Walkthrough: Selling, Assembling, and Shipping Kits

Note

This walkthrough requires sample data that is not available in the default demonstration company in Business Central. For more information, see To create a company with complete sample data in a sandbox.

To support just-in-time inventory and the ability to customize products to customer requests, assembly orders can be automatically created and linked as soon as the sales order line is created. The link between the sales demand and the assembly supply enables sales order processors to customize the assembly item and promise delivery dates according to component availability. In addition, assembly consumption and output are posted automatically with the shipment of the linked sales order.

Special functionality exists to govern the shipping of assemble-to-order quantities, both in basic and in advanced warehouse configurations. When workers in charge of assembly finish assembling parts or all of the assemble-to-order quantity, they record it in the Qty. to Ship field on the warehouse shipment line, in advanced configurations, and then choose Post Shipment. The result is that the corresponding assembly output is posted, including the related component consumption, and a sales shipment for the quantity is posted for the linked sales order. This walkthrough illustrates the advanced warehouse process.

In basic warehouse configurations, when an assemble-to-order quantity is ready to be shipped, the warehouse worker in charge posts an inventory pick for the sales order lines. This creates an inventory movement for the components, posts the assembly output, and the sales order shipment. For more information, see Handling Assemble-to-Order Items in Inventory Picks.

About This Walkthrough

This walkthrough demonstrates the following tasks:

Setting up Assembly Items

Assembly items are characterized by their replenishment system and the assembly BOM. The item’s assembly policy can be either assemble-to-order (ATO) or assemble-to-stock (ATS). This section covers the following tasks:

• Setting the appropriate replenishment system and assembly policy on a new assembly item card.
• Creating an assembly BOM that lists the assembly components and the resource that go into the assembly item.

Selling Customized Assembly Items

Business Central provides the flexibility to enter both an inventory quantity and an assemble-to-order quantity on one sales order line. This section covers the following tasks:

• Creating a pure ATO sales order line where the full quantity is unavailable and must be assembled before shipment.
• Customizing ATO items.
• Recalculating the unit price of a customized assembly item.
• Creating a mixed sales order line where parts of the sales quantity is provided from inventory and the remaining part must be assembled before shipment.
• Understanding ATO availability warnings.

Planning for Assembly Items

Assembly demand and supply are handled by the planning system, just like for purchase, transfer, and production. This section covers the following tasks:

• Running a regenerative plan for items with sales demand for assembled supply.
• Generating an assembly order to fulfill a sales line quantity by the demanded shipment date.

Assembling Items

Assembly orders function in a similar way as production orders, expect the consumption and output is recorded and posted directly from the order. When the items are assembled to inventory, the assembly worker has full access to all header and line fields. When the items are assembled to an order where the quantity and date are promised to the customer, then certain fields on the assembly order are not editable. In that case, the assembly posting is performed from the warehouse shipment for the linked sales order. This section covers the following tasks.

• Recording and posting assembly consumption and output to inventory.
• Accessing a warehouse shipment line from an ATO assembly order to record assembly work.
• Accessing an ATO assembly order from a warehouse shipment line to review the automatically entered data.

Shipping Assembly Items, from Stock and Assembled to Order

Special functionality exists to govern the shipping of assemble-to-order quantities. This section covers the following tasks:

• Creating a warehouse pick for inventory assembly items and for assembly components to be assembled before shipment.
• Registering warehouse picks for assembly components and then for assembly items.
• Accessing an assembly order from a warehouse shipment to review picked or consumed components.
• Shipping assemble-to-order quantities.
• Shipping inventory assembly items.

Roles

This walkthrough demonstrates tasks that are performed by the following user roles:

• Sales Order Processor
• Planner
• Assembly Worker
• Picker
• Shipping Responsible

Prerequisites

Before you can perform the tasks in the walkthrough, you must do the following:

• Install Business Central.
• Make yourself a warehouse employee at WHITE location by following these steps:

1. Choose the icon, enter Warehouse Employees, and then choose the related link.
2. Choose the User ID field, and select your own user account on the Users page.
3. In the Location Code field, enter WHITE.
4. Select the Default field.

Prepare WHITE location for assembly processing by following these steps:

1. Choose the icon, enter Locations, and then choose the related link.

2. Open the location card for WHITE location.

3. On the Bins FastTab, enter W-10-0001 in the To-Assembly Bin Code field.

   By entering this non-pick bin code, all assembly order lines are ready to receive their components in the bin.

4. In the From-Assembly Bin Code field, enter W-01-0001.

   By entering this pick bin code, finished assembly items will be output to the bin.

Remove the default lead time for internal processes by following these steps:

1. Choose the icon, enter Manufacturing Setup, and then choose the related link.
2. On the Manufacturing Setup page, on the Planning FastTab, remove the value in the Default Safety Lead Time field.

Create inventory for assembly components by following Prepare Sample Data.

Story

On January 23, Susan, the sales order processor takes an order from The Device Shop for three units of Kit B, which is an ATO item. All three units are customized and must contain the strong graphics card and an extra RAM block. The disc drives are upgraded to DWD because the CD drives are unavailable. Susan knows that the units can be assembled immediately, so she leaves the suggested shipment date of January 23.

At the same time, the customer orders fifteen units of Kit A with a special request that five units be customized to contain the strong graphics card. Although Kit A is typically an assemble-to-stock item, the order processor combines the sales line quantities to sell ten units from stock and assemble five customized units to the order. The ten units of Kit A are unavailable and must first be supplied to inventory by an assembly order according to the item’s assembly policy. Susan learns from the assembly department that Kit A units cannot be completed in the current week. She sets the shipment date of the second sales order line, for the mixed ATO and inventory quantity, to January 27 and informs the customer that the 15 units of Kit A will be shipped four days later than the three units of Kit B. To signal to the shipping department that this sales order requires assembly processing, Susan creates the warehouse shipment document from the sales order.

Eduardo, the planner, runs the planning worksheet and generates an assembly order for ten standard units of Kit A with an internal due date of January 27.

Sammy, who is responsible for shipping, gets three warehouse shipment lines for the sales order: One line for the three pure ATO units, one line for the five ATO units on the mixed sales order line, and one line for the ten ATS units on the mixed sale order line. He creates a warehouse pick document for all the assembly components that are needed to assemble the total of eight ATO units on the warehouse shipment document.

John, the picker, retrieves components for all the ATO quantities on the warehouse shipment document and brings them to the assembly area. He enters the quantity to handle and registers the warehouse pick.

Linda assembles the three ATO units of Kit B. The components are already picked, and she does not record output and consumption quantities or post the order, because both of these actions are performed automatically through the related warehouse shipment lines.

Sammy records the assembled quantity on the warehouse shipment line and posts the shipment of the three units of Kit B. The first line on the sales order is updated as shipped. The linked assembly order remains open until the sales order is fully invoiced. The two warehouse shipment lines, one ATO and one ATS, for Kit A with due dates on January 27 remain open.

On January 27, Linda processes two assembly orders for Kit A. The first order is the ATO order for five units, which she processes differently than the ATO order for Kit B that she processed on January 23. On this order, she is authorized to access the warehouse shipment line herself to record the completed assembly work. The needed components are ready in the assembly department, as they were picked together with components for Kit B.

The second assembly order is the ATS order for ten units that were created by the planning system. On this ATS order, Linda performs all involved actions from the assembly order. She creates a warehouse pick document for the assembly components that are needed to assemble the ten units. When the PCs are assembled, Linda posts the assembly order and thereby signals that the items are available in inventory and can be picked for shipment.

Sammy creates a warehouse pick document for any quantities that remain before the warehouse shipment can be posted. A pick document is created for the ten units of Kit A that have just finished. The components needed to assemble the five units of Kit A to order where picked on January 23.

John brings the ten units of Kit A from the warehouse to the specified shipping area, records the quantity to handle, and then registers the pick.

Sammy packs the ten ATS units with the five ATO units that Linda assembled earlier in the day. He fills in the quantity to ship on both lines and then posts the last shipment for The Device Shop. The related assembly order for five units of Kit A is automatically posted. The second line on the sales order is updated as shipped. Two linked assembly order remains open until the sales order is invoiced and closed.

When the sales order is later posted as fully invoiced, the sales order and the linked assembly orders are removed.

Prepare Sample Data

1. Choose the icon, enter Whse. Item Journals, and then choose the related link.

2. Choose the Batch Name field, and then select the default journal.

3. Create positive inventory adjustments at WHITE location on the work date, January 23, by entering the following information.

   Item No.	Zone Code	Bin Code	Quantity
   80001	PICK	W-01-0001	20
   80005	PICK	W-01-0001	20
   80011	PICK	W-01-0001	20
   80014	PICK	W-01-0001	20
   80203	PICK	W-01-0001	20
   80209	PICK	W-01-0001	20

4. Choose the Register action, and then choose the Yes button.

   Next, synchronize the new warehouse entries with inventory.

5. Choose the icon, enter Item Journals, and then choose the related link. The Item Journal page opens.

6. Choose the Calculate Whse. Adjustment action.

7. On the Calculate Whse. Adjustment page, choose the OK button.

8. On the Item Journal page, choose the Post action, and then choose the Yes button.

Creating the Assembly Items

1. Choose the icon, enter Items, and then choose the related link.

2. Choose the New action.

3. Create the first assembly item based on the following information.

   Field	Value
   Description	Kit A – Basic PC
   Base Unit of Measure	PCS
   Item Category Code	Misc.
   Replenishment System	Assembly
   Assembly Policy	Assemble-to-Stock
   Reordering Policy	Lot-for-Lot

   Note

   Kit A is typically supplied by assembly to stock and therefore has a reordering policy to make it part of general supply planning.

4. Choose the Assembly action, and then choose Assembly BOM.

5. Define an assembly BOM for Kit A with the following information.

   Type	No.	Quantity per
   Item	80001	1
   Item	80011	1
   Item	80209	1
   Resource	Linda	1

6. Create the second assembly item based on the following information.

   Field	Value
   Description	Kit B – Pro PC
   Base Unit of Measure	PCS
   Item Category Code	Misc.
   Replenishment System	Assembly
   Assembly Policy	Assemble-to-Order

   Note

   Kit B is usually supplied by assembly to order and therefore does not have a reordering policy, because it should not be part of general supply planning.

7. Choose the Assembly action, and then choose Assembly BOM.

8. Define an assembly BOM for Kit B with the following information.

   Type	No.	Quantity per
   Item	80005	1
   Item	80014	1
   Item	80210	1
   Resource	Linda	1

Selling the Assembly Items

1. Choose the icon, enter Sales Orders, and then choose the related link.

2. Choose the New action.

3. Create two sales order lines for customer 62000, The Device Shop, on the work date with the following information.

   Type	Description	Quantity	Qty. to Assemble to Order	Shipment Date
   Item	Kit B – Pro PC	3	3	January 23
   Item	Kit A – Basic PC	15	5	January 27

   Note

   The following availability issue exists for the sales order line for Kit B:

   • Assembly component 80210 is not available. This means that the three specified units of Kit B cannot be assembled, indicated by 0 in the Able to Assemble field on the Assembly Availability page.

   The following availability issue exists for the sales order line for Kit A:

   • The ten units of Kit A are not available. This indicates to the planning system that the quantity must be assembled to inventory.

   Next, customize the sales order.

4. Select the sales order line for three units of Kit B.

5. On the Lines FastTab, choose Line, choose Assemble to Order, and then choose Assemble-to-Order Lines.

6. On the Assemble-to-Order Lines page, on the assembly order line for item 80014, enter 2 in the Quantity per field.

7. On the assembly order line for item 80210, choose the No. field, and then select item 80209 instead.

8. Create a new assembly order line with the following information.

   Type	No.	Quantity per
   Item	80203	1

9. Close the Assemble-to-Order Lines page.

   Next, update the unit price of Kit B according to the customization that you just performed. Notice the current value in the Unit Price Excl. VAT field.

10. On the Lines FastTab, choose Line, choose Assemble to Order, and then choose Roll Up Price.

11. Choose the Yes button. Notice the increased value in the Unit Price Excl. VAT field.

12. Select the sales order line for 15 units of Kit A.

13. On the Lines FastTab, choose Line, choose Assemble to Order, and then choose Assemble-to-Order Lines.

14. On the Assemble-to-Order Lines page, create a new assembly order line with the following information.

    Type	No.	Quantity per
    Item	80203	1

    Next, change the shipment date of the second sales order line according to the assembly schedule.

15. On the sales order line for 15 units of Kit A, enter 01-27-2014 in the Shipment Date field.

16. Choose the Release action.

17. Choose the Create Whse. Shipment action.

18. Close the sales order.

Planning for the Unavailable ATS Items

1. Choose the icon, enter Planning Worksheet, and then choose the related link.

2. Choose the Calculate Regenerative Plan action.

3. On the Calculate Plan page, set the following filters.

   Starting Date	Ending Date	No.
   01-23-2014	01-27-2014	Kit A – Basic PC

4. Choose the OK button.

   A new planning line is created for the needed assembly order of ten units, due on January 27. It needs no changes, so now you can create the order.

5. Choose the Carry Out Action Message action.

6. On the Carry Out Action Msg. page, choose the Assembly Order field, and then select Make Assembly Orders.

7. Choose the OK button.

Assembling and Shipping the First ATO Quantity

1. Choose the icon, enter Warehouse Shipment, and then choose the related link.

   Note

   In this section, the person who is responsible for shipping is in charge of recording the completed ATO assembly work on the warehouse shipment line. This workflow may occur in environments where the assembly work is performed by the person who is responsible for shipping or by assembly workers in the shipping area.

   In this section, actions on the assembly order are performed indirectly from the warehouse shipment line. For more information about how to process an assembly order directly, see the “Assemble Items to Inventory” section in this walkthrough.

2. Open the most recent warehouse shipment that is created at WHITE location.

   Notice the three warehouse shipment lines: One line for the ATO quantity of Kit B, due on January 23. One line for the ATO quantity of Kit A, due on January 27. One line for the inventory quantity of Kit A, due on January 27.

   The Assemble to Order field specifies the assembly method.

   Next, create a pick document for all the ATO assembly components that are needed on the warehouse shipment.

3. Choose the Create Pick action, and then choose the OK button.

   Next, perform the picker’s task.

4. Choose the icon, enter Picks, and then choose the related link.

5. Open the warehouse pick document that you created in step 3 in this section.

   Notice the value in the Source Document field and that all the pick lines are for assembly components.

   Next.register the pick without changing the default information.

6. Choose the Autofill Qty. to Handle action.

7. Choose the Register Pick action.

   Return to performing the shipping tasks.

8. Reopen the Warehouse Shipment page.

   Notice that the Qty. Picked field is still empty on all lines. This is because you still have not picked the items to be shipped, but only the components needed to assemble the ATO quantities.

   Proceed to review the related assembly order.

9. Select the shipment line for three units of Kit B.

10. On the Lines FastTab, choose Line, and then choose Assemble to Order. The Assembly Order page opens.

    Notice that several fields on the assembly order are unavailable because the order is linked to a sales order.

    Notice on the assembly order lines that the Qty. Picked field is filled. This is due to the pick that you registered in step 7 in this section.

11. In the Quantity to Assemble field, try to enter any value lower than 3.

    Read the error message explaining why this field can only be filled through the Qty. to Ship field on the related shipment.

    The Quantity to Assemble field is editable is to support situations where you want to partially ship an inventory quantity instead of assembling more units to the order. For more information, see the “Combination Scenarios” section in Understanding Assemble to Order and Assemble to Stock.

12. Close the Assembly Order page to return to the Warehouse Shipment page.

13. On the shipment line for three units of Kit B, in the Qty. to Ship field, enter 3.

14. Choose the Post Shipment action, and then select the Ship button.

    Along with this warehouse shipment posting, the full consumption and output quantities of the related assembly order are posted, and the Remaining Quantity field is empty. The sales order line for Kit B is updated to show that the three units are shipped.

    Warehouse activities to fulfill the first sales order line by January 23 are completed. Next, fulfill the sales order lines that are shipping on January 27

Assembling and Recording the Second ATO Quantity

1. Choose the icon, enter Assembly Orders, and then choose the related link.

   Notice that the ATO order for shipped units of Kit B is still in the list, although the Remaining Quantity is empty. This is because the linked sales order is still not fully invoiced.

   Note

   In this section, the assembly worker is responsible for recording the completed ATO assembly work on the warehouse shipment line. This workflow may occur in environments where the assembly work is performed in a separate assembly department and assembly workers are authorized to change the warehouse shipment line.

2. Open the ATO assembly order for five units of Kit A.

   Notice that the Quantity to Assemble and the Quantity to Consume fields are empty because no work is recorded yet.

   Notice on the assembly order lines that the Qty. Picked field is filled. This is due to the pick that was registered on January 23.

   Next, record that the assembly order is completed.

3. Choose the Asm.-to-Order Whse. Shpt. Line action.

4. On the Asm.-to-Order Whse. Shpt. Line page, in the Qty. to Ship field, enter 5, and then close the page.

   Notice on the Assembly Order page that the Quantity to Assemble and the Quantity to Consume fields are now filled with the output and consumption quantities that will be posted with the shipment.

5. Close the Assembly Order page.

Assembling the ATS Quantity

1. Choose the icon, enter Assembly Orders, and then choose the related link.

2. Open the assembly order for ten units of Kit A.

   Notice that the Quantity to Assemble field is filled with the expected quantity.

   Next, create a pick document to retrieve the needed components.

3. Choose the Release action.

4. Choose the Create Whse. Pick action, and choose the OK button.

   Next, perform the picker’s task.

5. Choose the icon, enter Picks, and then choose the related link.

6. Open the warehouse pick document that you created in step 4 in this section.

   Proceed to register the pick without changing the default information.

7. Choose the Autofill Qty. to Handle action.

8. Choose the Register Pick action.

   Return to the assembly order to perform the last assembly task.

9. In the Assembly Order, choose the Post action, and then choose the Yes button.

   Notice that the assembly order is removed from the list of open orders.

Shipping the Remaining Items, Partly from Stock and Partly Assembled to the Order

1. Choose the icon, enter Warehouse Shipment, and then choose the related link.

2. Open the most recent warehouse shipment that is created at WHITE location.

   Notice on the line for ten units of Kit A that the Qty. to Ship and Qty. Picked field are empty.

   Next, pick any remaining items.

3. Choose the Create Pick action, and then choose the OK button.

   Next, perform the picker’s last task for this warehouse shipment.

4. Choose the icon, enter Picks, and then choose the related link.

5. Open the warehouse pick document that you created in step 3 in this section.

   Notice that this pick document is for assembly item, not for assembly components.

   Next, register the pick without changing the default information.

6. Choose the Autofill Qty. to Handle action.

7. Choose the Register Pick action, and then choose the Yes button.

   Return to the warehouse shipment to perform the last task.

8. Reopen the Warehouse Shipment page.

   On the Warehouse Shipment page, on the line for ten units of Kit A, notice that the Qty. to Ship and Qty. Picked fields now contain 10.

9. Choose the Post Shipment action, and the choose Ship.

   The warehouse shipment document is removed, which indicates that the involved warehouse activities are completed. Next, verify that the sales order has been processed.

10. Choose the icon, enter Sales Orders, and then choose the related link

11. Open the sales order for The Device Shop.

    Notice that the Quantity Shipped field contains the full quantity on both lines.

    When the Device Shop pays for their receipt of the 18 PCs from CRONUS, the sales order and its linked assembly orders are removed.

See Also

Understanding Assemble to Order and Assemble to Stock
Assemble Items
Pick Items for Warehouse Shipment
Sell Items Assembled to Order
Assemble Items
Design Details: Assembly Order Posting
Design Details: Internal Warehouse Flows
Design Details: Outbound Warehouse Flow
Walkthrough: Planning Supplies Automatically