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The Advanced Manufacturing module is aimed at addressing the needs of the production process for manufacturing businesses. The production process covers the steps through which components and raw material are transformed into a finished good. The Advanced Manufacturing module also includes job costing, Manufacturing Execution System (MES) application, and material requirements planning features.


This is a beginner's guide to getting started with these features. Please follow the links in each section for detailed explanations of each feature. The goals of the Advanced Manufacturing module is to:

  • implementing demand-driven manufacturing which provides the benefits for inventory management and timely manufacturing orders execution
  • organising a smooth production process capable of timely delivery of finished goods
  • components planning for the production process
  • resources capacity planning for the production process
  • scheduling the production process steps for control and timely execution. 


For simpler, single-step operations (e.g. assembling T-shirts into a multipack, assembling items into a gift box), users can use the simpler Assembly and Disassembly features. The difference between Production BOM and Assembly BOM is that Assembly involves only one operation and Production involves many operations. Assembly/disassembly also do not take into account resource capacity and component lead times. 


Advanced Manufacturing is an add-on module and must be added to your base subscription. Standard Manufacturing comes with all accounts and includes assembly and disassembly.


NOTE: Accounts with subscriptions dating before 1 September 2023 will retain their original subscription to Standard and Advanced Manufacturing features. 


Prerequisites


Table of Contents



Add the Advanced Manufacturing module to your subscription

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Some features of the production module (assembly, disassembly, and inventory write-offs) are included in the Cin7 Core base subscription. Advanced manufacturing consists of extra features and requires an extra subscription, please see Cin7 Core Plans and Pricing for more information. 


You can try the Advanced manufacturing module for 30 days free of charge, either when you begin a free trial with Cin7 Core or at any time after signing up to the base plan. 


When trying to access any advanced manufacturing features, such as production orders or production settings, you will be informed you do not have access to the Advanced manufacturing module. Click Start Trial to start your 30-day trial of the module. If you have completed the trial period already, you will be give the option to Update Subscription instead. 


The advanced manufacturing module can also be added to your subscription from the My Subscription page.


Production module permissions (Advanced manufacturing)

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Cin7 Core  offers fine-grained control over user permissions. Grant users full or read-only permission to the different features of the production module, and create roles with pre-defined permissions to assign to users.


Cin7 Core  allows you to set the following production permissions for advanced manufacturing (Settings → Users and Roles → Production):


Production List & Tasks

Production Orders allow you to keep track of the use of raw materials as well as costs associated with manufacturing of finished goods. (Read-only) View the list of production orders and their details. View production tasks assigned to you. (Full access) Allows creation, editing of Production Order and Production Run. Allows picking of components. Allows starting and completion of operations. Allows Consolidation of Orders from the Production Orders List. 


Production – Undo 

Allows Undo of Assembly, Disassembly, Production, Job, Inventory Write-off tasks. 


Production – Void

Allows Void of Assembly, Disassembly, Production, Job, Inventory Write-off tasks.


Production Order fulfillment

(Read-only) View Production Orders, Put away, but can’t press Authorise and Release or carry out Put Away. . View production tasks assigned to you. (Full access) Allows authorisation (planning) of Production Orders, release of Production Orders and Put Away. Allows authorisation and release, singly and in bulk, of orders from the Production Orders List


Production adjustment

(Read-only) View Production Orders and Put away, but can’t see Void, Undo, Mark as Completed buttons(Full Access) Can undo/mark as completed/void Production Order or Production Run.


Capacity Planner

(Read-only) View Capacity Planner ncluding allocated and consumed capacity details. (Full Access) Re-plan allocated resource capacity manually (by changing Required By/Planned dates) or automatically (using the Replan button.)


Scheduler

(Read-only) View Scheduler. (Full Access) Reschedule Production Orders, Production Runs and operations from the Scheduler.


Edit completed operations

(Read-only) Can see actual time. (Full access) Can edit Actual Time for Production Order operations after an operation has been completed. 


Production Bill of Materials 

(Read-only) View a product's Production BOM. (Full access) Allows creation and editing of a Production BOM.


Production financial data

(Full access) Production cost information is visible on Production BOM, Production Order, etc. 


See Managing Users and Roles and User permissions explained for more information on permissions. 


Factory Calendar

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The Factory Calendar defines the working days and working hours for the planning period. The calendar can then be used to ensure accurate capacity planning and scheduling. Production module features will not work if the Factory Calendar is not configured.


The Factory Calendar can be set up in the Production module settings: Main Menu → Production → Settings → Set up Calendar.


Configuring the Factory Calendar defines:

  • default operational hours and working days
  • holidays/days off
  • custom working hours.


Define Shop floor locations

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Shop floor locations specify where finished goods are produced. Defining a Location as a Shop floor enables the location to be selected as a Shop floor location in a Logistics Path and used in Production Orders.


Go to Settings → Reference Books → Locations and Bins to define Shop floor locations for your business. 


Set up the Logistics Path

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Every object in Cin7 Core has a location. 

  • Products specify a Components location where the components for production are stored.
  • Sale Orders specify a Demand location where the product is sold.
  • Production orders specify a Production warehouse location (Shop floor) where finished goods are produced. 


As in real life, a product cannot be in two places simultaneously and cannot be transferred between locations at the click of the mouse. The physical movement of stock requires actions to be triggered, as well as time – logistics paths are set up to reflect that. 


A logistics path connects the storage, production and retail locations in the system (they can be the same location). This is used to factor in the lead time for components for accurate ordering and production scheduling. It also enables automatic generation of documents (purchase orders, transfer orders, etc.) and logs stock movements. 


Logistics Paths are configured from the Settings → Reference Books → Locations and Bins → Logistics Paths page.


Create Work Centres

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Work Centres define the area where a production operation takes place within the business (for example, a specific workshop, room or section of the shop floor). All components for a production operation should be delivered to the work centre in order for the production operation to begin picking. 


Work Centre can be set up in the Settings of the production module: Main Menu → Production → Settings → Work Centre


Connect Shop floor bins to Work Centres

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Bins are used to specify where the stock is stored within a location. For a production work centre, bins define where the components should be brought in order to start a production operation. For example, a sewing work centre would require fabric to be brought to the assigned bin. 


The same Work Centre can be reused across multiple Shop floor locations. E.g., WC-02 Sewing Machines can exist in more than one production location. A bin can be assigned for each shop floor location. 


Go to Settings → Reference Books → Locations → Bins and select the Shop Floor location from the drop-down list to start connecting bins.


Set up Production Resources

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Finished goods production is made possible with resources, e.g. tools, machines and people. For many businesses, resource capacity is the constraint when planning production runs. 


Each resource has its capacity, which measures the capability of the resource to produce some amount of finished good. Knowing the capacity of the resource, it is possible to calculate how much time and when it is required to produce this or that finished good. Thus, adding resource and calculation of its capacity defines the timelines for the production.


Resources for production can be set up from the Production Settings: Main Menu → Production → Settings → Resources. You will need to create Services for your resources in order to assign costs – please see the Resources article for step-by-step instructions.


Create a Production BOM

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Production Orders can only be planned for items that have a Production Bill of Materials. The Production BOM defines each step of a production operation, its duration, and the components and resources required to complete each step. 


A Production BOM is an essential feature for resource capacity planning and correctly scheduling production operations. 


See Production BOM for detailed instructions and examples of this feature in action. 


Customise Production Process Settings

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Parts of the production process can be set to either manual or automatic. This can be configured in Settings → General Settings → Production Process Customisation. See General Settings - Production Process Customisation for detailed information on each setting.


Map a Work in Progress Account

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Production Orders specify a Work in Progress account and Finished Goods account so the accounting transactions of a production operation are correctly recorded. 


By default, the Finished Goods account will be set to your Inventory Control account, but this can be manually edited from the Production Order. 


You can specify which Work in Progress account to use by default from the Account Mapping screen. This is found in Settings → Reference Books → Financials → Account Mapping


Create Production Orders

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The Production Order defines the finished good to be produced, the location where the production will take place, the date and time of the production, and the number of components and resources required. The Production Order also defines the sequence of operations to be performed and the costs of finished goods. It is a vital part of the production process.


See the Production Order article for detailed step-by-step instructions for Production Orders. 



Capacity Planner

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The Capacity Planner is a resource allocation reporting and re-planning tool.


Each resource has a capacity which measures the capability of the resource to be used in production for some unit of time to produce some finished good. Knowing how much capacity is needed per finished good, it is possible to calculate how much time is required to produce this or that finished good. This is used to define timelines for production. 


The Capacity Planner shows the capacity for a selected planning period, which resources are overallocated and allows re-planning of capacity to ensure smooth delivery of production orders. 


See Capacity Planner for more information. 



Scheduler

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The Cin7 Core Production Scheduler visualises production order information. Production Order information, Sales Orders (containing goods to be produced) and Resource capacity can be viewed in the form of a Gantt chart (Sales Orders Gantt and Resource Gantt coming soon). 


The main goal of the Scheduler is to create the schedule for production, so all finished products are produced on time, providing smooth production without any delays. The second main goal is to provide transparency for the production process so that the user always knows what should be produced and when it should be completed. The core abilities of the Scheduler are to reschedule the production orders, production runs and operations.


This helps to assess how long an order should take, determine the resources loading, and plan the order in which the operations should be completed. The Scheduler also enables you to view and manage the dependencies between operations.


See Scheduler for more information.



Production Reports (Advanced Manufacturing)

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It is important to have a transparent communication channel between production managers and sales managers. If the production manager implements production changes (e.g. re-plans orders), these changes impact the product delivery date and thus, Sales Order completion. 


These Production reports are communication tools to inform the sales managers about changes in production without them having to go to the Scheduler to check, or be notified offline of any changes by the production manager.


Users can have read-only or full access to these reports with the Production Reports permission. 


Users with a subscription to the Cin7 Core automation module can set up Report Scheduling, Reminders and Notifications for these reports. 


See Production Reports for more information. 


Manufacturing Execution System (MES) application

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MES is Core Cin7's user-friendly mobile application to allow your users to input production tasks on-the-go. 

Each production order consists of a list of operations to be executed by (labor) resources on the production floor. Each day, labor resources on the shop floor will have a list of operations which need to be completed so that finished goods are delivered on time. 


Such users need to know what tasks they have for the day, the order in which tasks should be carried out, and which components are required to complete their task. Cin7 Core MES mobile application makes this information available to users and allows them to mark production actions as executed from a mobile device. Users can only see tasks that have been assigned to them. 


MES allows users to carry out the following actions directly from their workstation or device:

  • View production tasks that have been assigned to them.
  • Start, suspend, and complete operations
    • Track actual time elapsed in an operation
    • Specify output location
    • Specify batch/serial # and expiry date of finished products
    • Enter actual produced and wastage quantities
  • Consume components
    • Edit operation components and resources to reflect actual quantities
  • View notes and attachments
    • Add notes and attachments for production operations
  • Put away finished products
    • Pick finished products and components from shopfloor work centers
    • Put away picked items to any organization location


Actions executed in the MES application are passed to Cin7 Core to initiate stock movements and accounting transactions for production orders, production run, capacity planner, and scheduler. 


Learn more about MES application


Job costing

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Job costing can be used to keep track of expenditure that has gone into performing a job for a customer. Expenditure can be both inventory and service in nature, and include your own services/inventory and those of suppliers. The Job costing feature can be used to accumulate this expenditure and produce an invoice for the customer adding a margin if required. Jobs can be divided into milestones.


Job costing is supported by the following reports:

  • Job Costing Materials Report shows materials and stock used on a particular job during the selected time period. It also indicates where this material was purchased if it did not come from inventory already in stock. Use this report to see the quantity and cost of job costing materials.
  • Job Costing Profit and Loss Report shows the profit/loss for each Job. Use this report to view all income, expenses and profits associated with job costing transactions. Output can be filtered by customer, supplier, time period, milestone, status and more. Financial reporting permission is required to access this report.


Learn more about job costing.


What's next? Advanced Production Features

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Once you have mastered production basics, here are some more advanced production features that can help you best define your manufacturing processes using Cin7 Core. 

  • Setting up complex operation sequences with parallel and non-parallel operations. See Implement parallel operations in a Production BOM for help setting up more complicated operation sequences. 
  • Manufacturing with several products resulting from one production process. See Finished products - Primary products, coproducts, byproducts, joint production products for detailed information on how to implement this kind of manufacturing process. 
  • Defining virtual intermediate products of production operations for use in later operations. Such intermediate products can be reflected in the Production BOM to increase accuracy in production reporting and transparency for the production process. See Using Inputs and Outputs - Intermediate or semi-finished products. It is recommended to understand how finished products are used before moving on to intermediate products.
  • Full or partial co-manufacturing, the outsourcing of part or all of the manufacturing process of a product to a third-party. See Co-manufacturing for more information. It is recommended to understand how finished products are used before moving on to intermediate products.
  • Customisable products, or Make to Order, allows your customers to select different configuration options that will ultimately select the final product. For example, a ring could be customised with different metals, ring size, different gemstones, or a custom engraving. 
  • Production Component Tracking and Traceability, Traceability is the ability to track every part and product throughout the manufacturing process, from the moment when raw materials enter the factory to the moment when final products are shipped. Knowing which exact components make up a finished product is essential to quality assurance, inspection and control
  • Phantom BOM is used to explode components with assembly BOMs within a production order, without creating a separate assembly order - the BOM is 'phantom'. Phantom BOMs can easily add instructions to multiple production BOMs for nested components that are physically built, but not stocked, before being used in the next step or level of manufacturing.

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