Subcontract Manufacturing
Subcontract manufacturing in ianaiERP sends production work to an outside company — a contract manufacturer — and brings the result back into your stock. A single send creates the documents that belong together and links them to each other: a purchase order for the vendor's fee, an outbound relocation that moves the materials you supply to the vendor, and, where something is built, a work order that tracks the job. When you receive the vendor's service on the purchase order, the finished goods come back to your warehouse.
Overview
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One Send, Every Document: The purchase order, material shipment and work order are created together and stay linked.
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Four Ways to Outsource: Have a vendor build a whole assembly, perform one service on your stock, or take on a single step of your routing.
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Materials Tracked at the Vendor: Stock you ship out stays visible while it is at the subcontractor, down to lot and bin.
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Real Job Cost: The vendor's fee is billed through the purchase order and, for work-order jobs, added to the finished item's cost.
Outsourcing Types
| Outsourcing type | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Full outsource | The vendor builds a finished item from a BOM. A work order is created for you. |
| Ad-hoc service | The vendor performs one service (plating, coating, machining…) on stock you send out, and the same stock comes back. No work order is created. |
| Routing operation | One step of an existing work order is done by the vendor. The step pauses until you receive the work back. |
| Outsource work order | An existing work order is sent out whole for the vendor to build. |
Setting Up
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Turn the feature on. In Work Order Settings, switch on Enable Subcontract Manufacturing. This adds the Subcontract menu under Manufacturing, the Send to Subcontractor action on items, lots and work orders, and the Subcontract operation type on routings and work orders.
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Mark the vendor as a contract manufacturer. Open the vendor and switch on Contract manufacturer. Only these vendors are offered wherever you choose a subcontract vendor, and their detail page gains a Materials at vendor tab.
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Create a service item for the fee. The vendor's charge is billed through an active item of type Service.
Where to Access
Open Send to Subcontractor from the starting point that matches the work:
| Start from | Opens as |
|---|---|
| Item list → Send to Subcontractor | Full outsource for an assembly item; Ad-hoc service for any other item. The item's default vendor is filled in when it is a contract manufacturer. |
| Lot list → Send to Subcontractor | Ad-hoc service, with that exact lot, bin and location already chosen. |
| Work Orders list (or a work plan line) → Send to Subcontractor | Outsource work order, with the item, quantity, location and components taken from the work order. |
You can switch between Full outsource, Ad-hoc service and Routing operation at the top of the dialog under Outsourcing type.
Key Attributes
Job details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Vendor (required) | A contract manufacturer. |
| Item to produce / Item to outsource (required) | What the vendor builds, or the stock that receives the service. |
| Service item (required) | The service item the fee is billed through. |
| Quantity (required) | How many units the vendor works on. |
| Unit cost / Total | The vendor's fee per unit, and unit cost × quantity — type either one. It defaults to the vendor's own price for the service item, or else the service item's purchase price. |
| BOM | For Full outsource: the item's active default BOM is picked for you when there is exactly one; otherwise choose it. |
| Work order / Routing operation | For Routing operation: the work order and the step to send. Steps already at a vendor or already complete are hidden. |
| Ship components from | Where your materials leave from. Required as soon as any component is supplied by you. |
| Due date, Department, Project code, Internal notes | Optional. |
| Drop-ship to the vendor | Records that components go straight from your supplier to the subcontractor. |
Supplied components
The BOM's components fill this table, scaled to the quantity. Set each line to Company (you ship it) or Vendor (the subcontractor provides it) — vendor-supplied lines are not shipped. Use Add component for anything the BOM did not bring in, and pick the lot, bin or serials where the item is tracked. Component quantities follow the service quantity until you edit a component's quantity or unit.
Key Functions
Send a job
Fill in the dialog and press Send to Subcontractor. The button stays disabled, with the missing piece shown beside it, until the form is complete. The result lists what was created — Purchase Order, Work Order and Outbound Relocation — each with Open.
Ship, receive and close the loop
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Complete the outbound relocation when the materials leave.
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When the vendor delivers, receive the purchase order's service line on an item receipt.
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Receiving the full service quantity finishes the job and brings the goods back — see Receiving Subcontract Work.
Good to Know
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The vendor's own location. The first send to a vendor creates a location named after it, ending in (Subcontract). It holds your stock while it is at the vendor and is not offered in ordinary location pickers.
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Stock is checked first. Before anything is created, the ship-from location must hold enough of every company-supplied, location-tracked component.
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Only location-tracked components travel. Components that are not location-tracked are not put on the outbound relocation; they are used up when the work order completes.
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Outsourcing a whole work order moves it to the vendor's location and removes its routing, since the vendor does every step. It is only possible while the work order is Pending — for one already issued or in progress, outsource individual routing operations instead.
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What cannot be sent. A work order that is complete, shipped or cancelled; a routing operation already at a vendor or complete; and a customer-owned processing work order.
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Where the fee goes. The fee becomes the purchase order's service line. For a work-order job it is also added to the work order as a subcontract service overhead, so it becomes part of the finished item's cost.
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Related companies. Picking a vendor that is one of your related companies shows Will be mirrored into that company.
Common Problems
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| The vendor I want is not in the list | Only active vendors with Contract manufacturer switched on are offered. Turn it on in the vendor record. |
| My service item is not offered | The fee must use an active item of type Service. Expense and inventory items are not listed. |
| "Not enough stock … at the ship-from location" | A company-supplied component is short at Ship components from. Pick another location, lower the quantity, or mark the component Vendor. |
| "Outsource it as a whole before it is issued" | Outsource work order only works on a pending work order. Outsource individual routing operations instead. |