What to buy, what to make, what price to quote
InnoBooks' material requirements planning (MRP) starts from accepted quotes, open work orders and stock minimums, and suggests dated purchases and production. Part costing gives a price per quantity in the quote, and project profitability compares it with the actual cost.
An accepted quote turns into dated requirements: the components to order from each supplier, the parts to make, what is running late. Before that, costing a part in the quote gives you a price per quantity drawn from the bill of materials and the routing, and afterwards, project profitability compares that price with the actual cost of the work orders.
Material requirements planning (MRP)
Material requirements start from what has been promised: accepted quotes, open work orders and stock minimums. They take off what you already have — stock, purchase orders sent, production in progress — and go down the bill of materials level by level.
They suggest purchases dated by each supplier's lead time, production dated by the routing, and supplies to expedite, each with what justifies it. « Create purchase orders » makes one per supplier; « Create work orders » puts them in draft. The calculation is rerun with the « Recalculate » button and counts working days, Monday to Friday.
- Accepted quotes, open orders, stock minimums
- Level by level of the bill of materials
- Buy, Make, Expedite
- Purchase orders and work orders created from the screen
Requests for quote to your suppliers
In Purchases, the Requests for quote tab sends the same list to several suppliers, by email, with a PDF in each one's language and, if needed, the part's drawings. You enter the prices you receive, pick a supplier per line, and « Create purchase orders » places the order with the supplier picked.
- Several suppliers, one request
- PDF in the supplier's language
- Drawings attached
- Draft, Sent, Awarded, Cancelled
Cost a part in the quote
In the quote editor, « Cost a part » works out a part's cost for several quantities — 1, 10, 50 — from its bill of materials for material, its routing for labour and its subcontracted work centres. The company's default markups apply — 20 % on material, 35 % on labour, 15 % on subcontracting — and can be changed in the settings.
The tier you pick becomes a line of the quote, with the item, the quantity, the suggested price and the catalogue's taxes; the other tiers go in the description, prices only. The customer sees an ordinary quote.
- Price per quantity
- Material, labour and subcontracting
- Default markups of 20 %, 35 % and 15 %
- One quote line, the other tiers in the description
The internal costing stays with the quote
The costing is kept with the quote and recomputed on the server. The « Internal costing » panel, under the quote, compares the suggested price, the quote price, the actual cost of the work orders and the actual margin. It is never printed or sent to the customer, and only employees with the « View costing (costs and margins) » permission see it.
- Suggested price and quote price
- Actual cost and actual margin
- Never printed or sent
- Restricted to one permission
What each project really cost
Work orders tied to a project count in its profitability, on a « Manufacturing » line: production reports (material and labour), clocked time, subcontracting and moved parts. Nothing is counted twice, and the report comes out as PDF and CSV.
Good parts can move from one project to another with their actual cost, without any stock movement, and the move can be undone. A purchase order's project can be changed even after receipt.
- « Manufacturing » line in profitability
- Material, labour, clocked time, subcontracting
- Parts moved from one project to another
- PDF and CSV
Production on the dashboard
Two tiles join the dashboard: « Production », with the open work orders, the late ones and the five most urgent, and « Requirements (MRP) », with what needs buying or making. In the morning, you know where to start.
- Open and late orders
- The five most urgent
- MRP requirements
With the manufacturing module
Material requirements, requests for quote and costing come with the manufacturing module, sold on contract and turned on by InnoLogiciel. Purchase orders and the project profitability report are part of the Elite Plan. Tell us about your shop: we will show you the module on your own parts.
Frequently asked questions
Does material requirements planning run by itself?
No: it is rerun with the « Recalculate » button, and it saves nothing. You create the purchase orders and work orders it suggests, in one click from the same screen.
Do suppliers answer requests for quote inside InnoBooks?
No. The request goes out by email with its PDF; you enter the prices you receive, pick a supplier per line and create the purchase orders.
Does the customer see the costing of their quote?
No. The quote shows the line and its price. The internal costing — costs, markups, margin — stays with the quote, is never printed or sent, and only employees allowed to see costing can open it.
Do manufacturing costs post to the general ledger?
No. They go to project profitability: the work orders' material, labour, clocked time and subcontracting. The module posts no accounting entries.
See also
- Manufacturing — Work orders, bills of materials and drawings by revision, subcontracting, serial numbers and a shop-floor time clock.
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