Distinct Bill of Material for Sales Order line items

Customer Introduction:

This customer is a machine builder making Special Purpose Machines for multinational companies.

Problem / Goal:

Being a SPM manufacturer, the bill of material changes with every order. Even though 60% to 70% items remain the same, the rest keep changing for every order. There are some items where the change is due to variants available for a component in terms of Makes, capacity, colour etc. and sometimes it is a dimensional change. In case a master BOM is created for every permutation and combination, there will be too many master BOMs and their repeat use will be limited to only repeat orders. It was required to find a solution that will not create too many masters and also allow them to create order specific bill of material.

The Solution:

We created the 'Sales Order Bill of Material' feature to solve the issue. Users are able to copy BOMs from masters as well as from previous orders. Users can also create BOM from scratch. We also provided for Variant feature which allows users to replace a component from a list of its variants. We also added the feature of Optional components. In the case of raw material, we allowed to select material that is available in the stock by showing lots of the same grade, shape and similar size.

The Result / Benefits:

This feature has been an instant hit as it provides for many benefits.

1. Quick BOM creation from master or previous order
2. Correct component selection from the list of available variants
3. Utilisation of existing raw material stock instead of ordering fresh material
4. Provision of checklist of available optional components for the machine
5. Facility to run the material shortfall calculation program (MRP) based on this SO BOM
6. Avoiding cluttering of the masters

We have also built further functionality like the Sales Order line wise status report based on this Sales Order level BOM.