Launch a production order

Why this matters

After each batch, you would have to take the flour, sugar and packaging out by hand, then add the loaves. With a production order, a single action does both, following your recipe: the materials leave the stock, the finished product enters it, and the movements ledger keeps a trace of every production run.

Summary

A production order applies a bill of materials a certain number of times (the cycles). It runs as soon as you launch it: Genuka checks that the stock covers all the materials, consumes them, then creates the finished-product batch in the chosen warehouse. The recipe is frozen at launch: editing the bill of materials afterwards does not change this order.

Prerequisites

• The production_orders.create permission to launch, production_orders.view to view, production_orders.delete to delete.
• A bill of materials with at least one input and one output (see "Create a bill of materials").
• Enough stock for all the recipe's materials, multiplied by the number of cycles.

Steps

1. Open Settings › Catalog › Production Orders (/production-orders) and click New production orders.
2. In Bill of material, choose the recipe to apply. Its inputs and outputs are shown.
3. Enter the Cycle: how many times the recipe should be applied. Add a Note if needed.
4. Choose the Warehouse where you produce the product: this is where the finished product enters. This choice is required.
5. In Outputs data, fill in the batch number (Batch number field), the Production date and the Expiration date.
6. Read the Simulation: it shows what you are about to produce and, for each material, the required quantity against the available quantity.
7. Click Launch. The order is executed and its page opens.

What launching does

• Check first. If a single material is missing, nothing moves: the order is refused. The message is currently shown in English: "The production order cannot be produced with the current stock".
• Frozen recipe. The order keeps a copy of the bill of materials as it was at launch, with its quantities. Its page always shows that recipe, even if the bill of materials has changed or been deleted since.
• Materials consumed. Each material is taken from its batches, from the oldest to the newest, whatever warehouse they are in.
• Finished product created. Each output enters stock in the chosen warehouse, as a new batch that carries the batch number, production date and expiry date you entered. With no batch number, the batch takes the order's reference.
• Traceability. The Stock movements ledger records the consumption and the production, with the order's reference as the reason.

Fields and options

Edge cases and common mistakes

• The expiry date is filled in automatically to one year. If your product keeps for three days, correct it before launching: it decides the exit order at sale and the expiry alerts.
• Removing an input on the order screen does not change the recipe. Only the simulation takes it into account. To produce differently, edit the bill of materials before launching the order.
• The materials were taken from another warehouse. The chosen warehouse only concerns the finished product. Materials are taken from all the batches of the item, starting with the oldest, including batches marked damaged or held aside.
• The finished product has no purchase price. The produced batch enters stock with no cost. It therefore does not count in the Inventory cost or in the margin. Fill in its purchase price on the item's page, in Show advanced fields.
• The In progress and Completed counters stay at zero. An order launched from the dashboard runs immediately and receives no status. Only the Total counter reflects your production runs.
• A launched order cannot be edited. Its page is read-only; the Save button does nothing there. To correct, delete the order then launch it again.
• Deleting an order cancels the production. Delete puts the materials back in their batches and removes the finished product, without asking for confirmation. If part of the finished product has already been sold, its batch goes to a negative quantity: correct it afterwards with an adjustment.

FAQ

Can I prepare an order and launch it later? No. The order runs the moment you click Launch. Prepare the bill of materials in advance, then launch the order when the production is done.

Why is my production refused when I have stock? A single insufficient material blocks the whole order. Read the Simulation: the line whose required quantity exceeds the available quantity is the one to restock. You can also reduce the number of cycles.

Where can I see what a production run consumed? On the order's page, which keeps its recipe, and in the Stock movements ledger, by searching for the order's reference.

See also

• Create a bill of materials (the production recipe)
• Batches, expiry dates and stock exit order
• View the stock movements ledger
• Understanding stock — warehouses, batches, stock tracking and stockouts