Manufacturing inventory software for the stock around your line

A production plan is a promise until the materials are at the line. Most of the hours lost on a production floor are not lost at the machine. They are lost walking to the stores, looking for a pallet that the system says is there, and counting half-finished products nobody booked anywhere.

The BizBloqs Manufacturing module runs the stock around your production line: what goes in, what sits in between, and what comes out.

Materials to the line

Every production order starts with a pick. The module works from the bill of materials, the list of parts and quantities that go into the product, often shortened to BOM. It sends the operator to the right locations for the materials the order needs, and books each pick against that order.

You choose how fine you want it. Production can be tracked step by step, with materials picked and booked per stage. Or you collect every part the job needs into one set before the job starts, and that set travels through production as one unit. Collecting parts into a set like that is called kitting.

Kitting suits jobs where an operator should never leave the workstation. Step-by-step tracking suits long jobs where you want to know what was used at each stage.

Consumption that shows up the same day

There are two ways to book what production used. You can book it afterwards, using the standard quantities from the bill of materials. Or you can book it as it happens.

Booking afterwards on standard quantities is called backflushing. It is quick, and it works as long as nothing goes wrong. When an operator scraps three parts and takes three more, the system does not see it. The difference turns up weeks later at the stock count, and by then nobody remembers which job it was.

The Manufacturing module books consumption as production runs, so a shortage or an overuse is visible on the day it happens.

Work in progress has an address

Half-finished products are stock. Under the IAS 2 accounting standard, goods in the production process count as inventory, just like the goods on the shelf. In many factories they are also the stock nobody can count, because they sit on a trolley between two operations.

The module receives work in progress into its own location. It has a quantity and a production order, so you can see what is on the floor and what it belongs to.

What comes out of production

Three things leave a production line, and the module books all three:

• Finished goods. Received from production with a label, and put away like any other stock.
• Unused materials. The two metres of cable that were not needed go back to stock, so they are not bought again.
• Waste. Scrap is booked as waste, with the job it came from, rather than vanishing into a count difference.

Quality control sits in the same flow, so goods can be checked before they become available.

Operator time without a separate system

The module includes time registration. Operators can fill in timesheets, or use start, pause, resume and stop on the scanner. Every pause and stop carries a reason code, such as waiting for material or machine set-up.

That is shop floor data collection in its simplest useful form: you see where the hours went, per job, in the same system that holds the stock.

Where the module stops

Simple assembly does not need this module. The standard warehouse management system already handles assembly to order during picking, and assembly to stock. The Manufacturing module is for production with production orders, consumption, work in progress, waste and time.

Your ERP keeps finance and costing. Production planning is not a warehouse function: it stays in your ERP or planning software. The module executes the plan; it does not make it. The ERP and finance systems it connects to are on the integrations page. For the wider picture of how BizBloqs runs a manufacturer's warehouse and orders, see manufacturing WMS and order management.

A tidy stores starts with a clear location structure. The warehouse location system page explains how to set one up.

How the module fits

The Manufacturing module is not part of the SME solution. From SME+, it is added at a charge, plus its configuration. At Enterprise, all modules are included and you pay for the configuration. How BizBloqs is billed, without prices, is on the WMS cost page. The full list of warehouse features shows what else the platform does.

Bring a production order and its bill of materials to a demo, and we will walk it from stores to finished pallet. Book a BizBloqs demo.

What is the difference between booking consumption step by step and backflushing?

Backflushing books the materials afterwards, using the standard quantities from the bill of materials. It is quick, but any scrap or overuse disappears into a stock difference you find at the next count. Booking step by step records what was really used at each stage. The Manufacturing module tracks production step by step, or as a kit that travels through production as one unit.

Can operators record their time in BizBloqs?

Yes. The module includes time registration: either timesheets, or start, pause, resume and stop on the scanner, each with a reason code. That is your shop floor data collection without a separate system.

Does the module replace my ERP?

No. Your ERP keeps finance and costing. BizBloqs runs the physical side: the stock that goes into production, what comes out and where it all sits.

Can BizBloqs assemble products without the Manufacturing module?

Simple assembly is part of the standard WMS: assembly to order during picking, and assembly to stock. The Manufacturing module is for real production, with production orders, consumption, work in progress, waste and operator time.

What is kitting?

Kitting means collecting every part a job needs into one set before the job starts, so the operator does not leave the workstation to look for parts. The set is called a kit.