Assemble-to-order with Production Orders 

Assemble-to-order with production orders is particularly useful if you:

  • Require status management functionality

You can use status management, for example, to

    • Document the current processing status of an object
    • Allow or forbid certain business transactions
    • Group or select objects by status (for example all orders with the status released, or all components with the status missing part)
    • Trigger rework functions automatically (using trigger points)
  • Want to carry out business functions at operation level, such as:
    • Releasing operations
    • Printing shop papers
    • Entering completion confirmations
  • Keep track of costs during the production process

Every confirmation or goods movement carried out for the production order causes an update of the actual order costs.

  • Want to use the collective order functionality

A collective order is a structure that links production orders over several manufacturing levels. It offers the following advantages:

    • Any changes to dates or quantities have an immediate effect on any dependent orders within the collective order.
    • No goods movements are required for sub-assemblies
    • You can carry out an availability check across all production levels
    • Each production order is automatically settled to the superior production order. The top production order is then automatically settled to the sales order.

Collective orders are especially suited to the following types of production:

    • Continuous flow production
    • Production using parallel production lines
    • Make-to-order production
  • Want to use the rework functionality

You can use rework functionality in order to compensate for malfunctions or errors that occur during the production process.

With unplanned malfunctions/errors, you can

    • Insert rework operations
    • Insert reference operation sets
    • Create rework orders

With planned malfunctions/errors, you can

    • control rework by using trigger points
  • Produce co-products

Only if you set up assemble-to-order with production orders can you use co-products.

Production Order Created Directly or via a Planned Order

When creating a sales order, you do one of the following:

  • Create a production order directly

Here, you can make immediate use of all the production order functionality (such as the status maintenance).

  • Create a planned order first which is converted into a production order at a later date. In this case, you can also implement planning decisions (such as external procurement or in-house production) later on in the assembly process.

In assemble-to-order, you can only convert planned orders into production orders if you use a strategy group or requirements class with a dynamic assembly type. For more information, see Assembly Processing With Planned Orders and Assembly Processing With Projects.