Using trial kitting

About trial kitting

You can use Trial Kitting to check whether you have enough recorded stock items to build your BOM A stock assembly and process costing system, which provides facilities to specify the structure of finished items in terms of sub-assemblies and components.s. It identifies and displays any potential shortages. This is different from calculating the maximum build quantity The maximum number of finished goods you can build with current levels of stock.; trial kitting shows you if you can build a specific number of BOMs.

The Trial Kitting window is split into two main parts:

The tasks list

This is the top part of the window and where you add the BOM tasks that you want to run the trial kitting process for. Tasks are performed in the order they are listed, so you must move tasks up the list to ensure that they are considered first.

You can choose a number of options to use during trial kitting. You can:

Include items currently on order.

Stock on order decreases as the trial kitting process works through the tasks. However, stock is not reserved when you use trial kitting. The stock is available for use in each trial kitting process that you run. If you run more than one process at once (more than one user is using trial kitting at the same time, or more than one trial kitting window is open at the same time), the same stock is shared between the processes. You may not get an accurate reflection of the shortages for each process.

In this situation, you can use New Allocation. Stock is reserved and any shortages shown will be accurate.

Note: If you are using Manufacturing, trial kitting is not a substitute for MRP Materials Requirements Planning (MRP). MRP recommends purchase orders, transfers and work orders to balance supply and demand.. MRP considers the total demand; trial kitting considers only what you enter here.

Only show shortages in the results.
For items that allow negative stock:

Report shortages for components.
Report shortages for sub-assemblies.

Specify how you want to use free stock for sub-assemblies.
Decide when to stop processing if shortages are found.

If your stock system is set to use warehouses, you can specify the component warehouses to use during trial kitting, by clicking Warehouses and selecting the warehouses from the list.

You can also:

Check the maximum build quantity for a BOM, although this quantity is not used in the trial kitting process.
Cost BOMs.

The results display

This is the bottom part of the window and will be blank until you click Display. This runs the trial kitting process on items in the tasks list.

The column Can be built? in the tasks list displays Not Processed until trial kitting has been run. Once run, it will display one of the following messages, depending on the options you have set:

Yes. The BOM can be built.
No. There are shortages and the BOM cannot be built.
Yes but must also build sub-assemblies. The BOM can be built, but sub-assemblies must be built too. You must select Ignore free stock for the Sub-Assemblies option to ensure that the sub-assemblies are built.
Not Processed. The BOM has not been processed because you selected to stop processing when shortages were found. You must select Continue for the When shortages are found option to ensure that all BOMs are processed.

The Properties column indicates whether the item is:

Allows negative stock.
Single batch item.
Serial numbered.
Not held in specified warehouses.
Default bought.

The results remain in the bottom part of the window when you change options or entries in the tasks list. They also remain when you change the order of the entries in the tasks list. However, in these cases, the following message appears above the results:

** Results are out of date **

If you click Display again, the results display area is updated with the new results.

After trial kitting, if you are only using the Bill of Materials module (and not using Manufacturing), you can raise purchase orders from the Trial Kitting window to cover any shortages that are identified.

If you are using Manufacturing, you can:

Raise sales orders.
Create works orders.
Raise make to stock items.
Allocate stock.

To use trial kitting

Open: Bill of Materials > Enquiries > Trial Kitting.

Set up the trial kitting process.

Add the Bill of Materials to Trial Kit to the tasks list at the top of the window.

You can do this in the following ways:
- Add individual BOMs
  - Click Add.
  - Select the Stock Code from the drop-down list.
- Add groups
  - Click Add Group.
    
    The Select Bill of Materials Group window appears.
  - Select the Group from the drop-down list.
  - Click OK.
- Add multiple BOMs
  - Click Select Multiple.
    
    The Select Multiple Bill of Materials window appears.
  - Select the BOMs.
  - Click OK.
- To delete a BOM from the list, select the Stock Code and click Delete.
- To change the order of items in the list, select the Stock Code and click either the up or down arrows.
If your stock system uses warehouses, specify the component warehouses by clicking Warehouses and selecting them from the list.
Change the default trial kitting options, if required, by clicking Options and selecting the options from the drop-down list.

The values for these are taken from the settings on the Trial Kitting tab. Any changes you make here apply in this session only.

Set up the values for each stock item.

If you are using version control and more than one version exists, select the Version.
Enter the Quantity to manufacture. This defaults to the Default build quantity value set in the Bill of Material Settings General tab.

Note: If you enter a quantity which does not match the unit of measure The quantity in which a stock item is measured for purchase, sale or storage., the quantity is automatically adjusted to the nearest appropriate value.
Cumulative Lead Time shows the total time required to build the product. This is calculated as:

The time it takes to manufacture + The longest material lead time The number of working days elapsing between placing an order for an item and taking delivery..

Note: It does not take into account components on subassemblies or lead times of operations.

Check maximum build quantity, if required
This quantity is not used in the trial kitting process.
- Select a Stock Code.
- Click Maximum Build.
The calculation is based on the current free stock of components and sub-assemblies in your stock records.

Note: If the quantity does not match the unit of measure, the quantity is automatically adjusted to the nearest appropriate value.
Check cost, if required
- Select a Stock Code.
  
  Note: You can cost all tasks if you do not select a Stock Code.
- Click Cost.
This shows the cost of producing the required quantity of finished product, including, optionally, overhead In accounts modules, these are business expenses, such as rent, that are not attributable directly to any department or product and can therefore be assigned only arbitrarily. In manufacturing modules, these are manufacturing or production expenses other than direct labour or materials.s. It uses the required mark-up figure from the cost headings to calculate a suggested selling price. You can also see the latest actual selling price taken from the stock record.

For more information on costing, see Costing BOMs.
Run the trial kitting process by clicking Display.

The results are calculated and displayed in the following tabs:
Components
This tab lists the components and sub-assemblies required to build the tasks.

Quantities have been converted to stock units.

Note: The Quantity Required value will include the scrap percentage if you have selected to calculate scrap in Trial Kitting on the BOM Settings Scrap tab.

Sub-assemblies are highlighted in colour (blue by default).

Shortages are highlighted in colour (red by default).
- If the item allows negative stock levels and the options, Report shortages for Components or Report shortages for Sub-Assemblies have not been selected, N/A is displayed in the Shortage column for components or sub-assemblies.
- If the item is a miscellaneous stock item, N/A is displayed in the Shortage column.
Labour

Shows the total labour time required, analysed by process.

Note: This is not the lead time. It does not take into account that some resources can run in parallel.

Machines

Shows the total machine time required on each machine, analysed by process.

Note: This is not the lead time. It does not take into account that some resources can run in parallel.

Tooling

Shows the total tooling time required on each machine, analysed by process.

Note: This is not the lead time. It does not take into account that some resources can run in parallel.

Subcontract

Shows the total time required for each subcontract operation required for the BOM.
Click Print to produce a printed copy of your trial kitting results. All items in the list are shown, grouped by Components, Labour, Machines, Tooling and Subcontract.
Click Create and select an action to perform after trial kitting.

Sales Order

The Create Sales Order window appears.

Select the customer from the Customer drop-down list.
Enter the Customer order number.
Enter the Document number, or, if automatic numbering is selected in Sales Order Processing, the following text is displayed in the Document number box:

TBA
Click OK.

This creates a sales order in Sales Order Processing. The sales order will be for the quantity specified.

The Document number is displayed.
Confirm whether you want to edit the order in Sales Order Processing.

Note: If you already have a works order set up in the system that you want to link the sales order to, you can do this in Sales Order Processing.

If you do edit the order, you will not be able to add items to the sales order for:
- Single batch items with none in stock.
- Phantom items.
- Inactive stock items.
- Warehouses that do not have the valid for sales check box selected.
- Stock items that do not have the Allow Sales Orders check box selected.
- Product Groups of a stock item that do not have the Allow negative stock option selected when there are no more items available (e.g. a traceable item).

Make to stock record(s)

This creates a set of make to stock Items that are not required for sales. records for each of the tasks entered, and, optionally, for each of the sub-assemblies required.

Enter the details which describe how make to stock records are created.
- Select Create records for Sub-Assemblies if you want to create a make to stock record for every sub-assembly where a shortage exists.
  
  Leave the check box clear if you do not want to create make to stock records for sub-assemblies.
- Select Release to Planning if you want the status of the make to stock record to be set to Released.
  
  Leave the check box clear to set the status to Entered.
- Enter the Due Date.
- Click OK.
  - Select a warehouse for each record that will be created from the Stock Item Warehouse Selection window.
  A message confirming the creation of the make to stock records is displayed.

Purchase Order(s)

Note: This is only applicable if you are only using the Bill of Materials module.

The Create Purchase Orders window appears.

The Qty To Order value defaults to the shortage value. You can change this, but if you try to enter less than the shortage value, a warning is given.
The preferred supplier is displayed by default. Select an alternative supplier if required.

Note: Changing the supplier recalculates the Order Date by applying the new Lead Time value.

The Alerts column will show you when supplier alerts have been set up for this supplier account.

To view the supplier alert messages, click the alert icon in the Alerts column.

See Supplier alerts.
The Lead Time default value is read from the supplier details. Enter a different value if required.
The Order Date defaults to today's date. Enter a different date if required.

Note: Changing the Order Date recalculates the Due Date by adding the Lead Time in days.
The Due Date is the Order Date plus the Lead Time in days. Changing the Due Date recalculates the Order Date (by subtracting the Lead Time in days).
Select a Warehouse for each item on the purchase order.
Click OK.

The Enter Supplier Reference Number window appears.
- Enter the Document number. If automatic numbering is selected in Purchase Order Processing, the following text is displayed in the Document number box:
  
  TBA
- Enter the Supplier Reference.
- Click OK.
  
  This creates a purchase order in Purchase Order Processing. The purchase order will be for the quantity specified.
  
  The Document number is displayed.

To close the Trial Kitting window, click Close.