Order Processing

System Location: Data Entry > Orders > Orders > Process / Unprocess

Processing an order assigns a Job Number and calculates requirements for each (unprocessed) line item present. The behavior of the system when orders are processed depends largely on the Company Maintenance option labeled Automatically Post Parts as discussed later in this topic.

Production related work cannot begin on a line item in JobBOSS2 until it has been processed and received a Job Number.

Processing An Order

Order Header - Unprocessed

The Process button displays in either of the following situations:

  • When a new order is being created
  • When additional line items are added to a previously processed order

In either situation, clicking Process causes the following to take place for every unprocessed line item present on the order:

  • Each line is assigned a Job Number.
    • Processed line items are referred to as jobs and represent individual production runs.
    • Every job must have a unique Job Number.
    • Each job has its own set of production related details.
    • Production related work cannot begin on a line item until it has a Job Number.
  • Job requirements are calculated.
    • Material requirements are based off of Bill of Material (BOM) items.
      • When the unit used for estimating purposes is the Stocking Unit (EA, BAR, FT, etc.):
        • Quantity Required = Quantity Ordered * Quantity Needed to Make 1 Unit
      • If the calculation results in a decimal value, be aware that only whole units of material can be stocked / pulled from inventory.
      • When the Unit used for estimating purposes is P (Parts per Stocking Unit):
        • Quantity Required = Quantity Ordered / Number of Parts Per Stocking Unit (ROUNDED UP TO NEAREST WHOLE VALUE)
    • Service requirements are created from Vendor Steps located on the Routing of the Estimate.

The system only calculates job requirements if an Estimate is used in the creation of a job. If an Estimate is not used, job requirements and routing information will have to be added to the job directly.

  • If the option to Automatically Post Material is selected in Company Maintenance, the system will make material available to post during processing; otherwise it assumes material requirements will be filled later and simply creates the Jobs and their related requirements regardless of availability.

Posting Material

As previously noted, the ability to post material when a Job is processed depends on how the option to Automatically Post Parts is configured in Company Maintenance.

For more information see Company Maintenance.

ClosedSystem Behavior: Automatically Post Parts Selected

The scenario below assumes parts are made on demand or made in advance and are already available to post from inventory. For information regarding the creation of Stock Jobs for the purpose of "robbing" (or diverting) from them during production, see System Location: Data Entry > Orders > Orders.

  • The Line Item Quantity Specification Utility displays, providing the user information about the Part listed on the first Job being processed.

  • Acceptable characters are a dash (-) and alpha numeric characters (0-9, A-Z).

Line Item Quantity Specification Utility

  • The system compares the Quantity On Hand against the Quantity Ordered (of the Part listed on the Job).
  •  Based on the results of the comparison it will post as many units as needed or as many as available.
    • It will post as many units from the On Hand Quantity as needed to meet the Quantity Ordered.
    • Any units that cannot be posted immediately from inventory will be expected to be made on the Job being processed.
  • If there are enough units of the Part being made to meet the customer's demand, there is no need to look to the Materials Section.
    • The system assumes the finished Parts will be pulled from inventory and shipped to the customer.
  • If there are not enough units available to meet the Quantity Ordered the system will look to the Materials Section to see what will be required to make the remaining units.
    • The Materials Grid is populated from the BOM of the associated estimate if one is used. If not, the user could manually select the material components needed and designate the Quantity Required here or wait and enter the information as job requirements once processing is completed.
    • For each item listed in the Materials Grid the system performs the same type of calculation:
      • Quantity On Hand is compared against Quantity Required.
      • The system posts as much material as needed or as much as is available depending on the result of the comparison.
      • If there is not enough material available, the remaining is listed as the Quantity To Buy / Make.
  • Whole quantities are posted from inventory regardless of the Quantity Required.
  • When STOCK Releases are present the system ignores On Hand Quantities and automatically looks to the Materials List to determine what is needed to make the quantity listed as going to inventory.

At this point, the user can accept the assumptions made by the system or edit them.

  • Material may need to be posted from specific Lots or Bin Locations.
  • If material is not needed immediately the Quantity to Post may be reduced, even if there are Quantities On Hand.
    • If system assumptions regarding quantities are changed the utility will automatically recalculate required quantities accordingly.

When ready to continue, the user can click "OK" or "OK All".

  • OK: If additional line items (parts) are present that need to be processed, the system displays the Line Item Quantity Specification Screen for the part to made on the next job.
    • The system will go through the same process as described above.
    • The user can accept the system assumptions or edit them.
    • When ready, the user can click OK or OK All.
    • The same process will continue for as many Jobs that need to be processed so long as the user continues to click OK.
    • Once the final job has been processed the system closes the order record and updates the database accordingly.
  • OK All: The utility automatically processes all remaining Jobs using system assumptions
    • The user no longer has the ability to edit quantities.
    • When all Jobs have been processed the system closes the order record and updates the database accordingly.

Subassemblies will have their own Job Number if they are not posted from inventory during processing.

ClosedSystem Behavior: Automatically Post Parts NOT Selected

Once Job Numbers are assigned and job requirements calculated, the system automatically closes the order record and updates the database accordingly based on the assumption that material requirements will be filled in the future.

The system will not look to On Hand Quantities for either the items being made or any needed material components - including subassemblies - during Order Processing when the option to Automatically Post Parts is not selected. Once subassembly Jobs are created, the assumption is that these parts will be made during the production process as opposed to being posted from inventory.

Make to Order or Make in Advance?

Perhaps the most important consideration is when manufactured parts, including subassemblies, are made. If they are made in advance and placed into inventory for immediate shipping, leaving this option enabled is the most logical choice. The reason - once Jobs are created, posting manufactured parts from inventory does NOT fulfill the need for the Quantity Ordered.

If parts are made to order, the decision to use this option may depend on other factors.

Timing of Order Processing

When material is posted to a job it is immediately considered to part of Work in Process (WIP) and is no longer included in On Hand Quantities. If a job is processed but work does not begin on it for an extended amount of time, having material posted to it could lead to inefficiencies in material usage.

Personnel Considerations

Is the person that enters orders qualified to determine what material is used? If not, perhaps having someone else use the Fill Job Requirements Utility once jobs are created would work better.

Given the impact this can have on the production process, it is worth taking the time to consider how to best use this setting for each environment.

Unprocessing An Order

Order Header - Processed

The Unprocess button displays once all the line items on the order have been processed and assigned Job Numbers.

When available, clicking Unprocess removes assigned Job Numbers and places each line item back into an unprocessed state. This makes it possible to change the Quantity Ordered for one or more line items and then have the system re-calculate requirements by clicking Process again.

The option to unprocess an Order is only available if no production related actions have been taken on any Job present on the Order.

An Order cannot be unprocessed once any of the following has taken place with regards to any Job:

  • Production related records have been created, including:
    • Time Tickets
    • Purchase Orders (Received or not)
    • Miscellaneous Job Costs
  • Any quantity has been shipped
  • Any quantity has been canceled or a Job has been closed

The only transaction that can be "undone" is the posting of material so long as nothing else has been done. The assumption here is that material can be placed back into inventory if work has not begun.

If an Order cannot be unprocessed, quantities can still be changed; however related requirements would have to be manually adjusted.

Requirements are calculated ONLY when a Job is processed.

Back to Order Entry