BOM for Complete Project instead of Individual Items

ERPNext Manufacturing
1

Hi, I am looking to work BOM with a new scenario. Will anybody help with following scenario.

Usually at ERPNext, BOM is built for the Individual product. Let’s say, for a Furniture Company. BOM is built for making a Table instead of a complete project which also includes Chair, Interior, all other types of furniture along that table as well. If required, we have to create multiple new BOM.

So, as I mentioned scenario of Furniture Industry. If a BOM is created for an individual item which is required for a chair i.e. “Plywood Sheet”, only that particular item can be managed with created BOM as of now. While, If we think of cutting cost or looking forward to next level, the existing scenario not suits here.

What Carpenter does, a BOM created for a table, as requested contains “3 plywood sheet” and he had used only 1.75 part from 3 sheets. Wastage 1.25 part, can be used for other Interiors as well. But, Irony is that another BOM is also created for other Interior stuff. and hence, there is no tracking of the wastage.

What I would like to do, instead of multiple BOM for Individual Items, A project BOM should be created. By removing doctypes for Product, or any kind of Product Info there(what exactly have to develop), also Let Store Manager does not confuse with Product. Instead, that manager can maintain every record for that project, instead of multiple items. Like nobody knows, what exactly has to be made with that BOM requirement.

How can be achieved? or Is this correct way to create BOM. If any alternatives or another kind of solution exist, please let me know. Thanks alot.

2

Hello Community,

Any help on this concern?

3

Bill of Material is most useful in repetitive production. For example, making a bottle of shampoo or a batch of 20 tons of shampoo that is filled in different sized bottles or drums or whatever. Her you would make 10000s of small items out of 1 batch and makes sense to understand all the requirement to make that batch. So you use the BOM to backflush the requirement and go ahead and buy it.

For bespoke projects (which seems to be your case), where you have a requirement of 1 square table with 2 chairs and next time a circle table with 3 chairs, BOM is not the best use. Because the amount of time you require to manage it might not be worth it. That being said, if you have standard furniture with projects that mix and match these, you have something called product bundle. Might be worth exploring.

Finally, what is it that you want to achieve? :slight_smile: Or what is it that you want to optimize to help your manager/contractor…? The how can follow :slight_smile: In other words what is your use case?

4

Hi, Thanks @Deepak_Pai for replying.

Product Bundle is a different thing, which helps if I want to assemble product like chair support portion, Leg portion, sitting portion. I don’t want make them organize.

I need a BOM, which is helping me for Bills of Materials for a project, expected cost and store availability. What I want, I don’t want to create different BOM’s for chair-1, chair-2, table-1, table-2, table-3 and interior-1, interior-2 and so on. When I know already how much material should be covered to make them build. I want to make them map with Project instead of Item.

All I have to make two BOM types in existing ERP, one which is already we are using, another one is by just not mapping it with item instead only map with a project. So, I can use both type of BOM-1(Item) and BOM-2(Project) as per my requirement.

Either one more option, I have to select every time whether new BOM which is going to creating is based on Item or Project. This may be feasible.

Hope, now everyone can help me.

5

Due to no answer, since question has been asked 2 days ago. I want to tag some awesome people who are awesome with manufacturing module. @JayRam sir, @Ben_Cornwell_Mott @umair !! Will you please look into this?

6

I am sorry, but I am unable to understand your challenges. Are you trying to optimize the products you manufacture, based on the raw material you consume? You are awesome with words, but if you could use fewer words :slight_smile: and use a complete example, we could perhaps see what your awesome mind has visualised.

2 Likes
7

Oh, I have to work on words. I’m going to explaining 3rd time. Really sorry for being not good speaker.

Let’s again take an example of a furniture based shop. In other almost all manufacturing domain, where raw material is manufactured can go ahead with existing ERPNext BOM Module. What I mean with existing BOM Module is, Create New BOM > Just select Product what you are going to build this time and hence, that BOM is built for that Product.

Let’s say BOM is going to build for making a mobile. I need 1 mic, 1 chip, 1 camera and so on. Almost every requirement furnished at BOM will fit to making mobile, anyhow something remaining can be scrap or can be returned to the warehouse. There are no issues with this.

Let’s change Industry type. This time furniture based shop. Let’s I received a project that I have to furnish a home, also require making dining set and two tea table, along with TV showcase. I just assumed that 3 plywood sheet, 20kg solid wood, polish color whatever required, I had mentioned in existing BOM (all individually like separate BOM for TV Showcase, Dining Table, Chairs etc).

As per calculation everything good and had done this job accordingly to BOM. Now what, with lots of scraps, In short I had done my loss. Let me explain, now after a job I have 3 plywood piece which one is 20% of a complete sheet, second one 40% and third one 60% as a scrap. This is because I had done job accordingly to BOM furnished by system.

Let’s do it Carpenter mind, as they are already implementing this trick, nothing new to this. Let’s do same furniture job again, this time not making BOM individually with Items/Products. This time BOM is for complete Project(same project i.e. Dining Set, TV Showcase etc). Carpenter is already awesome with his 6th sense, he will borrow only 2 plywood sheet instead of 3 this time. He has to finish Project this time, not have to manufacture dining set individually as per existing BOM.

Now, what he does. He managed both plywood sheets in making all of them, without any scrap. Because, this time 20% and 40% plywood sheet, was already managed.

So, what I want to say basically, If my shop required BOM according to Item, I’ll prefer that otherwise, I will prefer BOM as per Project. Nothing has to be done, just have to map Project this time instead of Item with different DocType “bom-project”.

Might be, It is already there, and I missed that. Let me know sir. Sir, I request you @JayRam sir, just have look into this BOM situation, as above scenario mentioned, BOM for a complete project instead of Individual Items.

8

There is a feature called multi-level BOM or NESTED BOM, might be useful for you.

Basically what it does is the following :
(1) Create BOMs for your chairs etc.
(2) Then Create a MASTER BOM with these BOMs for chairs.

And when you start your project, go for the master BOM. So the carpenter knows exactly how many chairs etc needs to be produced for his batch (because he knwos he needs to make 2 chairs, 3 tables…) And this awesome carpenter can order exactly that. Instead of one at a time. Sorry (I am trying to understand your requirement).

Also when you do a sales order for this master project, it will help you order exactly the combined amount of wood etc.
How to do it? This thread below might help.

https://github.com/frappe/erpnext/issues/6312

9

Okay, I think I understand now. You are saying have a combined BOM for multiple items that you can manufacture: like if you can make 2 Chairs, 1 Table and 1 Bookshelf from 1 Wooden Sheet, you want to be able to add multiple items to make into a BOM and add the combined raw materials for that.

I think that’s a very good suggestion and users will find ERPNext more intuitive and easier to use. We definitely will factor this in as we look to enhancing the manufacturing module.

But in the meanwhile here are some workarounds:

  1. I think you have set up the UOM of the sheet to be Nos and hence can only issue 1 Nos. Sheet into production (because that’s how the ERPNext is set up). Create a new UOM called Sheets and don’t check the “Must be Whole Number Only” box. Now set your BOMs to only use a fraction of the sheet - like a chair uses 0.25 of the sheet, a table 0.35, etc. So, if you can do the cutting at the Store before you issue the sheet you are good, if not it becomes a bit more complicated. Create another warehouse called Issued for Cutting and Return and do a stock transfer of 1 Sheet and include the items for which you are issuing that sheet for. As the sheet gets cut, the part that gets used in manufacturing, gets transfered to the shop floor and the rest gets transferred back to the store.

  2. You can also create an item called Combo1, Combo2, etc. Here the idea could be to ensure that the generation of scrap is minimized. You call into this Combo BOMs the combination of products that are optimal and minimize wastage.

I think you will need both 1 & 2.

Hope that helps.

Thanks

Jay

1 Like
10

You can use alternate solution if BOM is not fixed.

  1. Make Project for each Customer/Sales Order.
  2. Make Material Request/ Stock Entry against Project/ Sales Order.
  3. At the end, you will get report, how much item consumed against Each Project.

Drawback:

  1. Before Production, you can not get costing and total qty of Item needed. You need to calculate raw material qty manually in material request.
11

Thanks a lot sir.

Furniture Business is that kind of business where requirement often changed. Often word even don’t good here, you may say “Furniture Business is that kind of Business where daily even just next project is changed”.

Even we go through either assembly part or manufacturing part. If we go through “Product Bundle” or “assembly of raw materials”, the probability is that level of vast of any project, that needs at-least minor updations with existing part. In that case, neither duplicating will work nor product bundle will work. Even as per your suggestions, by creating “Cutting & Return Warehouse” will also not work.

However, these all will remains as a feature for my requirement. They will only be useful, if the repetitive job offered to us. Even Nested BOM will also not work.

While, if Project is selected instead of Item, at creating BOM, will only work. Letter on, can be tracked with Project as well. Hope you understand.

12

Can anyone help to map BOM with Projects only instead of Item there? Anyone. I had tried but failed everytime. Any custom script?

13

@aaimaa, I dont know if you found a solution to your problem, I’m having difficulties defining BOMs for service industry too. One way to look at your problem would be to use UOM (unit of Measure) as Metre, instead of using units (sheets).