Production
Planning and tracking of plant production: what is manufactured, in what order, with which resources and in which building, with input and output records for each process.
What separates this from a planning spreadsheet is that it does not sit apart from inventory. Raw materials are deducted from the warehouse as they enter the process and finished goods come in with their batch, so traceability holds end to end: from buying the material to selling the finished product.
Records log what really goes in and what really comes out, with weights and grading where the product calls for it. That difference between expected and obtained is the process's real yield, and it is a figure you only know if it is recorded where it happens.
With each order's status in view you know what is running, what is stopped and what will be delivered late while there is still time to warn.
Planning
What gets made, in what order and with what
Production orders record which product is to be made, in what quantity, in which building and with which resources, along with its target date. With each order's status in view you know what is running, what is stopped waiting for material and what will be delivered late while there is still time to warn the customer.
That timely warning is worth more than it seems. A delay communicated a week ahead is a planning problem; the same delay communicated on the delivery date is a trust problem.
Planning takes account of what is actually there: if the material needed is not in stock, you see it before releasing the order rather than once the line is already stopped.
Inputs and outputs
What goes into the process and what comes out
Records log the real consumption of raw material and what is obtained, with weights and grading where the product calls for it (sizes, qualities, classes) because in many processes the same input yields several different products.
That produces the figure hardest to obtain on a plant floor: real yield. How much finished product comes out per unit of raw material consumed, and how it varies between batches, between shifts or between material suppliers.
That number only exists if it is recorded where it happens. Calculated at month end by subtracting purchases from sales, you get an average that hides exactly what you need to see: the day, the shift or the supplier where yield drops.
Never leaving inventory
Manufacturing is not a world apart from the warehouse
When production runs in a separate tool, the same problem always appears: the warehouse says one thing, the plant says another, and nobody knows the real stock until somebody goes and counts.
Here the process lives inside inventory:
- Raw materials are deducted from the warehouse as they enter the process, with their batch.
- Finished goods are booked in with their own batch and their cost.
- Traceability holds end to end: from buying the material to the customer who received the finished product.
That last point is what lets you answer a quality incident without the chain breaking at the point where manufacturing starts, which is exactly where most systems lose it.
Clearing things up
Frequently asked questions
Answers to what we get asked most.
Is raw material deducted from stock?
Yes, as it enters the process and with its batch, and finished goods are booked in with theirs and with their cost. Production does not sit apart from inventory, which is where the classic disagreement between what the warehouse says and what the plant says comes from.
Can I know the process's real yield?
Yes, from the input and output records: how much finished product comes out per unit of raw material consumed, and how it varies between batches, shifts or material suppliers. Calculated at month end by subtracting purchases from sales you get an average that hides precisely that.
Does it work if one process yields several products?
Yes. Output records support weights and grading (sizes, qualities, classes) which is how most processes work when the same input yields different products at different prices.
Will I know if an order will be delivered late?
Yes, with each order's status in view you can see what is running, what is stopped waiting for material and what will slip while there is still time to warn the customer. A delay communicated a week ahead is a planning problem; the same one on the delivery date is a trust problem.
Warehouses, stock and manufacturing
Real-time multi-warehouse stock, locations, stock counts, transfers and traceability by batch or serial number, connected to purchasing and sales.
Warehouse Management
Define your warehouses and check at any moment what sits in each one, with stock updated by every real movement rather than by a count somebody keys in when they get a chance.
View moduleWarehouse Locations
Organise each warehouse by locations (aisle, rack, bin) and know exactly where each product is and how much sits in each place.
Stocktaking
Full or partial counts with automatic adjustment of differences against theoretical stock, without stopping operations.
View moduleTransfers
Goods movements between warehouses with their own document: what left, from where, to where, who moved it and when it was received.
Product Batches
Full batch traceability: which supplier and which purchase each one came in on, which warehouse it sits in, which customers it went to and what stock is left, with its expiry date.
View moduleSerial Numbers
Individual tracking of each unit by its serial number, from goods receipt until it is sold or installed at a customer.