Asset material

Each asset must have a material number, usually the model number from the manufacturer. This material might include a bill of materials to describe asset components as sub-materials.

If multiple instances of the same asset exist, they share the same material number but have unique asset names.

For example, these injection molding machines of the 'Injection Molding' type might exist:

Three machines are an older model (ELCO-23)
One machine is a newer model (PRAXO-J) from a different supplier

These model numbers are the asset material. This difference is not significant at the machine type level, but it is important for assets due to variations in sub-components and maintenance procedures.

When adding asset materials, the material class must be set to 'Asset'. MES uses this to identify the material as an asset. Asset materials must also belong to a material type. Typically, a single material type for assets is created, but materials can be split into multiple user-defined types.