Your work orders, from the bill of materials to the finished part
InnoBooks runs production for a small manufacturer: work orders on validated bills of materials, drawings and revisions frozen on release, routings and subcontracting, serial numbers and a shop-floor time clock on a tablet. The manufacturing module is added on contract.
InnoBooks' manufacturing module follows every part through the shop: the work order freezes its bill of materials and its drawings on release, employees clock their time on its operations, subcontracting goes out and comes back on a purchase order, and every production report counts the good parts, the scrap and the actual cost.
The work order, from draft to finished part
A work order starts from an item whose bill of materials is ticked « Made by work order » and validated. On release, its components and operations are frozen: a bill of materials edited afterwards does not change the order in progress. It goes from Draft to Released, In progress and Finished, or Cancelled as long as no part has been reported.
If a component is short, InnoBooks flags it without blocking the release. Production is reported in several goes, good parts and scrap apart: only good parts go into stock, the scrap's components are still consumed, and every stock movement carries its order number. The order shows its standard cost per part and its actual cost per good part, and prints as a PDF traveller for the shop.
- Components and operations frozen on release
- Shortage flagged, never blocking
- Partial reports, good parts and scrap
- Standard cost and actual cost per part
- PDF traveller
Bills of materials, revisions and drawings
Each time a bill of materials whose components have changed is validated, its next revision is created — A, B, C — with its note and its differences. The Drawings page keeps each part's drawings by revision: PDFs and images are displayed, CAD files (DXF, DWG, STEP, IGES, STL) are downloaded, up to 50 MB per file. A drawing can go out with your requests for quote and your purchase orders.
The work order freezes the current bill of materials revision and drawings on release, and the traveller prints them. If a newer revision comes along, the order says so and can switch to it as long as it has not started: the shop always works from the right drawing.
- Revisions A, B, C with their differences
- PDFs and images displayed, CAD downloaded
- Revision and drawings frozen on the order
- Drawings attached to requests for quote and purchase orders
Routings, work centres and schedule
A part's routing lines up its operations on work centres. Each centre has its hourly rate and its hours per day; each operation, its setup time and its minutes per unit. InnoBooks derives the standard labour cost and the production lead time, which costing and material requirements reuse.
The production schedule places orders by day and by work centre. It moves nothing by itself: an overloaded centre is marked « Overload », and you drag an order to another day.
- Hourly rate and hours per day of the work centre
- Setup and minutes per unit of the operation
- Labour cost and production lead time
- Overload flagged on the schedule
Subcontracting follows the order
Painting, heat treatment, machining: an operation can be done at a supplier's. Its subcontracted work centre carries the supplier, the price per part and the lead time. From the work order, « Send to subcontractor » creates the purchase order linked to the operation.
On receipt, nothing goes into stock: InnoBooks counts the parts that came back and adds the subcontracting cost to the order. The « At subcontractors » list shows what is out, late returns first.
- Supplier, price per part and lead time
- Purchase order linked to the operation
- Returned parts counted, cost added to the order
- Late returns at the top of the list
Serial numbers, from receipt to invoice
A tracked item gets one serial number per unit, when a purchase is received as well as in production. Each unit keeps its status — in stock, sold, scrapped, consumed — and its genealogy: the order that made it and the order that consumed it in an assembly.
An invoice that sells a tracked item cannot leave draft without one unit in stock for each unit invoiced; the editor offers the oldest ones, and the serial numbers print on the invoice.
- One number per unit
- In stock, sold, scrapped, consumed
- Made by, consumed by
- Required on the invoice
The shop-floor time clock on a tablet
On the shop's tablet, each employee enters a PIN, punches in, picks an operation of a released order, takes a break and switches operation. Starting an operation moves the order to « In progress »; every interval becomes a time line at the work centre's rate, added to the order's actual minutes and labour.
A manager can leave the tablet in kiosk mode: the time clock alone, with no menu or settings, and no sign-out for inactivity. The manager follows punches on the Attendance screen.
- 4- to 6-digit PIN
- Time clocked on the operation, at the centre's rate
- Kiosk mode
- In the web app, nothing to install
On contract, with everyone's access
The manufacturing module is added to your InnoBooks account on contract: we first look at your shop together, then InnoLogiciel turns it on for your company. Purchase orders, which subcontracting and material requirements create, and the project profitability report are part of the Elite Plan.
Eight permissions of its own say who sees production, who manages it, who runs requirements, who sends requests for quote, who clocks in and who sees costs and margins. Three ready-to-assign roles come with the module: Production, Estimating and Purchasing.
- Sold on contract, turned on by InnoLogiciel
- Purchase orders and profitability: Elite Plan
- Eight permissions of its own
- Production, Estimating and Purchasing roles
Frequently asked questions
Can a work order be released when components are missing?
Yes. InnoBooks flags the shortage on release without blocking it, and a component's stock can go negative. Nothing is reserved: material requirements tell you what to buy.
How is a subassembly made?
A work order covers one level of the bill of materials. The subassembly has its own bill of materials and its own work order; once reported, it goes into stock and the assembly's work order consumes it.
Does the shop-floor time clock need an app to install?
No. Clocking in happens in the InnoBooks web app, in the browser of a tablet or a computer. Each employee enters a PIN, and kiosk mode keeps the tablet on the time clock alone.
How much does the manufacturing module cost?
It is sold on contract, based on your shop: we talk first, then InnoLogiciel turns it on for your company. Write to us through the Contact us page.
See also
- MRP and costing — Material requirements, requests for quote, the costing of your quotes and the actual cost of every project.
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