Introduction to Manufacturing
The Manufacturing module of ERPNext v15 is supposed to streamline, control, and track the whole process of manufacturing, and make the process of manufacturing resources efficient and aligned with relevant business operations such as Inventory, Purchasing, Sales, and Projects. It supports both types of production, Make to Stock and Make to Order and it also allows tracking of the production costs, material planning and scheduling of operations and operations within work centers.
Workstations: Workstations represent physical points or devices that are individual and are used in carrying out manufacturing processes. This includes the machine, the conveyance line or employee stations. To equip a workstation, it is possible to install a:
- Hourly Operating Cost and Setup Cost
- Default Operation linked
- Capacity (in hours/day)
- Working Hours and Holiday List
This assists in proper cost estimation, capacity planning, and operation scheduling during Work Order execution.
Job Cards: Automated Job Cards are derived from Work Orders and are single operation tasks allocated to a specific worker and workstation. They enable:
- Recordation of actual start and completion times by operation
- Recording of scrap items and defective quantities
- Recording of actual time and effort by employee
- Initiating Material Requests and Stock Transfers in case of raw material needs per operation
Job Card completion updates the Work Order's operation progress, enabling real-time monitoring of production steps.
Bill of Materials (BoM): The BoM is the product blueprint, itemizing all raw materials, sub-assemblies, operations, and workstations needed to produce a single unit of a finished good. One BoM can contain:
- Each raw material quantity
- Default Workstations and Routing (operation sequence)
- Operation cost, scrap handling, and overheads
- Support for multi-level BoMs (for sub-assemblies)
ERPNext offers BoM versioning, and the BoM should be submitted and active to enable its utilization in manufacturing.
Work Orders: Work Orders are produced to initiate manufacturing according to a BoM. A Work Order enables the user to:
- Set the Item to Manufacture, quantity, and planned start date
- Generate automatically Job Cards and Material Requests
- Move raw material to WIP Warehouse
- Monitor production using Job Card completion
- Track scrap and finished goods quantities
Work Orders may be connected to Sales Orders or Production Plans and also handle Disassembly Orders in order to bring back parts of a finished product to stock.
Production Planning: Production Planning in ERPNext v15 assists in scheduling, organizing, and controlling production activities through matching resources with demand. It allows planners to:
- Consolidate requirements from Sales Orders, Material Requests, or manual entries
- Create Production Plans for multiple products with BOM validation
- Generate Work Orders and Material Requests automatically
- Allow target warehouses and monitor availability of materials
- Do capacity planning from the availability of Workstations
This makes production runs run efficiently and on time.
Quality Control: ERP Next’s Quality module is deeply integrated with manufacturing operations to guarantee products adhere to defined quality standards. It features:
- Creating Quality Inspection Templates referenced to Operations or Job Cards
- Capturing outcomes for in-process, incoming, and outgoing quality inspections
- Automatically initiating inspections from Work Orders or Stock Entries
- Capturing rejection reasons, defect types, and corrective actions
This ensures output quality consistency and assists in compliance tracking.
Inventory Management: The Manufacturing module works in conjunction with ERP Next’s Inventory system to manage:
- Raw materials, sub-assemblies, and finished goods
- Material movement to Work In Progress (WIP) warehouses
- Stock reservation against Work Orders
- Realtime information on material consumption, scrap, and production output
- Material valuation through methods such as FIFO, Moving Average, or Serialized
This provides inventory accuracy, eliminates wastage, and facilitates JIT production.
Reporting and Analytics: ERPNext v15 gives robust tools to analyze and track production operations through:
- Tracking work order progress
- Job Card time and cost analysis
- Scrap material tracking and cost implications
- Material consumption vs. plan
- Data-driven, customizable reports and dashboards for operation efficiency, production costs, and throughput
The Manufacturing module in ERPNext helps improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance overall production efficiency by providing a unified platform for managing all aspects of the manufacturing process.