Assembly Line Material Supply

The internal and/or external supply methods are as follows:

• Supplier
• Internal warehouse
• Production

The material supply methods are as follows:

• Push

  The shop floor warehouse is supplied based on planning information.

• Pull

  The shop floor warehouse is supplied based on a supply trigger.

  • KANBAN

    The supply is based on a manual trigger, such as the scan of a bar code. This method is mostly used for floor stock items for which no registration at shop floor warehouse is required.

  • TPOP

    The supply is triggered by a SIC run for the shop floor warehouse concerned.

  • Order Controlled / Batch (OCB)

    The supply is completed anonymously for multiple assembly orders together, based on triggers in the assembly process.

  • Order Controlled / SILS (Supply In Line Sequence)

    The supply is completed for every assembly order separately, based on triggers in the assembly process. The parts are delivered Just-in-time in the sequence that products are passing along the assembly line.

Linking generic items to assembly lines

Use this session to define which generic item can be produced on which assembly lines. LN requires this information to determine the master company of the generic item. Several processes can run only in the master company. For example, if you enter a sales order, LN creates a product variant in the master company. In the Configurable Item - Assembly Line (tiapl2100s000) details session, you can specify a basic sales price and standard cost.

Assembled items through warehousing after roll-off from main line

Store finished generic items - setup

This topic describes how to set up the items to be able to store the finished end product of an assembly order in inventory.

To store a finished generic item in inventory, you must define two items: a generic item and a standard item.

Both items represent the same physical item. In Assembly Control, you use the generic item. In Sales Control and Warehousing, you use the associated standard item.

To specify which standard item is associated with the generic item, use the Configurable Item - Assembly Line (tiapl2500m000) session.

Item settings

For the generic item and the standard item, use the following item settings:

The Serials in Inventory check box must be selected because Warehousing would otherwise not be able to distinguish between product variants.

Additional instructions

• The generic item and the standard item must have the same inventory unit.
• If you use unit effectivity, you must define both items as unit effective items in the Items (tcibd0501m000) session.

• If the standard item is lot controlled, you must use the lot-in-inventory type of lot control.

  To make an item lot controlled, select the Lot Controlled check box in the Items (tcibd0501m000) session.

  To use the lot-in-inventory type of lot control, select the Lots in Inventory check box in the Item - Warehousing (whwmd4500m000) session.

Standard cost calculation of the standard item

The standard item must have an effective cost component structure. The standard inventory valuation functionality for items in inventory requires such a cost component structure.

To specify the inventory valuation method, in the Item Data by Warehouse (whwmd2510m000) session, select a value in the Inventory Valuation Method field.

To obtain the most accurate inventory valuation, select an inventory valuation method based on actual costing. The recommended inventory valuation method is Serial Price (Serial).

If the inventory valuation method is Standard Cost, which is not an actual costing method, you must calculate a standard cost in the Standard Cost Calculation module. In this case, LN valuates the item against the calculated fixed transfer price (FTP) of the standard item and ignores differences between the product variants.

Storing finished generic items

Introduction

In LN, an item of type generic cannot be stored in inventory. To store a finished generic item in inventory, you must associate the generic item with a standard item. The item type of the standard item is Manufactured or Product.

Both items represent the same physical item. In Assembly Control, you use the generic item. In Sales Control and Warehousing, you use the associated standard item.

You can use this setup to carry out post-assembly operations in regular work centers after an item leaves the assembly line.

Setup

The items must have the following properties:

• The order system of the generic item and the standard item must be FAS.
• Both items must be serialized items.
• If you use unit effectivity, both items must be unit effective items.

To specify which standard item is associated with the generic item, use the Configurable Item - Assembly Line (tiapl2500m000) session.

Restrictions

If a manufactured item is associated with a generic item, you cannot do the following with that item:

• Use the item in Purchase Control
• Create a bill of material (BOM) for the item, or use the item as a component in another BOM
• Create a production order for the item, other than a rework order
• Plan the item in Enterprise Planning, because the item's order system is FAS

You cannot return an FAS item to the assembly line for rework.

Procedure

Sales order entry

To define a sales order line for a generic item that must be stored in inventory after completion, enter the associated standard item on the sales order line.

Based on the standard item that you entered, LN retrieves the generic item that is linked to this standard item in the Configurable Item - Assembly Line (tiapl2500m000) session.

LN sets the Delivery Type field on the sales order line to Warehouse.

You must define the generic item 's product variant in one of the following ways:

• Configure the generic item in Product Configuration or in Assembly Planning, as determined in the Configurator check box in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0100s000) session.
• Select a previously configured product variant.
• Use an external tool/system to deliver the configured product variant to LN.

Assembly order handling

If a sales order line has an item with the order system FAS, LN creates an assembly order in the Assembly Control module by running the Generate Assembly Orders (tiapl3201m000) session. The item on the assembly order is the generic item.

When the assembly order is sequenced, LN generates the end item's serial number.

When the assembly order's final operation is completed, LN completes the following actions:

1. LN generates a warehousing order to receive the finished item in inventory. The item on the warehousing order is the standard item.

   The assembly order status becomes Production Completed.

2. LN sets the Ownership field on the inbound-order line to Company Owned.

3. After the item is received in inventory, and any required inbound inspection has been performed, the assembly order gets the status Completed.

   If the item is rejected or destroyed after inspection, the relevant product variant obtains the status Canceled. If a product variant obtained the status Canceled, to continue processing the assembly order, manually cancel the sales order and create a sales order by using another product variant.

   The product variant is Canceled only when the following conditions are met:

   • The Sell Multiples of Same Configuration check box is selected.
   • A manufactured FAS item is listed on the sales order line.

LN links the as-built structure to the standard item instead of to the generic item.

Post-assembly operations

To perform additional operations on an item after the item comes off the assembly line, create a rework order.

Delivering to customers directly from the assembly line

Delivering to customers directly from the assembly line process is based on generic assembly items. For sales order processing, the Delivery Type field on the sales order is Work Center. A warehouse order is created and will be delivered from the work center to the customer.

For more information, refer to Product variants in Warehousing