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	Production Management / MES (Manufacturing Execution System) The INFO.NET Production Management Module controls all of the (MES) production planning, scheduling, and execution functions. This listing describes the processes in this module: · Defining Parameters · Defining Facilities and Production Centers · Defining the Manufacturing Calendar · Defining Assembly Configurations and Routings · Processing Standard Work Orders (Batch control) · Processing Repetitive Schedules (Flow, JIT, Lean, Kanban) · Processing Non Standard Work Orders (Repair, Warranty, Rework, Engineering) · Shop Floor Control (Labor and Operational Move Control) · Labor Transactions · Material Movement · Lot and Serial Number Control · Attribute Control · MRP and Capacity Interface · Closing WIP Orders · Purging Closed WIP Orders · Actual/Standard Costing Whitepapers are listed at the bottom of this page that further explain these areas.

		Placing your cursor over any of the features listed below, will give you more information about the subject. Planning FunctionalityProduction planning in the INFO.NET production environment is a combination of the MRP system using one of the master schedules to define new order quantities and schedules, indicating new schedule dates for existing production orders and the job and repetitive creation routines ability to schedule individual routing steps. The finite and infinite capacity routines are also available to, in the case of the finite capacity routines, to actually reschedule existing orders – or in the case of the infinite capacity system to suggest production order reschedules. Discrete Work Orders / Repetitive FunctionalityThe INFO.NET system has the ability to operate in both a repetitive and / or a discrete (batch) production environment at the same time. The definition of a repetitive or discrete method of production is made at the assembly level and can be revised at any time. The repetitive production routing can be based on a production line definition or on a user defined routing of specific operations. Using the production line definition, the minimum and maximum units per hour can be defined for the production line. The production line definition in repetitive routings will force the user to adhere to the defined limits of the production line definition. Production schedules for repetitive units are defined in terms of units per day and all of the subsequent charges will be made to the part number of the unit being produced. Non-Standard Work Orders (Repair, Warranty, etc)When work is required in a production environment that is not based on a predefined bill of material and production routing. These are such things as the repair of a tool or manufactured item; the building of tooling, warranty repairs or any miscellaneous type of work. This type of work order must include several account numbers that will be used to absorb the material, labor and overhead charged to the non-standard job. These job definitions may optionally include, in the case of repair orders, the part number or sales order of the original shipment on which the work is being performed. The non-standard job can also include schedule date, a description of any length and several other pieces of optional data. As there are no standard costs and no basis for calculating variances on a non-standard job, all charges to the job will be considered expenses or assets until shipped. Shop Floor Move ControlFor full shop floor control, a routing must be defined for each manufactured item. When creating discrete work orders or repetitive schedules, the routing will be expanded into a shop floor requirement that will include a schedule of each operation based on the schedule type code defined in the routing. The shop floor move transaction system permits the normal material moves through the predefined routing, movements backward through the routing, skipping of routing operations, or on line creation of new operations for possible rework activity. All of this activity will be collected in shop floor transactions and in the labor transactions. As the standard cost system is based on the costs by operation, the value of the shop floor is known at all times and the shop floor costs will be collected and reported using both standard and actual costs. Time Phased Reorder Point MRP PlanningTime phased reorder points can be created with varying quantities assigned by beginning and ending dates. The time phased reorder points will then be used as demand in the MRP/DRP planning process, usually in place of a master schedule. In a production environment, the time phased reorder points may be a simpler method for inventory planning than master schedules, or they may be used as a supplement to master scheduled demands. Engineering Change Incorporation in MRP Planning ProcessIf the pending change data is available, the MRP planning routines will utilize engineering change data in its planning algorithms. Component quantity changes will be included when calculating inventory usage based on the planned implementation date of the engineering change, except in case of planned exhaustion of component revision. In this case, the planning algorithm will plan the exhaustion of the component before using the new assembly format. Capacity PlanningThe INFO.NET finite or infinite capacity analysis will describe capacity requirements by work center and by operation code based on a user defined master schedule and the subsequent plan generated by the MRP planning process. The work center capacity, which will be used in the final capacity analysis, can be modified on a time phased process. Finite / Infinite Shop Floor SchedulingIn an infinite production scheduling environment, the work order and repetitive scheduling routines will use the available capacity of every work center in their routing in their scheduling algorithms but will not take the current load in a work center into consideration in calculating the schedule dates (except for using predefined queue hours at each work center). On the other hand, the finite scheduling algorithm will use various algorithms to reschedule the current product orders based on several user entered criteria that will determine the priority of each production order. Time Phased Reorder Point MRP PlanningTime phased reorder points can be created with varying quantities assigned by beginning and ending date. The time phased reorder points will then be used as demand in the MRP planning process, usually in place of a master schedule. In a production environment, the time phased reorder points may be a simpler method for inventory planning than master schedules, or they may be used as a supplement to master scheduled demands. Material Requirements Planning (MRP)Material requirements planning is a technique that uses the bill of material, inventory data and a master schedule to calculate requirements for material. MRP time phased material requirements based on set backs defined by a combination of the bill of material structure and assembly lead times. The result of an MRP plan is a material plan for each item found in the bill of material structure which indicates the amount of new material required, the date on which it is required - the new schedule dates for material that is currently on order. If routings with defined labor requirements are available, a capacity plan will be created concurrently with the MRP material plan. The user can create any number of simultaneous MRP plans using any number of master schedules for simulation purposes. In addition to demands from the master schedule, or in lieu of a master schedule, the MRP system can use time phased reorder points to generate demand over a user specified period of time. Project ‘Earned Value’ ControlEarned value control merges schedule and budget control in an all-exclusive method of managing a project. It does this by focusing on ‘Earned Value’ – value earned by the actual completion of work. The control is measured by the following concepts: · ACWP – Actual Cost of Work Performed. The actual costs incurred within the project. Standard material, labor and overhead costs will be used in calculating this entry. The purchase price variance (PPV) and labor rate variance inclusion in this calculation will bring this close to the actual cost. · BCWP – Budgeted Cost of Work Performed. The budgeted value of the work (measured by completed activities) as of a user specified date. · BCWS – Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled. The budgeted value of the work to be performed as of a user specified date. Individualized Proactive Email AlertsThe alert feature is a proactive tool that allows individual users to set predefined limits and/or goals to proactively manage all facets of your business operations. It operates by notifying specific users when a predefined limit has been reached. Any user, given valid security, can establish any number of alerts to be checked against values extracted from the various system tables. Shop Floor Material Replenishment DefinitionsMaterial locations can be created that are defined as shop floor locations – and a report, email or text message is available that will analyze the inventory quantities found at the shop floor locations, and will produce a listing of material requisitions to replenish the shop floor material. Labor Transactions / ChargingLabor charges for both direct, hourly personnel and indirect salaried personnel can be tracked by the INFO.NET labor transactions routines. Direct labor charges can be entered through a variety of methods including the Info.Net time clock and third party bar code readers. The system will track direct production charges with both standard and actual values, producing charges to a labor rate variance account to account for any differences. Indirect labor charges can be made manually through the labor transaction system, or the system will automatically charge indirect employee time to a user defined default account. Labor Efficiency ReportingLabor charges of direct hourly employees against production orders will track both the employee actual rate and the standard rate of the resource rate in the operation in which the charges are being made. In addition, the number of units completed as a part of the labor charge will also be recorded in the production transaction. Based on the combination of hours charged and completed units, the employee efficiency can be calculated for the employee and for the overall operation. Work Order Variance ReportingStandard and Actual costs of Labor and material charges are tracked. All labor from direct hourly employees against production orders will track both the employee actual rate and the standard rate of the operation in which the charges are being made. In addition, the number of units completed as a part of the labor charge will also be recorded in the production transaction. Based on the combination of hours charged and completed units, the employee efficiency can be calculated for the employee and for the overall operation. Material charges and Subcontract labor are charged against the standard to determine the overall variances. The variances tracked include: · Material and material burden · Internal and subcontracted labor · Labor overhead · Setup labor and overhead · Rate variances for both personnel and machines Work Center CalendarsEach department or work center is assigned a calendar that indicates the standard number of hours worked per day. Although the calendar will be created with defaulted hours, the user can revise the calendar to indicate holidays, multiple shifts, or any type of deviation from the normal workday. The calendar will be used for production, project and business process scheduling and in the finite capacity algorithms. Production Quality ReportingAny number of testable attributes can be defined within a part number routing operation, including specific required values or ranges of quantifiable numeric limits. Each of these tests can be required prior to the actual acceptance of the units into the next operation. The test definition includes a choice of mandatory or optional rejection if the test results are not acceptable. If an optional reject is specified, the user entering the test results will be asked by the program if the item is to be rejected or accepted. The results of the test, including both the original test specifications and the results are held in a production inspection test table and can be queried or listed using various sorts, including operation, part number, test attribute code or order number. Certified Employee DefinitionsIn the production routings, specific operations can be defined as requiring an authorized or certified employee to move units out of the operation. The employees authorized at this operation are defined in the employee authorization system in the human resources module. Master Schedule Definitions from Sales Orders / ForecastsThe schedules can be manually loaded by individual dated entries or loaded from open sales orders, sales forecasts or marketing forecasts. A system option provides the ability to automatically relieve the master schedule based on the shipment of sales order items (reversed during the receipt of an RMA). As the entry of a sales order relieves the marketing forecast, the sales orders plus the forecast will always provide a current time phased demand for end products. Vendor Quality Performance ReportingReports and queries are available that will show the results of attribute tests performed between two user specified dates on received material in receiving inspection, sorted by vendor code. The report will list all vendors or, if requested, a selected group of vendors. One of the queries will list the tests performed for a single specified vendor code. Any number of testable attributes can be defined for a part number, including specific required values or ranges of quantifiable numeric limits. Each of these tests are required prior to the actual acceptance of the units into inventory, and the test definition includes a choice of mandatory or optional rejection if the test results are not acceptable. If an optional reject is specified, the user entering the test results will be asked by the program if the item is to be rejected or accepted. The results of the test, including both the original test specifications and the results are held in a receiving inspection test table and can be queried or listed using various sorts, including vendor, part number, test attribute code or order number. Externally Owned Material ControlCustomer or Vendor owned material that is brought into a user’s facility can by of two types: • Each customer supplied item may be unique to a specific customer • The item may be common among multiple customers/vendors. If the item is to be supplied by multiple customers/vendors, the items inventory can be isolated in a no cost location that will be created for the use of the specific customer/vendor. As the material is owned by a customer (as with a unit returned by a customer for repair), none of the movements of the item will impact the user’s cost system or the user’s inventory value. If the item is unique to a customer, the customer code can be assigned to the item when the item is initially defined and it can be stored in any inventory location. As described above, items of this type will have no cost or inventory value implications. Subcontract Order Control and ReportingINFO.NET will track both subcontract orders performed internally for customers and external subcontract orders in which vendors perform production work for the user. For customer ordered manufacturing work, INFO.NET will track the customer supplied material, maintaining the available units at zero cost, and will track the customer order throughout its production cycle. The customer will have continuous access to their order status through queries that are available in the customer subcontract workbench. The internal production work that is subcontracted to vendors, INFO.NET has two types of subcontract work: · The first type requires the vendor to produce the entire item. Upon completion, the subcontracted item is returned to the user’s inventory through the receiving function. · The second type requires the vendor to satisfy the requirements for one or more operations within an internal work order routing (such as in a plating operation). In this situation, receiving returns the completed item to the next operation on the shop floor rather than to inventory. In both cases, the return of the completed item will initiate the generation of an accounts payable voucher. There is also the possibility of the vendor supplying some or all of the component material for the order. The origin of the component material will be defined in the bill of material and will be used in the costing of the manufactured item and in the analysis of the price paid to the vendor. Cost AccountingThe INFO.NET system runs as a standard cost system through all of its manufacturing systems. An average cost and a last actual cost are also maintained for all items (manufactured or purchased). These actual costs are only available as a guide for use in adjusting the inventory standard costs or as an analysis tool not as a cost accounting system of their own. They can be used to investigate inventory values and / or job costs. Entity Level CostingThe INFO.NET entities are defined as accounting environments – all of the accounting functions are held within the entity as a self contained accounting shell. There is, however, an exception. If the entity definition explicitly indicates that one or more of their accounting functions is to be handled by a second entity, the outward accounting appearance will appear the same but the outsourced accounting function will actually be done in another entity. Standard / Multiple Planned CostsEven though INFO.NET will track actual cost, its production cost accounting system is based on standard cost. Taken from any number of user defined standard costs, updates to standard cost are done in a controlled environment, producing adjustments to inventory values. In a manufacturing environment, the standard cost rollup will produce cost at the level of routing operations, permitting the accurate valuation of the work in process. INFO.NET will maintain a history of standard and actual transactional costs, and all inventory activity history will be valued at the standard cost at the time of the transaction. Actual Cost Tracking and AnalysisThe actual cost of every received purchased lot of inventory material will be recorded in the inventory system and if a manufacturing environment is being run, this actual cost of purchased material will be used to account for the material cost of manufactured items. The actual cost of labor will also be tracked based on each employee's pay rate. As manufactured units are received into inventory from the shop floor, the actual cost of each unit will be calculated from the average value of the material and labor that have been used in the specific manufacturing order. An analysis of the actual cost of each manufacturing order is available while the order is in process and at any time following its completion. Average CostThe system maintains an average cost, without user intervention, for every inventory item. This entry will be held in the standard cost table (item_entity) along with the date of the last update to the average cost. For components the average cost calculation will derive the current inventory value by multiplying the full current inventory quantity by the previous average cost and adding this entry to the product of the purchasing cost times the receipt quantity, and dividing by the sum of the inventory quantity and the receipt quantity. Standard Yield Definition / CostingIf a manufacturing environment contains defined yields at one or more routing operations, the INFO.NET system can define the yield at each relevant operation within a routing, and the standard cost rollup will use these individual operational yields when calculating the standard cost of an assembly. The user defined planned yield entries will be converted into a standard yield through the standard cost update routines. This will subsequently be used in determining the quantity of material required during the MRP planning process and in calculating work in process material and labor requirements. Internal / External Cost DifferentiationThe INFO.NET standard cost system includes a full set of both internal and external costs including: · material · material burden · labor · machine · labor overhead · machine overhead · setup labor · setup overhead · external labor/machine cost · miscellaneous costs. All of the above categories are tracked for internal costs as well as external, subcontracted, costs. Both of these sets of costs, and variances when used in a production environment, are held separately throughout the cost accounting system. Bill of Material / Routing Cost RollupsIn a standard cost production environment, the rollup of all the standard material and labor costs within the bills of material is a required feature. The INFO.NET bill of material rollup will calculate manufactured items costs for any number of standard cost environments, including the full suite of ten individual cost elements for both the single level values and for elemental values. If routings are defined, the manufactured item costs will be computed at the operation level. If alternate bills of material or routings have been defined, a cost rollup may be made through a user specified set of alternate bills and / or routings. In addition to calculating standard cost, the rollup procedure also calculates assembly time fences. Production Cost Control / Labor Cost TrackingThe system will track production costs using both standard and actual costs. The actual production costs will reflect actual purchased price of components and the calculated average actual cost of subassemblies. The labor and machine costs will use the actual employee and machine costs specified by the user. Work Order Variance ReportingProduction work order variances will only be taken at the time that the work order is closed. Potential variances can be seen at any time during the run of the order. Repetitive schedules will have their variances calculated at the point where their scheduled output changes, although the repetitive schedule variances can also be queried at any time.

Whitepapers are available to explain the production capabilities of Info.Net.
Work in Process / Production Module
Work in Process Material Transactions
Planning Scheduling Module
Process Manufacturing
Repetitive Manufacturing
Plants / Work Centers
Lot Control
Serial Number Control
Shop Floor Control / Transactions
Time / Attendance
Labor Control / Labor Transactions
Project Control / Contract Administration
Tools / Machines
Vendor Subcontracting
Capacity Planning
Standard/Actual Cost Accounting
Production G/L Account Distribution
Alerts






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