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Manufacturing: a screen-by-screen guide

Every page of the Manufacturing module in DesiERP, what it is for, how to use it, and what to enter in each field.

Manufacturing takes a product from a plan to finished stock. You decide what to make, raise production orders from the product's bill of materials, hand material to the shop floor, track each operation on job cards, inspect what was made and see what every run cost.

4 sections7 screens67 fields explained

Overview

One screen that shows how production stands today: open and late orders, material on the floor, work waiting at each work centre and the cost of what was made this month.

Dashboard

Menu path: /manufacturing/dashboard

A daily summary for the production manager or owner. It shows open, late and completed orders, material on the shop floor, open job cards, materials that are short and the rejection rate, with a list of what needs doing next.

How to use it

  1. Open Manufacturing > Dashboard at the start of the day.
  2. Read the line under the heading: how many orders are open, on the floor and late, and how many units were made this month.
  3. Check the figure cards; click any card to open the orders, issues, job cards or report it counts.
  4. Work through the Needs doing list: release draft orders, issue material, raise orders from draft plans, inspect completed output.
  5. Use Open orders, the nearest first to open an order that is due soon.
  6. Use Work waiting at each work centre to see the hours of open job cards per work centre.
  7. Press New Order to raise a production order straight away.

Columns in the list

Open orders (order number, product, quantity, status, material issued, operations done, due day)Work waiting at each work centre (hours, cards, days)Made this month by product (quantity and cost)Cost of production month by month (last six months)Last completed (date, made, rejected, cost each, inspection result)

Buttons and actions

PlanningOpens Production Planning.
Job CardsOpens the Job Cards list.
ReportsOpens Manufacturing Reports.
New OrderOpens Production Orders with the New Production Order form ready.
Figure cardsOpen orders, Late, Made this month, Cost of production, Material on the floor, Job cards open, Materials short and Rejected this month each open the list or report behind the figure.
Needs doing linksEach item (add a bill of materials, see late orders, what to buy, release drafts, issue material, raise orders from draft plans, inspect output) opens the page where it is done.

Good to know

If no bill of materials exists yet, the dashboard asks you to add one first; nothing can be made without it.

Work centre days are worked out from each work centre's hours a day.

Rejected this month counts units rejected during the run and at quality inspection.

Planning and production

Plan what to make from customer orders or low stock, then raise and run production orders. A production order scales the bill of materials to the quantity, goes to the floor and, when completed, puts finished goods into stock with their cost.

Production Planning

Menu path: /manufacturing/planning

Decide what to make before anything goes to the floor. A plan can fill itself from sales orders not yet shipped or from products below their reorder level, shows the materials and work-centre hours it needs, and raises the production orders.

How to use it

  1. Press New Plan.
  2. Press Fill from sales orders or Fill from stock levels, or Add a product to enter lines by hand.
  3. Check the To make quantity on each line and change it if needed; set a Needed by date.
  4. Press Save Plan. The plan's own page opens with materials needed and the load on each work centre.
  5. If materials are short, press New purchase order on the plan page to buy them.
  6. Press Raise production orders. A draft production order is made for each line and the plan becomes Confirmed.
  7. Release and complete the orders under Production Orders; close the plan when its work is done.

Fields on this screen (11)

FieldTypeWhat to enter
New Production Plan
Document TypeRequireddropdownWhat this document is and the numbering series its number comes from. The default type is selected for you. Types are set up under Document Types.
Document No.textRead-only. Shows the next free number of the chosen type; the number is given when you save.
Plan datedateThe date of the plan. Defaults to today; today is used if left blank.
NotetextA short note such as the week or the run, up to 400 characters.
Lines
ProductRequireddropdownThe product to make. Only products with a bill of materials are listed. A product can appear only once in a plan; put the total on one line.
WhytextShown, not typed: the reason the line is there, for example ordered on sales orders and not shipped, below its stock level, or added by hand.
WantednumberShown, not typed: the quantity customers ordered but not yet shipped, or the level to fill stock up to. Blank for lines added by hand.
In stocknumberShown, not typed: current stock of the product.
On ordernumberShown, not typed: quantity already on open production orders.
To makeRequirednumberHow many to make. A suggestion is Wanted less In stock less On order, so planning twice does not order twice. Must be more than zero; change it as you see fit.
Needed bydateWhen the product is needed. From sales orders it is the earliest due date. It becomes the planned date of the production order raised for the line (today if the date has passed).

Columns in the list

PlanDateWhat to makeQuantityNeeded byOrdersStatusDo

Filters and search

Status tabs: All, Draft, Confirmed, Closed (with counts)Search by plan, product or noteFigure cards: To make for customers and Below their level open a new plan already filled

Buttons and actions

New PlanOpens the New Production Plan form.
Fill from sales ordersAdds every product with a bill of materials that customers have ordered and not yet been shipped, netting off stock and open production orders.
Fill from stock levelsAdds every product you make whose stock plus open orders is below its reorder or minimum level, filled up to the maximum level where one is set.
Add a productAdds an empty line to fill by hand.
Save PlanSaves the plan as a draft and opens its page.
Open (eye)Opens the plan page: what to make, materials it needs, and the work it asks of each work centre.
RaiseMakes a draft production order for each line that has none and marks the plan Confirmed.
ChangeEdits a draft plan. A plan whose orders have been raised cannot be changed.
Close / Open againCloses a confirmed plan (its orders stay as they are) or reopens a closed one.
RemoveRemoves a plan that has no production orders raised from it.
New purchase orderOn the plan page, shown when materials are short; opens a new purchase order.
DownloadDownloads the list as Excel, CSV or PDF.

Good to know

Only products with a bill of materials can be planned.

A material is short when the plan needs more than the stock left after other open orders, plus what is already on purchase orders.

Work-centre hours are shown only when the product's bill of materials has operations (a routing).

A plan with orders raised cannot be removed; cancel its orders first, or close it.

Production Orders

Menu path: /inventory/production

A production order is one run of a product. It scales the bill of materials to the quantity, is released to the shop floor, has material issued and operations done, and is then completed: finished goods go into stock and the cost is worked out from material, labour and overheads.

How to use it

  1. Press New Order, choose the product and bill of materials, enter the quantity and planned date, and press Save Order.
  2. Press Release on the draft. Job cards are made for each operation and you are warned if a component is short.
  3. Open the order and press Issue material to hand components to the floor (optional).
  4. Start and finish each job card under Operations as the work is done.
  5. Press Complete. Enter what came out good, what was rejected and what was used, check labour and overheads, add batch and expiry if needed.
  6. Press Complete the run. Components leave stock, finished goods enter stock and the cost of the run is shown.
  7. Optionally press Inspect to record a quality check on what was made.

Fields on this screen (29)

FieldTypeWhat to enter
New Production Order
Document TypeRequireddropdownWhat this document is and the numbering series its number comes from. The default type is selected for you.
Document No.textRead-only. Shows the next free number of the chosen type; given when you save.
Product to makeRequireddropdownOnly products with an active bill of materials are listed. Cannot be changed after the order is saved.
Bill of materialsdropdownThe recipe to use, showing its batch size and which one is the default. If left empty the product's default bill of materials is used.
Quantity to makeRequirednumberHow many to make; must be more than zero. Components, labour and overheads are scaled from the bill of materials to this quantity.
Planned fordateThe day the run is planned for. Defaults to today. Orders past this date and not completed are shown as late.
WarehousedropdownWhere the run takes place. The default warehouse is selected; Not specified is allowed.
NotestextAny note about the order, up to 400 characters.
Issue or return material (order page)
Document TypeRequireddropdownThe type and numbering series of the material slip.
Document No.textRead-only. The slip number given when it is posted.
DatedateDate of the slip. Defaults to today and cannot be in the future.
NotetextFor example who took the material or which shift, up to 300 characters.
Issue / Return (per component)numberQuantity of each component to hand out or bring back. For an issue, what each line still needs is offered as far as stock allows. For a return, you cannot return more than was issued. Required, Out for this order and In stock are shown beside it.
Finish a job card (order page)
Time taken (minutes)numberMinutes the step took. Offers the time since the card was started, or the planned time if it was never started.
Done bytextOperator or team, up to 120 characters.
Came out goodnumberGood units from this step. Defaults to the planned quantity.
Rejected at this stepnumberUnits rejected at this step. Defaults to 0.
NotetextAnything the next step or the costing should know, up to 300 characters.
Complete the run (order page)
Came out goodRequirednumberGood units made; these go into stock. Defaults to the planned quantity.
Rejected in the runnumberUnits made but not usable. Their cost is carried by the good ones. Defaults to 0.
Why they were rejectedtextAppears when rejected is more than zero. The reason, up to 200 characters.
Used (per component)numberHow much of each component the run used. Defaults to what was issued, or the bill of materials quantity for what came out. Only what was not already issued is taken from stock now; issued but not used comes back. Completion is refused if stock is not enough, unless the product allows negative stock.
Labour for this run (₹)numberStarts from the job card times at each work centre's rate, plus other labour on the bill of materials, for the quantity that came out. Type over it if the run cost something else.
Overheads for this run (₹)numberWorked out the same way as labour; can be typed over.
Batch numbertextBatch of what was made, up to 60 characters. Required when the product is tracked by batch.
Made ondateManufacturing date of the batch. Defaults to today; cannot be in the future.
Expires ondateExpiry date of the batch. Required for perishable products; must be after the Made on date.
The product's cost pricedropdownLeave it as it is, Average it with the stock in hand, or Set it to this run's cost. The line below shows the cost before and after.
Raise a new order for the quantity still to makecheckboxShown when fewer came out than planned. Raises a new draft production order for the balance.

Columns in the list

OrderProductTo makeMadePlanned forCostStatusDo

Filters and search

Status tabs: All, Draft, Released, In progress, Completed, Cancelled (with counts)Search by order number, product or bill of materialsFigure cards: Short of material and Completed this month open filtered lists

Buttons and actions

New OrderOpens the New Production Order form.
Save OrderSaves a draft order with its components scaled from the bill of materials, and warns if material is short.
Open (eye)Opens the order page: materials, material slips, operations, cost, quality checks and order details.
Release / Release to the floorHands a draft to the floor, makes a job card for each operation of the routing and lists any shortages. If an approval rule is set for production orders, the order waits for approval first.
ChangeEdits a draft order; components and planned costs are rebuilt for the new quantity.
StartMarks a released order In progress and records the start date.
Issue material / ReturnOn the order page, posts a slip that takes components out of stock to the floor, or brings them back.
Raise orders for themRaises production orders for components that are made in-house and short.
Job card Start / Finish / Skip / ReopenWorks the operations of the order from its page.
Complete / Complete the runTakes components out of stock, puts finished goods in (with batch if given), works out the total and per-unit cost, closes open job cards at their planned time, and can update the product's cost price.
CancelCancels an order that is not completed. Material issued to it comes back to stock on a return slip.
RemoveRemoves a draft or cancelled order from the list.
Void slipOn the order page, voids a material slip while the order is on the floor; stock goes back to what it was.
InspectOn a completed order, opens a new quality check for its output.
DownloadDownloads the list as Excel, CSV or PDF.

Good to know

Only products with a bill of materials can be made. Add one on the Bill of Materials page first.

Issuing material is optional; an order completed without issues takes what it used from stock at completion.

A completed order cannot be cancelled because stock has moved; make a stock adjustment if something was wrong.

Completed orders appear on Stock Movement as Production and Production Use.

Shop floor

Day-to-day work on released orders: material slips handed to and back from the floor, job cards for each operation, and quality checks on what was made.

Material Issues

Menu path: /manufacturing/issues

Every slip of material handed to the shop floor for a production order, and every return. An issue takes components out of stock when it is posted; a return puts them back. Used by the store keeper and supervisor.

How to use it

  1. Press New Issue.
  2. Choose the production order (only released or in-progress orders are listed).
  3. Choose Issue material to the floor or Return material to stock, and press Continue.
  4. On the order page, enter the quantity for each component, the date and a note.
  5. Press Issue to the floor or Return to stock. The slip appears in this list.
  6. Use the eye button to open the order; use void to undo a slip while the order is on the floor.

Fields on this screen (4)

FieldTypeWhat to enter
New material slip
Document TypeRequireddropdownType and numbering series of the slip; the default is selected.
Document No.textRead-only; the next number of the chosen type.
Production orderRequireddropdownThe order the material is for. Only orders that are released or in progress are listed, with how many lines still need issuing.
What is it?dropdownIssue material to the floor, or Return material to stock. Continue opens the order page with the matching form.

Columns in the list

SlipDateForMaterialValueByKindDo

Filters and search

Tabs: All, Issues, Returns, Voided (with counts)Search by slip, order, product or component

Buttons and actions

New IssueOpens the dialog to choose the order and whether it is an issue or a return.
Open the order (eye)Opens the production order at its material slips.
Void this slipNeeds Delete permission. Allowed while the order is released or in progress; stock goes back to what it was before the slip.
Production Orders / Stock MovementOpen those pages.
DownloadDownloads the list as Excel, CSV or PDF.

Good to know

Issuing is optional. Issue first when the store and the floor are different people, or when a run takes days.

On completion, what was issued counts as already out; only extra use is taken, and issued but unused material comes back.

Cancelling an order returns everything that was issued to it.

Slips appear on Stock Movement as Production Issue and Production Return.

Job Cards

Menu path: /manufacturing/job-cards

The shop floor's work list: one card for each operation of each released order. Operators start a card when the step begins and finish it when done; the time taken at the work centre's rates is what the step cost.

How to use it

  1. Filter by status or choose a work centre to see its cards.
  2. Press Start when a step begins.
  3. Press Finish when it is done; enter the time taken, who did it, good and rejected quantities, and a note.
  4. Press Step done to save.
  5. Skip a step the run does not need; reopen a finished or skipped card to correct it.

Fields on this screen (6)

FieldTypeWhat to enter
Finish a card
Time taken (minutes)numberMinutes the step took. Offers the time since the card was started, or the planned time if it was not started. Cannot be negative.
Done bytextOperator or team, up to 120 characters.
Came out goodnumberGood units from this step; defaults to the order quantity.
Rejected at this stepnumberUnits rejected at this step; defaults to 0.
NotetextAnything the next step or the costing should know, up to 300 characters.
Filters
All work centresdropdownShows only the cards of the chosen work centre.

Columns in the list

Job cardOperationForPlannedTakenGood / rejectedStatusDo

Filters and search

Status tabs: All, Pending, In progress, Done, Skipped (with counts)Work centre dropdownSearch by card, order, product, operation or operator

Buttons and actions

StartMarks a pending card In progress and starts its clock.
FinishOpens the dialog to record time, operator and quantities; the card becomes Done and its cost is worked out.
SkipMarks a pending card Skipped; the run is not charged for it.
ReopenOpens a done or skipped card again while its order is on the floor.
Production Orders / Work CentresOpen those pages.
DownloadDownloads the list as Excel, CSV or PDF.

Good to know

Cards are made only for bills of materials that have operations (a routing), when the order is released.

A card can be finished without being started.

When the order is completed, cards still open are closed at their planned time, and labour and overheads start from what the cards say.

Quality Checks

Menu path: /manufacturing/quality

Record the inspection of what a completed production order made: how many were inspected, accepted and rejected, why, by whom, and a checklist of what was measured. Rejected units are taken out of stock.

How to use it

  1. Press New Check.
  2. Choose the completed order to inspect; the quantity still to inspect is shown and filled in.
  3. Enter the date, inspector, quantity inspected and the number rejected.
  4. If any were rejected, enter why.
  5. Fill in the checklist rows (what was checked, should be, found, OK); the last checklist of the product is offered again.
  6. Press Post the check. The result is Passed, Partial or Failed.

Fields on this screen (13)

FieldTypeWhat to enter
New quality check
Document TypeRequireddropdownType and numbering series of the check; the default is selected.
Document No.textRead-only; the next number of the chosen type.
What a production order madeRequireddropdownCompleted orders with output still to inspect, showing how much is left and the batch.
Inspected ondateDefaults to today. Cannot be in the future or before the order was completed.
InspectortextWho inspected, up to 120 characters.
Quantity inspectedRequirednumberMust be more than zero and not more than what is still to inspect. An order can be inspected a lot at a time.
RejectednumberUnits rejected; cannot be more than inspected. Rejected units leave stock (and the batch, if the run had one). The accepted count is shown below.
Why they were rejectedRequiredtextAppears and is required when any units are rejected; up to 200 characters.
Checklist
What was checkedtextThe point checked, for example length or weight, up to 120 characters. Up to 60 rows.
Should betextThe specification, for example 1200 mm ± 2.
FoundtextWhat was measured or seen.
OKcheckboxTicked by default; untick when this point failed.
New quality check
RemarkstextAnything else about this lot, up to 400 characters.

Columns in the list

CheckDateWhat was inspectedInspectedAcceptedRejectedInspector / reasonResultDo

Filters and search

Tabs: All, Passed, Partial, Failed, Voided (with counts)Search by check, order, product, inspector or reason

Buttons and actions

New CheckOpens the New quality check form.
Add a pointAdds a checklist row.
Post the checkSaves the check, sets the result and takes rejected units out of stock.
View (eye)Shows the check with its checklist.
VoidNeeds Delete permission. Voids the check and puts the units it rejected back in stock.
Completed OrdersOpens Production Orders filtered to Completed.
DownloadDownloads the list as Excel, CSV or PDF.

Good to know

Inspection is optional and comes after the order is completed.

Units rejected during the run itself are entered when the order is completed, not here.

If the run's output has already left stock, rejections that cannot be taken out are refused.

Rejections appear on Stock Movement as Quality Reject.

Reports

Ready-made manufacturing reports on output, material use, shop floor time, rejections and costs, each downloadable to Excel, CSV or PDF.

Reports

Menu path: /manufacturing/reports

A hub of manufacturing reports for owners and accountants: what was made and what it cost, material used against what it should have taken, time on the floor, rejections and how bills of materials price out.

How to use it

  1. Search by report name or pick a group: Production, Materials, Shop floor, Quality or Costing.
  2. Click a report to open it.
  3. For period reports, set From and To dates or click This month, Last month or This financial year.
  4. Search within the report and sort by any column.
  5. Press Download to save it as Excel, CSV or PDF.

Fields on this screen (4)

FieldTypeWhat to enter
Reports hub
Search reports by nametextFilters the report list as you type.
Report page
FromdateStart of the period. Defaults to the first of this month. The period is limited to five years; dates the wrong way round are swapped.
TodateEnd of the period; defaults to today and cannot be after today.
SearchtextFilters the rows of the open report.

Columns in the list

Production RegisterOpen Orders (Work in Progress)Output by ProductMaterial ConsumptionMaterial Issue RegisterMaterial ShortageWhere UsedJob Card RegisterWork Centre UtilisationScrap & RejectionsQuality RegisterProduction Cost VarianceBOM Cost Sheet

Filters and search

Group buttons: All, Production, Materials, Shop floor, Quality, CostingSearch by report nameOn a report: From and To dates, This month, Last month, This financial year, search

Buttons and actions

Open a reportShows the report with headline figures and a table; order, job card, check and slip numbers link to the record.
DownloadDownloads the open report as Excel, CSV or PDF.
All reportsReturns to the hub.
Dashboard / Production OrdersOpen those pages from the hub.

Good to know

Period reports read what happened in the period: orders by completion day, slips by date, job cards by finish day, checks by date. Open Orders, Material Shortage, Where Used and BOM Cost Sheet show how things stand today.

Stock Movement is also linked from the Costing group, showing production issues, returns and rejections beside other stock movements.

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