information.

To obtain reports, depress the Report button. 




The following screen will be displayed:

JOB TRAVELER REPORT

Highlight the “Job Traveler” report. Make the desired selections in the Detail Report Section.   Note: The Work Instruction may not appear in the Traveler if the user prints it to an Excel Worksheet file. Some of the reports are quite complex, with multiple relationships and filters. In this instance, the Work Instructions are in a different data base than the routing and therefore will not be available.   Depress the OK button

The following screen will appear: Enter a Work Order Number.    Select to Display Time in Decimal Format or not.   The default is "YES"     Depress the OK button

The following report will be displayed:

 

Enter the Desired Work Order Number. Enter a Work Center ID between Single Quotes.  If ALL Work Centers are desired leave '*' Defaulted. Note:  The leading zero's for SN will be removed from Report.   Depress the "OK" button

The following report is available:

WORK ORDER LIST CONNECTED TO THE SERIAL NUMBER REPORT

Enter a desired Serial Number:   Depress the OK button

 

The following Report will be displayed:

 

 

Highlight the “Transfer History” report.

Depress the OK tab. The following screen will appear:

 

Enter a Work Center ID in between the Single Quotes:  If ALL Work Centers are desired leave '*' defaulted Enter a Starting Date Range and Ending Date Range" Leading zero's for SN will be removed from report

The following Report will be displayed.

WORK ORDER WORK CENTER NOTES REPORT

Highlight the “Work Order Work Center Notes” report.

Depress the OK button.  The following screen will appear:

 

Enter a desired Work Order Number. Depress the OK button.

The following report will be displayed:

SERIAL NUMBER TRACKING HISTORY REPORT

Highlight the “Serial Number Tracking History” report. 

Depress the OK button.  The following screen will appear:

 

Enter Beginning Serial Number within the single quotes. Enter Ending Serial Number within the single quotes.   Leading zero's for SN will be removed from report.

Test & Repair Management (T&R) has been designed to capture testing results and failure information such as: In-circuit Testing, Sub-Assembly Functional Testing and System Final Assembly Testing.

Once this information has been entered this will allow the users the ability to see the Serial Number History and view all of the testing and repair results as well as when it had been shipped to customers.  It will also keep track of any associated returns or warranty work that had been done against this particular Serial Number, continuing history as long as the unit is in service. 

Overview: Manex Manufacturing System Software has bar code scan and print capability which is designed primarily for transfer of products in shop floor tracking and input of inspection data by serial number and defect code.

Installation: Bar Code Shop Floor Tracking is an extra cost option; it is not a part of the Core Manex MES modules.

Upon purchase of the module, Manex will send a soft key to activate the module.

• After activation, Bar Coding access for each user must be setup in the Manex Security module.  Users with “supervisor’s rights” will automatically have access.  See Article #3250 if you would like to scan the employee id rather than having the employee enter password each time. 
• Each client workstation (individual PC) which will be printing Reports, Travelers, labels, Serial Tags, Physical Inventory Tags and Defect Lists with Bar Coding must have the font installed as an active Windows font.
• If Bar Coding of Serial Numbers is desired, the Serial Numbers must be setup in the Work Order Serial Number Control module. 

Specification:

1. Manex uses the Microsoft Trutype BC C 39 Narrow Font. See Article #1225  for Bar Code installation procedure.   
2. Use of a Y-type keyboard-emulation scanner is supported by Manex.  The scanner output goes into Manex via the keyboard-input cable. Bar code fields may be scanned or manually entered with the scanner installed.
3. There is no restrictions on the scanner you use as long as it can read Code39 it will work.  It also must be a keyboard wedge since we do not offer batch processing. Most scanners require ¼” of white space surrounding the bar code. Laser and inkjet printed labels must have adequate resolution, contrast and clarity to print barcodes that are readable. If you are having problem with your scanner, make sure your scanner isn't set to scan Code39 extended.
4.  Manex recognizes a bar code by an asterisk (*) at the beginning and end of the bar coded field.

Enter the SQLMANEX.EXE (within the ManEx root directory) This action will then prompt the user for a password
The following screen will be displayed, select Production/Shop Floor Tracking by Bar Code

The following screen will be displayed:

Depress the Xfer button. Enter in your password or scan employee id .  

 

The Bar Code Tracking method is dependant on how it is setup within the Shop Floor Tracking Defaults .

The Work Order number, Serial No., Quantity, From Work Center and To Work Center or from Work Center to Activity will display, depending on the selection within SFT Defaults to Transfer by WC or Activity. 

Depress the Save button.

 

 

 

If the work station being used to transfer serialized material is assigned to use a default work center in Production Work Center/Activity Setup module, when the user first opens the module, the module will use the default work center assigned for this workstation, if the transfer is "FROM" a different work center other than the default and user is NOT a supervisor or has the  option "Allow Changing Default Work Center for Serial Number Transfer" box checked within the Security module, they will receive the following message:

 

 

 

When user depresses "OK"  a supervisor approval is required to continue.  After supervisor’s password is entered, the default work center will be changed to the one that the supervisor entered password for.   For example:  the workstation is assigned to use “TU” as default work center, now if user chooses to use “AI” to transfer, the system will ask for supervisor’s password, if user cancels the password, the default work center will still be “TU”, but if the supervisor enters his/her password on this machine, the default work center will be changed to “AI”.  If now the user tried to transfer from “TU” again, the system will ask for supervisor’s password again.  If user exits the module and come back, the default work center will be “TU” again.

User also has option in single  serial # mode to directly transfer all qty's to the Rework Work center using the directive button 

Please note when user transfers several serial numbers in one transaction, the following serial number transfers always take the same "TO'' work center from the previous serial number transfer.  Therefore, if user changes the 'TO' work center to 'RWRK', the following transfer will all use -'RWRK' as 'TO' work center until user changes it again.

•  

 

 

 

The Work Order Module is used to record the details required for initiating assembly of products.

Work Order Tab field definitions

Work Order	The number assigned to the Work Order.  (10 digits)
Order Date	The date the Work Order was created.
	The status of the Work Order:  Standard;   Priority-1;   Priority-2;   Firm Plann;   Admin Hold;   Mfg Hold;   Rework;   ReworkFirm;   or   Cancel.  The system defaults to Standard. Standard is the ordinary work order status.  Priority is set up as a make ahead of all other orders, 1 being the most important and 2, the second most important.  Firm Plann, lets MRP know that the Work Order decision is intentional and NO action is required.    Mfg Hold would prevent the order from being kitted, or assembled. Rework is to fix or redo a previous order. Rework Firm or Cancel.   Firm Plann = Example: The requirement may be 100 but the Firm Plann WO is only for 60. Normally in this case if the WO status was standard MRP would instruct user to increase the WO qty from 60 to 100 to fulfill the requirement of 100.  But since the WO is Firm Plann, MRP will take no action.   See defintion for DUE DATES below for further detail.   If user changes the Work Order Status to Admin Hold or Mfgr Hold, a box will appear on the Work Order Screen (as shown below) giving the user the option to put the Work Order on Mrp Hold.  If the user does NOT check this box MRP will not be affected.   Manufacturing hold on a Work Order will disallow movement of the parts through SFT.   Rework = users will use this status if they do not want to have it included as available to meet demands. ReworkFirm = users will use this if they want to have it included as available to meet demands.  The only thing is that they will have to be sure the due dates for a rework firm precede any demand that was created to use those parts.   NOTE:  Work Orders originated from an RMA Receiver will have "ReworkFirm" Job Status and users will NOT be allowed to change the Job Status. Since the material issued to the RMA is likely to be a defective assembly, or requires re-inspection, the work order must be completed by either transferring the material to FGI or to scrap to close the work order.  Therefore, an RMA work order cannot be cancelled.  Also, users will NOT be allowed to edit or change the Bld qty because when product is brought into the system with an RMA Receiver it is then automatically issued as itself to the kit at that time.
Serialized	If this box is checked, the completed units must be assigned unique serial numbers.
Customer Name	The name of the customer for which this Work Order applies. If BOM is assigned to specific customer, and if there is CONSG part in the BOM -- Only that customer will be available in the WO customer list If BOM is assigned to specific customer, and no CONSG parts in the BOM -- Default to that customer, but all other customers are available to be selected. If BOM is not assigned to specific customer, all customer should be available.
Forecast Item	The Forecast checkbox is defaulted as True whether or not there actually is a forecast.  By doing this, we minimize the possibility of the MRP double ordering parts for the SO. If there is a forecast, then the SO will be subtracted from it. If there isn’t a forecast, the SO will drive as usual. Users can change to un-checked in the Sales order/Work order if desired.
Sales Order	A Sales Order number will be displayed if the Work Order was created within the Sales Order Mgmt module. If you are entering a Work Order through the Work Order module, you can manually link an existing Sales Order to the Work Order. Only if the Sales Order and Work Order is for the same customer and same product number.   Keep in mind though that even if you have the SO linked to a WO does not mean that the quantities will always be the same.  The link is for reference only between the two modules and they are still individual records so when any changes are made to either the SO or the WO the change will not update or be carried forward to the other.  A message is displayed to the users that they will have to make the same changes to the WO.
Class	The classification of the product to be assembled.
Type	The type with the classification of the product to be assembled.
Part Number	The number of the make part to be assembled
(Rev)	The revision number pertaining to the part number.
Project Number	The project number assigned to the Work Order
Description	The description of the part to be assembled.
Work Order Released	If this box is unchecked, you are able to kit the work order but you will not be allowed to process the material through SFT.  Once this box has been checked, you will be able to move the material through SFT.  If user is using the WO checklist feature this box will not be checked until all checkpoints including the "Kit Complete" have been marked off.  Once the "Kit Complete" checkpoint has been checked the WO Released checkbox will be checked automatically.
(Date)	The date the Work Order was released.
Due Date	This is the date by which the completed assembly must be completed.  Note:  The Sales Order Ship Date must be the same or later than the Work Order completion date. MRP will look at the SO Ship Date which should be the same or precede the WO Due Date by the transit time from your dock to the Customer’s dock. The SO Ship Date becomes the Work Order due date when the Work Order is created from the Sales Order, but user may change this date.  MRP will recognize the WO as being due in time for the SO ship date, and therefore include the work order as supply to meet the sales order demand, whether or not it’s kitted.  If the Work order is kitted and then the dates are moved (either in the sales order ship date to a later date or the work order due date to an earlier date), then MRP will not view the work order (supply) as meeting the sales order (demand).  If the work order has been kitted, and thus changed status to a firm planned work order (as far as the MRP module is concerned), then MRP will NOT suggest adjusting the work order delivery date to meet the demand, but WILL suggest creating a new work order (or moving a non-firm planned work order) and ordering the parts for the new work order date.  So the keys are the work order due date, and the sales order ship date.  The former must be the same or precede the latter, to keep the work order identified as supplying the product for the sales order.  User does have the ability to turn off the function of the Sales order driving the demands for the MRP and just use the Work Order for buying components by checking the MRP on Hold box in the Sales Order module per line item.    Note:  The Kitted BOM Cost calculations displayed on the "Kit to Close Report" is based off the WO Due date and compares that to the EFF/OB dates on the BOM.  So users need to be VERY careful with the WO Due Dates and make sure that they stay current along with the EFF/OB dates on the BOM.
Build Qty	The number of units which must be completed.
Completed	The number of units already completed.
Balance	The number of units which still must be completed.
Schedule Method	This information will default in from the WebManEx Production Prioritization Screen (if applicable)
Schedule Start Date	This information will default in from the WebManEx Production Prioritization Screen (if applicable)
Schedule Complete Date	This information will default in from the WebManEx Production Prioritization Screen (if applicable)
	Depressing this button will display the applicable Work Order Check List (shown below).
	Depressing this button will display the applicable Work Order Notes

WO Check List Screen field definitions:

 

Chk	A check mark in this box means that the check list item has been completed.
Check List	The description of the check list item.
Init	The initials of the person who performed the check.
Date	The date of the check list performance.
Time	The time of the check list performance.

Schedule

Due Date	The date by which the completed assembly must be ready for shipment
Schedule Quantity	The amount of quantity scheduled for that due date
Total	The total of all of the scheduled quantities
	Depressing this button will allow the user to add a line
	Depressing this button will allow the user to Delete a line

 Automatic Scheduling

First Due date	The date of the first shipment
Delivery Quantity	Quantity per each shipment
/Day/Wk/Mo	The increments per each schedule, either Day, Week or Month
	This allows the user to have MANEX schedule each shipment

Indented Work Order Tree field definitions

Work Order	The number assigned to the Work order.
	Depressing this button allows the user to associate this work order with its parent work order.
	Depressing this button allows the user to delete the parent work order association.

Parent Work Orders

Work Orders

Enter the SQLMANEX.EXE (within the ManEx root directory) This action will then prompt the user for a password
The following screen will be displayed, select Production/Work Order Management/Work Order Management

The following screen will be displayed:

 

To ADD a new work order, depress the Add Action button.  The user is first prompted for the appropriate password:

The following screen will be displayed: You may select to find by Product Number, Part Class or All.

If the user selects the "ALL” radio button, a listing all of the part numbers appears.  Select the part by typing the part number into the red box or highlighting and double clicking.

Note:  If the Product Number you are looking for does not appear in the Find screens listed above you may want to check the Part Source of the Product number you are looking for.  ManEx does NOT allow a Work Order to be created for a Make/Buy Product, due to MRP calculating incorrect demand and showing incorrect message with safety stock. 

 Once a Product Number is selected the screen will be populated with the part information from the Inventory Control Module. 

If the work order numbering is set to manual, the first prompt is for the Work Order Number. MANEX will enter the current system date as the Order Date, and the user may revise the date if desired.

The next field to enter is the Job Status. Clicking on the down-arrow on the right side of this field activates a pop-up screen providing a list of status from which to select. The system defaults to Standard. Standard is the ordinary work order status.  Priority is set up as a make ahead of all other orders, 1 being the most important and 2, the second most important.  Admin Hold is an order on hold due to customer credit, etc.  Mfg Hold would prevent the order from being kitted and assembled.  Rework is to fix or redo a previous order (See Article #1520), Rework Firm or Cancel.  The user may put orders on Admin or Manufacturing Hold without affecting MRP. Manufacturing hold on a Work Order will disallow movement of the parts through SFT. Rework = users will use this status if they do not want to have it included as available to meet demands. ReworkFirm = users will use this if they want to have it included as available to meet demands.  The only thing is that they will have to be sure the due dates for a rework firm precede any demand that was created to use those parts.

Serial Number box. If this box is checked, the units must have a unique serial number assigned. (Note: Serial numbers are assigned in the Work Order Serial Number Control Module).

Sales Order Number. A Sales Order number will be displayed if the Work Order was created within the Sales Order Mgmt module. If you are entering a Work Order through the Work Order module, you can manually link an existing Sales Order to the Work Order. Only if the Sales Order and Work Order is for the same customer and same product number.   Keep in mind though that even if you have the SO linked to a WO does not mean that the quantities will always be the same.  The link is for reference only between the two modules and they are still individual records so when any changes are made to either the SO or the WO the change will not update or be carried forward to the other.  A message is displayed to the users that they will have to make the same changes to the WO.  

The next field to enter is the CUSTOMER.  When Adding a new Work Order, the user may select a Customer from the pull down or begin entering the customer name, and ManEx will immediately begin tracking the key-entry to bring up the customer with as few keystrokes as necessary to identify the customer. If there is no customer to be associated with the order, the user may select Standard price.    If the Part Number selected is setup in the Sales Price List Information module the customers from the customer list within this module will be the only customer(s) to appear in the pull down.   If BOM is assigned to specific customer, and if there is CONSG part in the BOM -- Only that customer will be available in the WO customer list If BOM is assigned to specific customer, and no CONSG parts in the BOM -- Default to that customer, but all other customers are available to be selected. If BOM is not assigned to specific customer, all customer should be available.

If the work order is ready to start being moved through SFT (material obtained and shortages at a minimum), then the user may check the Work Order Released box, which will allow the material to be moved through Shop Floor Tracking. If MRP is used, the demand for the material will be generated, but the work order cannot begin production. To see a list of unreleased work orders, request Back Log Report by Work Center as discussed in the Reports section. 

After that, the user enters a Due Date for the order (the date due of finished goods), and the Build Quantity. The shipped quantity will be set to zero, and the balance due to the same as the work order build quantity. 

Work Order Schedule Tab

After all the information has been entered in the Work Order screen, depress the WO Schedule tab. The following screen will appear:   Note:  Keep in mind that this is for your reference only - this screen does not affect any other portion of the ManEx system.  

There are two modes available for completing a scheduled delivery for a product: Automatic and Manual. In the Automatic mode, MANEX will take a beginning date and a quantity to be delivered each period (Days, Weeks or Months) and schedule out the delivery. 

The following activities are available:

Automatic Scheduling. Pressing this button enables the scheduling box and places the default lead time date in the 1st Due Date box. (The user may establish a default number of days in the System Setup.) The user can then use that date, or enter the first (beginning delivery) date the customer expects to receive the order. The WO Schedule tab allows the user to divide the shipment into multiple deliveries of equal parts. For example, if the order is for a total of 100 pieces, and the customer wishes delivery to be at the rate of 10 units each day, then the delivery quantity should be entered as 10. The next box allows the user to select the delivery intervals. The options are by day (DY), week (WK) or month (MO). 

After selecting the delivery interval, pressing the SAVE button creates a line for each delivery date in the sequence requested. 

In this WO Schedule tab, the user may further edit, delete or add lines. 

Manual Scheduling. Pressing the Add Line button enables the delivery schedule box and places the cursor in the Due Date box. The user can then enter the first (beginning delivery) date the customer expects to receive the order.  Next, the Ship Date (the date the order is to leave the user’s dock) will be entered by MANEX based on the transit days entered. This date can then be modified by the user if a different date is desired. Then the scheduled quantity is entered.  The Shipped quantity will be completed by MANEX when the line has material shipped against it.  Additional lines may be added or deleted by pressing the appropriate button. The total number of units scheduled will be displayed at the bottom of the box, so the user can verify all units have been scheduled. 

Indented Work Order Tab

If the user has multi-level products, and there are other work orders upon which the current work order depends having material, then the Indented Work Order tab will allow the user to establish relationships between those work orders and the current one.

 Depress the Add Parent Work Ord button. A red box will appear, as illustrated below:

Type the Parent Work Order number into the box.

After entering a valid work order, the user is presented with a screen completed with the work order information, but with a blank work order number (if numbering is manual). After entering the work order, the schedule and quantity, the new work order may be saved.

Once all information is entered, the user may either Save by depressing the Save Record action button, or Abandon Changes by depressing the Abandon Changes Action buttons.

Find an existing Work Order                                                    

After a Work Order has been found, it may be edited by selecting the Edit Action button.

All fields available for editing will be enabled for modification. The fields which may be edited are:

 

NOTE:  Work Orders originated from an RMA Receiver will have "ReworkFirm" Job Status and users will NOT be allowed to change the Job Status, due to the fact that when the Work Order is created from RMA module all kitting, serial number, .... records are created and if user changes the WO status the system may loose track of these records. User will receive the following message if they try to change the job status on a Work Order that was originated from an RMA Receiver.  

The following message will be displayed to the user if a SO is linked to a WO:




NOTE:  The link is for reference only between the two modules and they are still individual records so when any changes are made to either the SO or the WO the change will not update or be carried forward to the other. 

Find the Work Order you want to cancel. 

 

Depress the Edit button and enter your password. 

Depress the arrow next to the Job Status and change the Job Status to Cancel as displayed below.

 

 

NOTE: Work Orders originated from an RMA Receiver will have "ReworkFirm" Job Status and users will NOT be allowed to change the Job Status, due to the fact that when the Work Order is created from RMA module all kitting, serial number, .... records are created and if user changes the WO status the system may loose track of these records.  User will receive the following message if they try to change the job status on a Work Order that was originated from an RMA Receiver.

 

 

Since the material issued to the RMA is likely to be a defective assembly, or requires re-inspection, the work order must be completed by either transferring the material to FGI or to scrap to close the work order. Therefore, an RMA work order cannot be cancelled or re-opened.

 

 

Find a Closed Work Order  

Depress the Edit action button and change the Job Status from Closed to Standard

User will receive the following warning

Depress OK then Depress the Save record action button, The following message will be displayed to the user if a SO is linked to a WO:

To Manually Close Work Order

Find Work Order with Job Status anything other than "Closed"

Dperss the Edit action button (no need to make any changes)  

Depress the Save record Action button.  The following message will be displayed to the user if a SO is linked to a WO:

Depress Ok and Job Status will automatically change to Closed

Indented Work Order Tab

If the user has multi-level products, and there are other work orders upon which the current work order depends having material, then the Indented Work Order tab will allow the user to establish relationships between those work orders and the current one.

Find an existing Child Work Order



Go to the Indented Work Order Tree tab.  Depress the Edit button. 

 Depress the Add Parent Work Ord button. A red box will appear, as illustrated below:

Type the Parent Work Order number into the box.  The Parent Work Order number will disappear and will not appear in the Work Order box until the Save record action button is depressed as displayed below.     Depress the Abandon  changes Action buttons to abandon changes.

 

 

 

Find the Parent Work Order, go to the Indented Work Order Tree tab and the Child Work Order linked will be displayed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Work Order Release Check List is originally developed in System Setup in the Shop Floor Tracking Defaults set up screen.    The Work Order Release Check List displays the following:  Work Order Number, Scheduled Ship Date, Part Number of the assembly, Revision Number pertaining to the assembly, Quantity in the Work Order and the Check List Items with information regarding items checked, by whom, the date and time.

Highlight the line you are interested in viewing.  The information at the bottom of the screen will display the check list items associated with the assembly.  If the item listed has been performed, there will be a check mark at the left of the item and the user may view the name of the person who performed the checking plus the date and time checked.

Enter the SQLMANEX.EXE (within the ManEx root directory) This action will then prompt the user for a password
The following screen will be displayed, select Production/Work Order Management/Unreleased Work Order List Module  NOTE:  For this module to be available the "Use Work Order Checklist" box must be checked in the Shop Floor Tracking Default Screen in System Setup.

The following screen will be displayed:

After activation, "Serial Number Setup" access for each user must be setup in the ManEx System Security module.  Users with “Supervisor Rights” will automatically have access.

The Work Order Serial Number Control Module is used to set up serial numbering for a particular Work Order.

Serial Number Setup Fields & Definitions

After Finding the Work Order.  The following screen will appear, listing the Work Order and Build Qty.  The Add record action button also becomes available.

Depress the Add record action button.  Enter in the password.  Select Single Entry or Range method of assigning serial numbers by choosing the appropriate radio.

If you select Single Entry, the following screen will display, only allowing you to type in one Serial number at a time.

If you select Range, the following screen will display, allowing you to type in From and To Serial numbers. 

 

 

Note:  The system will force individual entry for serial numbers with prefixes or characters.  If user enters both character and number in one field, then it is hard to know which part (character or number) needs to be increased first. So the system cannot predict how the range is intended to increment: For Example if user enters a SN range of A101 to Z110. The system does not know how the user wants the range setup A101, B101, C101 or A101, B102, C103, etc.  (We allow 30 characters for a SN)

Depress the Save record action button and the range of numbers will populate on the left side of the screen.  As displayed below:  If you depress the Abandon changes action button the screen will abort and the serial numbers will not be saved.

Detail for Serial Numbers

To enter detail for serial numbers, highlight the pertinent serial number and then depress the Detail Tab. The following screen will appear:

Depress the Add a record action button, and the"Find by What?" screen will be displayed:
If you select the Manual button, the Detail screen appears and you may manually enter in a part number.
If you select the Inventory button, another selection screen will be displayed.    Select the desired Find: by selecting the appropriate radio button - Part Number, Part Class, or All. Enter the information into the red box, depress the Enter key and the information will populate the screen.   If  'ALL'  is selected a screen will be displayed listing all the Part Numbers in Inventory,  in numerical order by Part Number, Revision, Description, Part Class and Part Type.

Depress the Save record action button to save, or depress the Abandon changes action button to abandon changes.

Find an Existing Work Order. 

Depress the Edit action button.  Enter your password.

Receive the following message:

Depress OK and highlight the Serial number you would like to replace.

Type the correction into the Replace box. The Serial NO for that Sequence # will change.  Depress the Save changes action button to save changes, or depress the Abandon changes action button to abandon changes.

If you want to delete ALL of the Serial Numbers, depress the Delete action button. Then depress the Save changes action button. 

Invoking Serialization after the Work Order is Started

If you already have a Work Order started and then decide to invoke serialization, in order to assign serialization to a product with an open work order, in the Shop Floor Tracking Module, the parts must all be in a Work Center which is PRIOR to the Work Center in which serialization is to be applied.

Then the Work Center can be updated and the product moved BACK to the appropriate Work Centers after the product is serialized.   If the Work Order has been completed and the product is in the Finished Goods Work Center, the user may move the product back to a “non-serial Work Center” and then serialize and update the Work Order.  Then the user should move the parts back into the Finished Goods Work Center.  If the parts in Finished Goods were already shipped, the user can use the Inventory Handling module to temporarily increase the finished goods to the needed quantity. Then they can be backed into the Work Order.  After running these parts back down the chain, the user would use Inventory Handling to take the parts back out of inventory.

There is no easy way to have some work orders without serialization and some with for the SAME product.  Turning on Serial Numbers on a product with OPEN Work Orders must be done carefully.  Here are some processes:

1.  Using the same product and the SAME Revision – ship all of the non-serial numbered product PRIOR to turning on serialization OR don’t turn on serialization until you are ready to serialize everything not shipped.  To serialize everything not shipped, you will have to move product back to the Work Center where serialization is started, then turn on serialization in Work Order Traveler Setup (for further information see Article #1134) and click on the “Update Open Work Orders”.  Be sure to update all of the open work orders.  If you don’t, you won’t be able to ship anything that was not updated.  (The items will be in a black hole and will need a programmer to get them out.)

2.  Using the SAME Revision, but using the special character trick:

a.  Copy the product number to the new product in the Inventory Control item Master but put "00" in front of the Rev.  See Article #1058 for further instructions on copying a product number. 

b.  Then copy the existing product BOM to the new 00 revision product. See Article #1104  for further instructions on copying a BOM.

c.  Turn on serialization for the new 00 rev product and copy the routing from the old product.  Be sure to select which Work Center you want serialization to start. See  Article #1106 for further instructions on how to turn on the serialization. 

d.  Enter all new Sales orders using the 00 revision product number.

e.  When you have shipped all of the old non-serialized product, inactivate the product number in the Inventory Control module.  See Article #1058 for further instructions on how to inactivate a product number. 

3.  Using a different revision number:

a.  Copy the product number to the new product revision in the Inventory Control Item Master.  See Article #1058 for further instructions on copying a product number. 

b.  Then copy the existing product BOM to the new revision product.  See Article #1104  for further instructions on copying a BOM.

c.  Turn on serialization for the new revision product and copy the routing from the old product. Be sure to select which Work Center where you want serialization to start. See  Article #1106  for further instructions on how to turn on the serialization. 

d.  Enter all new Sales Orders using the revision product number.

4.  You may prefer to create new revisions using the ECO module.  It can change the revision of product in Work orders in WIP, but DO NOT turn on the serialization in the ECO module.  See Article #1133 for further instructions on the ECO module.

a.  First change the revision of the product using the ECO module

b.  Then move the product back to the Work Center where you want serialization to begin in the Shop Floor Tracking module.  See Article #1106 for further instructions on how to turn on the serialization. 

c.  Then turn on serialization and select “Update Open Work Orders” in the Work Order Traveler Setup and click on the “Update Open Work Orders”.   Be sure to update all of the open work orders.  If you don’t, you won’t be able to ship anything that was not updated.(The items will be in a black hole and will need a programmer to get them out.)

If the rework Work Order is created from RMA, then the user doesn’t need to assign the serial number for the Work Order.  The system will automatically transfer all serial numbers to the new re-work Work Order when the user creates the RMA Receiver.  For a complete discussion of the RMA process, please refer to Article #1610.

If the user MANUALLY creates a re-work Work Order, the following conditions for assigning existing serial number to a re-work Work Order will be:

1. Work Order MUST be a re-work Work Order.
2. There must have been sufficient quantity in FGI to issue to the re-work Work Order.
3. The serial number must match the part number issued.
4. The number of serial numbers to be issued must equal the number of parts issued.

When a Re-work Work Order is established for a serialized product, the user may select existing serial numbers that are in inventory (finished goods) that are to be reworked.  Rework Work orders will not accept NEW serial numbers.  When a serial number is placed in the rework Work Order, the serial number must exist in finished goods, and the number of serial numbers transferred to the Work order must equal the quantity of assemblies for the Work order.  The part number for the serial number that is moved into the rework Work Order does not need to be the SAME part number and revision as the rework Work Order.  Thus, if a user wants to upgrade part number 123 rev A to part number 123 rev B, they can transfer the parts to the Work Order and identify the serial numbers transferred.  Parts may also be changed to a new part number:  Part Number 123 rev A can be placed into a re-work Work Order for part number 234 rev C.  The only condition is that the quantity and number of serial numbers must match.  Once the record is saved a line shortage for the rework work order will be created and serialized parts will be issued to the "Rework" work order and the old part number will be removed from FGI at the time the new part number is moved into WIP.  See example below:

 

 

Serialized Inventory Parts (910-9000 Rev. A1) in FGI

 

 

Create a Rework Work Order using a different Part Number (910-12000 Rev. B)

 

 

Enter the Work Order Serial Number Control Module and enter in the SN's you want to rework, if the SN you entered is found in other locations a screen will appear displaying all the PN's that have this SN in FGI and user can select which PN they want to pull this SN from

 

 

Once user has assigned all the SN's to this WO, they should depress the Save button 

 

  

 

Now user can go to the Kitting Module and release the kit.  The Make Parts #910-9000 Rev. A1) have already been issued to the Kit. 

 

 

And Removed from FGI for the Old PN (#910-9000 Rev. A1) 

 

 

 

 

 

Serial Number Import

Enter Production/Work Order Management/Import Work Order Serial Number

Populate the {sn4wo.xlt } with the SN information and save in Root Directory as an .xls or .xlsx file.  Locate XL File to Upload.                 (NOTE:  Only complete the fields in the yellow shaded area)       The Excel sheet may contain serial numbers for more than one work order and/or product, but the following conditions must be met:      1.)  The combination of the serial number and the item master cannot already be in the system, if the user has optioned for the "SN be unique by product" in the system setup.      2.)   The part number exists with the ICM, is active and is serialized.      3.)   The number of serial numbers being entered must match the quantity required in the Work Order.  (For Example: if user has a WO for qty of 40 and they previously manually entered 20 serial numbers through WO serial number control module, they cannot import serial number for the remaining 20.  Or if the WO was for a qty of 20 and user imported serial numbers for 20 then later increased the WO qty to 40, they cannot later import another 20 serial numbers).      4.)   The import will allow users to import serial numbers to a WO even though the WO qty's are not in the Starting WC for serial # tracking.  The serial # tracking will not begin unitl the qty's are transferred first into that WC.  Then once transferred out tracking serial # history begins.  (When entering serial numbers through the WO Serial number assignment module the qty's have to be in the WC where serial # tracking begins).       5.)   The imported information must contain the WO number, Serial number, Part number, and revision (if applicable).      6.)   The Work Order must have a status of "Open"

 

The following message will appear:

 

 

Depress "Yes" to continue user will receive the backup message then the following message:

 

 

 

Then the Serial Number Import Complete message will appear:

 

 

 

A 'importedsn.xls file will be created in the root directory, showing all the information that has been imported. 

 

 

View the "WO Serial Number Control"  and they have been uploaded correctly and complete:

 

 

 

 

        

From there, the user can enter the Dynamic Production Scheduling module and re-schedule Work Orders.

There is also the opportunity to graphically view the Capacity Critical Path.

Enter Production/Capacity & Scheduling/Production Capacity Setup

 

 

The way the system calculates the hours and volume is:

 

Wednesday:  has both the Day Shift and the Swing Shift and is associated with both Activity-1 and Activity-5.

Hours:   (4.28*2 + 7.5*1) + (4.28*2 + 7.5*2) = 39.633   or  (Day Shift hours x Resource Assignment for Activity-1) (Print Screen 1)  plus  (Swing Shift hours x Resource Assignment for Activity-1) (Print Screen 2) = 16.06   plus   (Day Shift hours x Resource Assignment for Activity-5) (Print Screen 3)  plus  (Swing Shift hours x Resource Assignment for Activity-5) (Print Screen 4)  =  23.56  for a total of  39.633 

Volume:  (4.28*2 + 7.5*1)*12  +  (4.28*2 + 7.5*2)*5 =  310.633   or   (Day Shift hours x Resource Assignment for Activity-1) (Print Screen 1)  plus  (Swing Shift hours x Resource Assignment for Activity-1) (Print Screen 2)  x  Activity-1 Standard Rate  (12.00)  =  192.72   plus   (Day Shift hours x Resource Assignment for Activity-5) (Print Screen 3)  plus  (Swing Shift hours x Resource Assignment for Activity-5 (Print Screen 4) x Activity -5 Standard Rate  (5.00) =  117.80  for a total of   310.52

 

 

Thursday:  The same as Wednesday

Friday:  The same as Wednesday

Saturday:  The same as Monday

The Project Setup module gives the user the capability to tie multiple Sales Orders and Work Orders together. Projects can also have sub-projects or Parent projects associated with them.

Multiple Projects can be established for a specific sales order.  A Project (only one) may be assigned to each line on the sales order.  Multiple lower level Projects (“sub-Projects”) can be established within a Project if necessary.  These Projects do not have an assembly number, and do not drive MRP requirements.  They simply define a structure into which Work Orders (WOs) are assigned and cost information is collected.

Once a sales order and related Projects are established, one or more WOs are released at a level equal to or below the Project.  These WOs are identified as belonging to the Project, they have an assembly number, and they drive MRP requirements through an indented BOM.  Following release of this top level WO(s) and assignment of the WO to the Project, ManEx knows that all lower-level proposed WOs driven by that assembly also belong to the same Project.  MRP reports will define all those actions required for the full assembly build, and will clearly indicate the Project number assigned to the top-level WO that is driving MRP demand.  MRP will, for Sales Orders and Work orders with Project tags, necessarily revert to a Lot for Lot MRP policy, over-riding any MRP policy established for the individual parts required.  This is required to maintain the Project information through the lower level requirements.  Minimum and Multiple Order Quantities, if any, would still be applied to the individual order actions.

MRP is done without regard to allocations.  It runs strictly off of the demand and supply requirements, and the timing for each.  Therefore, when MRP runs, if a part is on hand and allocated to another Project, MRP will consider it available for all Projects which have requirements for the part.  If there are insufficient parts available to meet the total demand, then MRP will create order actions for the part (and Project) at the point the part becomes unavailable.

Parts may be purchased and “pegged” to the Project at purchase by the buyers, using the MRP order action information.  Purchases into general inventory and to specific work orders are also allowed.  Through the receiving process, parts are automatically allocated to the Project consistent with the PO.  Parts that are not on any BOM may be purchased, received, allocated, deallocated, and reallocated to an existing Project.

For the purposes of allocation to or kitting of lower level WOs that belong to the same Project, ManEx considers any part allocated to the Project to be available (without deallocation/reallocation) for the lower level WO, as long as the work order refers to the project.   

• Track Buy and FGI Material by Customer 
• Track Various Sales Orders and/or Work Orders by Project or Customer

 Track Material by Customer

In the Electronic Contract Manufacturing environment, it is important to be able to identify materials purchased for each customer and provide visibility to the current status of the inventory balances and open purchase orders.  The Inventory Control module is able to keep track of all internal material and customer consigned material but it does not track the internal inventory by the customer for which the material was purchased.  Keeping track of internal material by customer is important because if a customer’s order for products are cancelled or becomes obsolete, you will need to know the FGI and raw material exposure (quantity in the inventory and open purchase orders) for back billing the customer. Also, some customers request the status of inventory material value purchased specifically for them, including the open purchase orders.

There are several possible ways to track open purchase orders and inventory quantity by customer not using the ManEx’s Project Management module but they requires number of manual processes, and the system has to be bent in a creative way to make these work.  A couple of those methods are:

1.                  Assign a warehouse for each customer, with manual provision for tracking the material requirements by customer.  Track the inventory requirements through the purchase process and during the kitting and shortage process.  Some custom reports are needed to report the material activities by Customer.  The option prevents the use of auto-kitting.