Set up manufacturing and Bills of Materials
Switch on manufacturing, mark items as raw material or finished goods, and record the recipe (Bill of Materials) for each product you make.
A Bill of Materials (BOM) is the recipe of a finished product. It lists the raw materials, and how much of each, that go into one batch. When you record a production, Arthlekha uses the BOM to work out what to take out of stock.
Before you start
- Manufacturing is off for a new business. Switch it on first (see below).
- Create your raw materials and finished products in Products. Both must be stock items, not services.
Switch on manufacturing
- Open Configuration and open the Manufacturing section.
- Turn on This business manufactures goods.
- The Manufacturing menu now appears with Production, Production Report, Reorder Alerts and Bills of Materials.
Turning manufacturing off only hides these screens. Your BOMs and production entries are not deleted.
Mark item types
Once manufacturing is on, the product form shows two more fields for stock items.
- Open Products and edit an item.
- In Item type, pick Raw material, Finished goods or Trading (buy & sell).
- Optionally enter a Reorder level. You are alerted on the Reorder Alerts screen when stock falls below it.
- Save the product.
The item type is shown as a coloured label next to each item when you pick items in a BOM. It helps you find the right item. Arthlekha does not stop you picking an item of another type.
Create a BOM
- Open Manufacturing > Bills of Materials.
- Click New BOM.
- In Finished product \*, pick the product you make.
- In Output quantity \*, enter how many units one batch makes. For example, 1 if the recipe is for one unit, or 100 if it is for 100 units.
- Optionally type a BOM name (optional), such as "Standard mix".
- Under Raw materials consumed, pick the first item in Material 1 and enter its Qty for one batch.
- Click Add material for each further raw material.
- Click Create BOM.
The BOM appears in the list with its Output qty, the number of Raw materials and its Status.
Edit or delete a BOM
- Click the pencil icon on the BOM's row.
- Change the product, quantities or materials. Click the bin icon next to a material to remove it.
- Click Save changes.
To delete a BOM, click the bin icon on its row and confirm. Productions already recorded are not changed when you edit or delete a BOM. Their costs were fixed when they were saved.
How the BOM is used
- On the Production screen, the BOM quantities are scaled to the quantity you produce. A BOM for 100 units used for a run of 250 units takes 2.5 times each material.
- If a product has more than one BOM, production picks the newest active one.
- You can still change the materials on a production run without changing the BOM.
Fields
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Finished product \* | The item this recipe makes. |
| Output quantity \* | Units made by one batch of this recipe. Must be more than zero. |
| BOM name (optional) | A name to tell two recipes for the same product apart. |
| Material 1, 2 ... | Each raw material used. |
| Qty | How much of that material one batch uses, in that material's unit. Lines with no quantity are left out when you save. |
Common problems
- The create button stays grey — pick a finished product, enter an output quantity above zero, and add at least one material with a quantity above zero.
- Manufacturing module is not enabled — manufacturing is switched off. Turn it on in Configuration.
- Finished-goods product not found — the product was deleted. Pick another product.
- No Manufacturing menu — manufacturing is off. Switch it on in Configuration.
- Item type field not shown on the product — it appears only when manufacturing is on, and not for service items.