Manufacturing
This course covers the full Manufacturing module in Quickenerp. Learn how to create and manage bills of materials, manufacturing orders, routing plans, work center operations, subcontracting, planning, and production reporting.
| Responsible | System |
|---|---|
| Last Update | 07/21/2026 |
| Completion Time | 3 days 22 hours |
| Members | 1 |
Manufacturing Overview
View allManufacturing Reporting
Manufacturing Analysis
Go to Manufacturing > Reporting > Manufacturing Analysis. Pivot table with:
- Dimensions: Product, BOM, Work Center, Operation, Vendor (for subcontracting), Date.
- Measures: Quantity Produced, Planned Quantity, Duration (hours), Cost, Scrap Quantity.
- Filters: Order Status, Date Range, Product Category.
Cost Analysis
Open a completed MO → Cost Analysis button. See:
- Raw Material Cost - Sum of all consumed components - cost price.
- Operation Cost - Time spent at each work center - hourly cost.
- Total Cost - Material + Operations.
- Unit Cost - Total Cost / Quantity Produced.
Work Center Performance
Go to Reporting > Work Center Performance. See for each work center:
- Planned hours vs actual hours.
- OEE percentage.
- Load rate (scheduled hours / available hours).
- Number of MOs processed.
Best Practices
- Review work center load weekly to avoid bottlenecks.
- Track scrap percentage per product to identify quality issues.
- Compare actual vs planned costs to improve BOM accuracy.
- Use OEE to identify underperforming work centers.
Subcontracting
Enable in Manufacturing > Configuration > Settings > Subcontracting. Allows outsourcing production to vendors.
Setup
- Go to Inventory > Configuration > Routes.
- Enable route "Subcontracting" if not already active.
- Go to your vendor's contact form, Sales & Purchases tab.
- Check Subcontractor. Set the Subcontracting Location (where raw materials are sent).
- On the product form, add the "Subcontracting" route.
Subcontracting Flow
- When stock reaches reorder point for a subcontracted product, a PO is created.
- Quickenerp creates a Subcontracting Receipt - raw materials are sent to the vendor.
- The vendor receives raw materials, produces the product, sends it back.
- You receive the finished product as a normal receipt.
- The PO is billed by the vendor.
Resupply Subcontractor
When confirming a subcontracted PO, Quickenerp auto-creates a delivery order to send raw materials to the subcontractor. The quantity of raw materials = BOM component quantity * PO quantity.
Tracking Subcontracted Stock
Raw materials sent to subcontractors are tracked in the Subcontracting Location (a virtual location). When the finished product is received, the raw material stock is consumed from there.
Production Planning
Replenishment-Based MO Creation
Products with route "Manufacture" and a reordering rule trigger MO creation:
- Go to Inventory > Master Data > Reordering Rules.
- Set route = Manufacture.
- When stock drops below minimum, the replenishment engine creates an MO.
Planned Orders
Go to Manufacturing > Planning > Planned Orders. These are tentative MOs not yet confirmed. Review and confirm them in batch. Useful for medium-term capacity planning.
MRP (Material Requirements Planning)
For advanced planning:
- Go to Manufacturing > Planning > MRP.
- Click Run MRP.
- Quickenerp analyzes:
- Current stock levels.
- Open sales orders.
- Forecasted demand.
- Reordering rules.
- BOM structure (explodes multi-level BOMs).
Production Scheduling
The Gantt view in Manufacturing Orders shows scheduled MOs across work centers. Drag and drop to reschedule. Filter by work center, date, product.
Unbuild Orders
Go to Manufacturing > Operations > Unbuild Orders. Use when you need to disassemble a finished product back into components.
Creating an Unbuild Order
- Click Create.
- Product - The finished good to disassemble.
- Quantity - Number of units to unbuild.
- BOM - Select which BOM to reverse.
- Lot/Serial Number - If tracked, select the specific lot.
- Location - Where to put the disassembled components.
- Click Unbuild.
Use Cases
- Quality failure - disassemble a defective unit and salvage components.
- Correction of wrong MO.
- Return to stock - customer return being broken down.
MO Reversal (Cancel Done MO)
If an MO was completed by mistake, you cannot delete it. Instead:
- Create an unbuild order for the product.
- Or create a scrap order for the finished goods.
- Or create a new MO to consume the finished goods back to stock.
Manufacturing Orders
Go to Manufacturing > Operations > Manufacturing Orders.
Creating an MO
- Click Create.
- Product - Finished good to produce.
- Quantity - Number of units.
- BOM - Auto-selected if only one BOM exists for the product.
- Routing - Auto-selected from BOM.
- Deadline Start - When production should begin.
- Deadline End - When production should be complete.
- Source Document - Auto-filled if created from sales order or reorder.
- Click Save.
MO Lifecycle
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | MO created but not yet confirmed. |
| Confirmed | MO is ready. Raw materials are reserved. |
| In Progress | Production has started (first operation logged). |
| Done | All operations complete. Finished goods in stock. |
| Cancelled | MO is cancelled. Reserved material is freed. |
Confirming & Starting Production
- Click Confirm Production - Reserves raw materials.
- Click Plan - Assigns work orders to work centers.
- Click Start Production - Begins the first operation.
- Operators record time per operation.
- Click Record Components to register component consumption (if consuming manually).
- When all operations done, click Produce - The MO is completed.
- Finished goods appear in the WH/Stock location.
Work Orders
Each routing operation creates a work order. Open MO → Work Orders tab. Each work order shows:
- Assigned work center and operator.
- Scheduled start and end.
- Components consumed at this operation.
- Actual duration vs planned.
Mark each work order as done by clicking the Complete Last Operation button on the MO.
Work Centers
Go to Manufacturing > Master Data > Work Centers. A work center is a machine, workstation, or production line.
Work Center Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Work center name (e.g. "CNC Machine", "Assembly Table 1"). |
| Code | Short code for reference. |
| Working Hours | Calendar of available hours. Excludes breaks, holidays. |
| Capacity | Number of units this work center can process simultaneously. |
| Time Efficiency | Percentage (90% = slower than standard). Affects lead time calculation. |
| Time Before Setup | Preparation time before production starts. |
| Time After Setup | Clean-up time after production ends. |
| Costs per Hour | Standard hourly cost for labor, overhead, and machine depreciation. |
| OEE Target | Overall Equipment Effectiveness target. |
Routings
Go to Manufacturing > Master Data > Routings. A routing defines the sequence of operations.
- Click Create.
- Reference - Routing name.
- Add Operations:
- Sequence (1, 2, 3...) - Execution order.
- Work Center - Where this operation is performed.
- Duration - Time per unit.
- Duration Type - Fixed (regardless of quantity) or Per Unit.
- Start/Next Operation - For parallel or divergent flows.
- Default - If "Quantity" is set, it defaults as next operation.
Work Center Load View
Go to Reporting > Work Center Performance. See the scheduled vs actual load. Identify bottlenecks. Color-coded: green (under 80% load), yellow (80-100%), red (overloaded).
Bills of Materials
Go to Manufacturing > Master Data > Bills of Materials.
BOM Form - All Fields
| Field | Model Field | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Product | product_id | The finished product this BOM produces. |
| Quantity | product_qty | Number of units produced by one BOM cycle. |
| BOM Type | type | Normal (manufacture this product), Kit (phantom BOM, product is a set). |
| Routing | routing_id | The production steps required. |
| Reference | code | Internal BOM code (e.g. BOM-001). |
| Active | active | Uncheck to archive. |
Components Tab
Add raw materials and sub-assemblies:
- Product - The raw material or sub-component.
- Quantity - Amount per BOM quantity.
- Unit of Measure - Can differ from product UoM (e.g. kg vs g).
- Scrap (%) - Expected waste %. Quickenerp reserves extra material.
- Operations - Which operation consumes this component.
- Apply on Variants - For multi-variant products.
By-Products Tab
If the production process yields secondary products (e.g. sawdust, scrap metal), add them here. The by-product quantity is deducted from total production cost.
Multi-Level BOMs (Sub-Assemblies)
If a component has its own BOM, Quickenerp recursively explodes it. Create a BOM for the sub-assembly, then add the sub-assembly as a component. When the MO is created, the system shows all raw materials at the lowest level.
Kit (Phantom) BOM
For products sold as a set but not physically assembled. The components are delivered individually. Use BOM Type = "Kit". No MO is created - the kit is delivered directly from stock of its components.
BOM Versioning
Create multiple BOMs for the same product. Set one as active. Use BOM version comparison to review changes. When you archive an old BOM, new MOs use the active BOM.
The Manufacturing Module
The Manufacturing module manages production processes. It integrates with Inventory (raw material consumption, finished goods receipt), Quality (workstation checks), Maintenance (equipment downtime), and Accounting (work in progress, cost analysis).
Core Concepts
| Concept | Model | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bill of Materials (BOM) | mrp.bom | Recipe/parts list defining raw materials, quantities, and operations needed to produce a product. |
| Manufacturing Order (MO) | mrp.production | An order to produce a quantity of a product. Consumes raw materials, produces finished goods. |
| Work Center | mrp.workcenter | A machine, workstation, or production line where operations are performed. |
| Routing | mrp.routing | Sequence of operations (work centers) required to manufacture the product. |
| Subcontracting | purchase.order with subcontract route | Outsource production to a third-party vendor. |
| Planning | mrp.schedule.product | Auto-generate MOs based on reordering rules, manual triggers, or MRP. |
Menu Structure
- Operations - Manufacturing Orders, By-Products, Subcontracting.
- Master Data - Bills of Materials, Work Centers, Routings.
- Planning - Replenishment, Planned Orders, Forecast.
- Configuration - Settings, Operations, Product Categories.
- Reporting - Manufacturing Analysis, Work Center Performance.