Material is issued to jobs in real time prior to starting job sequences.
All manufacturing companies have the same challenge
All manufacturing companies have the same challenge when it comes to tracking stock on hand. You need to know what’s actually on hand to plan jobs and POs, to know when jobs can be started, to know what can be issued to jobs, to know what can be shipped, and to be able to conduct stock counts.
Job release assures material availability
Jobs are only released to production when material is fully allocated to all job components and therefore the job release process assures that material will be available when needed for specific job sequences.
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Issue material on a “just in time” basis
Because material is fully allocated on job release, there is no need to hoard material in advance, which clogs aisles and staging areas. Instead, material can be issued on a “just in time” basis prior to job sequences being started.
Location control saves time and reduces errors
If you have been using a single “dummy” location against all items instead of actual locations, we highly recommend using location control. Tracking material by specific location saves time and reduces errors by making it easier to find items and detect and correct mistakes. It also adds a discipline to receiving, issuing, and picking processes that promotes a “real time” culture among shop personnel.
Boosting your manufacturing efficiency
Issuing material in real time is an essential element in boosting your manufacturing efficiency. Instead of bacflushing components after the fact so that you never know what is actually on hand and what has already been issued to work in process, you issue materials on a “just in time” basis for real time inventory tracking that benefits all your inventory-related processes.
What to Do
The Material icon indicates when material is needed
Within the work center queue in the Work Center Schedule screen, a red Material icon indicates when material is needed and has not yet been issued to a job sequence.
Any components assigned to the sequence are to be issued prior to sequence start. Additionally, if the First Seq checkbox is selected, this is the job’s first sequence, in which case all components that are not assigned to specific sequences are to be issued as well.
Click the icon to issue the material
To issue the material, click the icon in the Material field to launch the Job Issues screen, which is filtered to include just the components that are to be issued to this sequence.
Do not use the job traveler as an issue list
Do not use the job traveler as an issue list because it is not designed for that purpose and does not include location or lot and serial information. Components and quantity per amounts are listed on the traveler for manufacturing specification purposes.
Use the issue list or dispatch list
You can issue the material using the issue list or dispatch list method.
Issue List Method
The issue list is printed by clicking the Issue List button above the grid in the Job Issues screen. The issue list includes stock quantities by location and by lot and serial number and is limited to the components needed for this sequence. You print the issue list, gather the material, and then you return to the Job Issues screen to make your entries.
Dispatch List Method
The dispatch list method works in the opposite manner. You issue the material on the screen first and then you go to the Batch History tab and click the Dispatch button to print the dispatch list. The dispatch list provides a listing of the components, locations, and lot and serial values that were issued.
The dispatch list is highly useful if you rely on warehouse personnel to gather the material for you. You submit the dispatch list to the warehouse and it provides all the instructions needed for gathering and delivering the material to the work center.
Always issue material in real time
It is vitally important that material is always issued on the screen in real time when it actually gets issued out on the shop floor. This assures that on hand quantities are always accurate, which helps with stock counts and gives users confidence that inventory numbers have meaningful value.
Failure to issue affects downstream work centers
If material does not get issued against an associated job sequence, the material icon will continue displaying in red against all downstream job sequences until the material gets issued.
Return unused material and correct the BOM if needed
When a sequence is completed, any unused material should be returned to stock. This is done by clicking the Return button on the Transactions sub-tab within the Job Issues screen, which enables you to return a portion of the original issue amount back to stock.
If the unused material was due to an error in the bill of materials, it is vitally important that the BOM gets corrected immediately so that the error does not get perpetuated in future jobs.
