Production
This is where you make and assemble your own goods — turning raw materials into finished products, batch by batch. You describe how a product is made once, then raise a job whenever you need to make some. Bizconnekt takes the materials out of stock as you use them and puts the finished output back in — keeping your counts and your costs right without you doing the sums.
This page explains the pieces in plain terms. The step-by-step guides for each screen are linked at the bottom.
Availability depends on your plan and your role.
The two halves of production
Production splits cleanly into two questions, and it helps to keep them apart:
| The question | Where it's answered |
|---|---|
| What should we make, and should we make it or buy it? | Demand Planning |
| When and where do we actually run it? | Scheduling, on the shop floor |
The first half is about the plan — deciding what your business needs to produce. The second half is about doing the work — putting a real batch through your machines and people on a real day. This guide focuses on the doing: describing a product, raising a job, and getting finished goods back into stock.
Two things describe every product you make
Before you can make something, Bizconnekt needs to know two different things about it. They answer two different questions, and it's easy to mix them up — so here's the clean split.
| What it answers | Think of it as… | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill of Materials (BOM) | What the product is made of | The shopping list — the parts and quantities that go into it |
| Work Order Process (route) | How the product is made | The recipe method — the stages it goes through, in order |
A cake makes the difference obvious: the Bill of Materials is "flour, sugar, eggs, butter" with amounts; the route is "mix → pour → bake → cool → ice", in that order. You need both — the list of ingredients and the method — to actually make the cake.
The full explanation of when each one applies is in BOM vs WO Process. In short: a Bill of Materials on its own is a parts list or a kit; production is driven by the route.
How a batch actually gets made
Once a product has its parts list and its route, making a batch follows a simple path:
- Raise a Work Order — this is the instruction to make a specific quantity of a product. It follows the product's route, stage by stage.
- Issue materials to the job — the parts the stages need are taken out of stock and handed to the work order.
- Run the stages — the batch moves through each stage of the route in order (for example cutting, then welding, then painting).
- Receive the finished goods — when the last stage is done, the finished product is received back into stock, ready to sell or use.
Throughout, Bizconnekt keeps the numbers honest for you: materials leave stock as they're issued, and finished output arrives in stock when it's received.
When you'd rather send the work out
Sometimes you don't make something in-house — you send materials to a vendor and they do a stage (or the whole job) for you. That's subcontracting, and it has its own document: a Job Order.
A Job Order works like a work order, except the work happens at your vendor's place. You send them the materials, they do the work, and you receive the finished (or part-finished) goods back. It's the right tool when a step — plating, machining, stitching — is done outside your own shop floor.
The pieces at a glance
| Piece | What it's for | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Bill of Materials | The parts list — what a product is made of | Bill of Materials |
| Work Order Process | The route — the stages a product goes through | Work Order Process |
| Work Order | Make a batch, in-house, following the route | Work Order |
| Job Order | Send work out to a vendor (subcontracting) | Job Order |
| Resource Scheduling | Decide when and where each job runs | Resource Scheduling |
| Material Flow | See materials go in and finished goods come out | Material Flow |
| Production Reports | See what production has produced and used | Production Reports |
Related guides
- BOM vs WO Process — parts list versus production route, explained
- Bill of Materials — describe what a product is made of
- Items — create the items you make and consume
- Stores & Inventory — where materials and finished goods are counted and valued
Need help? Contact support at support@bizconnekt.com