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Most dry fruit businesses do more than simply buy and resell. They clean raw materials, grade them by size, roast or salt them, and package them in retail pouches or bulk packs. This transformation process - from raw input to finished packaged product - is managed through the Manufacturing module.
Manufacturing overview showing the flow from raw almonds through Work Order to packaged almond pouches in finished goods warehouse

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Who Uses This Feature

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Before You Start

To use manufacturing you need:
  • Items set up for all raw materials, packaging materials, and finished products
  • A Bill of Materials created for each finished product
  • Workstations defined for each processing step
  • Warehouses set up for raw material storage, work-in-progress, and finished goods

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Step 1: Create a Bill of Materials (BOM)

The Bill of Materials (BOM) is the recipe for a product. It lists every input and every processing step needed to produce one unit of the finished product. Example: BOM for “Roasted Salted Cashews 250g” Operations:

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Creating the BOM

  1. Go to Manufacturing workspace → Bill of Materials → New
  2. Set the Item to the finished product (Roasted Salted Cashews 250g)
  3. Set the Quantity to 1 (one 250g pouch, the base unit)
  4. In the Raw Materials table, add each input with its quantity
  5. In the Operations table, add each processing step with the workstation and estimated time
  6. Click Submit and then set it as the Default BOM for this item
Bill of Materials form for Roasted Salted Cashews 250g showing raw materials and operations tables

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Step 2: Create a Production Plan (Optional)

If you are planning a large production run based on Sales Orders or a weekly forecast, use the Production Plan to calculate what needs to be made and whether you have sufficient raw materials.
  1. Go to Manufacturing workspace → Production Plan → New
  2. Click Get Sales Orders to pull in all open orders for manufactured items
  3. The system calculates the required finished goods quantity
  4. Click Get Raw Materials to see what raw materials are needed
  5. The system flags any raw material shortages and can generate Material Requests to trigger purchasing
The Production Plan then generates Work Orders for each item to be produced.

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Step 3: Create a Work Order

A Work Order authorises and tracks a specific production run.
  1. Go to Manufacturing workspace → Work Order → New
  2. Select the Item to produce
  3. Select the BOM (the system suggests the default BOM)
  4. Enter the Planned Quantity to produce
  5. Set the Planned Start Date and Planned End Date
  6. Set the Source Warehouse (raw material store) and Work-in-Progress Warehouse
  7. Set the Target Warehouse (finished goods store)
  8. Submit
Work Order form showing item, BOM, planned quantity of 500 pouches, and warehouse settings
After submission, the Work Order is in Not Started status. You can see the exact quantities of raw materials required in the Required Items tab.

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Step 4: Issue Raw Materials to Production

Before processing can start, the Store Keeper transfers raw materials from the raw material warehouse to the Work-in-Progress (WIP) area.
  1. Open the Work Order and click Transfer Materials
  2. The system pre-fills the Stock Entry with the required raw materials and quantities from the BOM
  3. Confirm the Batch Numbers for each raw material being transferred
  4. Submit the Stock Entry
The raw materials are now in the WIP warehouse and the Work Order status moves to In Process.

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Step 5: Record Production Progress with Job Cards

As production progresses through each workstation, Machine Operators update Job Cards to record what has been done.
  1. Go to Manufacturing workspace → Job Card (or open from the Work Order)
  2. Open the Job Card for the current operation (e.g., Roasting)
  3. Enter the Start Time when the operation begins
  4. Enter the Completed Quantity as work progresses
  5. Enter the End Time when the operation is complete
  6. Submit
Job Card for Roasting operation showing start time, completed quantity, and total time taken
The Plant Floor view shows all active Job Cards across all workstations in real time so the Supervisor can see the production floor at a glance.

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Step 6: Record Finished Goods and Receive into Warehouse

Once all operations are complete and the Work Order quantity is produced, the Store Keeper creates a Stock Entry to receive the finished goods.
  1. Open the Work Order and click Finish
  2. The system creates a Stock Entry of type “Manufacture”
  3. The Source entries deduct the raw materials consumed
  4. The Target entry receives the finished goods into the finished goods warehouse
  5. Enter the batch number for the finished product
  6. Enter the expiry date for the finished batch (calculated from today + shelf life, or entered manually)
  7. Submit
The Work Order status moves to Completed.

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Recording Machine Downtime

When a machine stops unexpectedly, the operator records a Downtime Entry to capture the reason and duration.
  1. Open the relevant Job Card and click Record Downtime
  2. Enter the Start Time, Stop Reason, and Workstation
  3. When the machine is running again, enter the End Time and submit
Downtime data is visible in the Downtime Analysis report and helps the maintenance team prioritise preventive maintenance.

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Field Guide: Work Order

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Reports for Manufacturing Monitoring

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Cost of Production

The system captures the cost of each production run automatically:
  • Material cost: the value of raw materials consumed, taken from the stock valuation
  • Operation cost: based on the time recorded in Job Cards and the operating cost per hour set on each Workstation
  • Total cost per unit: calculated and available in the Work Order for pricing review

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Best Practices

  • Keep BOMs accurate and up to date. When a supplier changes the raw material density or you change the pack size, update the BOM before raising new Work Orders
  • Always issue materials against a specific Work Order, not as a free-form Stock Entry. This keeps production costs accurate
  • Record the expiry date on finished goods at the time of production receipt, not later. The batch’s shelf life clock starts from the production date
  • Check the BOM Stock Report before starting a large Work Order to confirm raw material availability. Running out of packaging material mid-production wastes processing time
  • Use the Plant Floor view during production hours so supervisors can spot stalled Job Cards without walking the floor

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Troubleshooting

The system shows insufficient stock to finish the Work Order. Either the required raw materials were not issued from the correct source warehouse, or another Work Order is consuming the same batch. Check the Stock Ledger for the raw material item. The Work Order shows as In Process but no Job Cards are being updated. The Machine Operators may not be submitting Job Cards, or the Job Cards may have been created but not opened. Check the Job Card list filtered by Work Order. The finished goods are not appearing in the target warehouse after clicking Finish. The Stock Entry (Manufacture) may be in Draft status. Go to the Stock Entry linked to the Work Order and submit it.