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Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Answered

How subassembly works in Business central

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Hi,

How we can achieve below scenario in Business central.

Scenario:

       We have 4 level of assembly. and Items assembled by different vendors only.   

FG Items       Vendor
Finish goods       V4
  Sub Finish Goods     V3
    Sub Sub Finish Goods   V2
      Row Material V1

1. we purchase Row Material from V1 vendor.

2. we send Row material to V2 and ask to create Sub Sub Finish Goods.

3. we get Sub Sub Finish Goods from V2 and send it to V3 vendor to create Sub Finish Goods.

4. we get Sub Finish Goods from V3 vendor and send it to V4 vendor to create Finish Goods. 

5. V4 vendor send Finish Goods to customer.

I have the same question (0)
  • Brightpoint Infotech Profile Picture
    40 on at

    Have you explored the possibility of using Item Journals and Item Re-classification journals? This would apply in a scenario where you are sending Raw Material to V2 and receiving it under a different Item Number. You would then use Item Journals to record the finished goods.

  • Verified answer
    Community Member Profile Picture
    on at

    Ashutosh,

    It sounds like you are Manufacturing an Item that has a Prod. BOM with 1 Purchased Component and Routing of 3 steps, all being Subcontractor Manufacturing to create the Finished Good. In your example, here is my sample Prod. BOM:

    pastedimage1621508882462v1.png

    Now my Routing. I show 3 Subcontractors that will work on the Manufactured Item one after the other. Running the Subcontracting Worksheet will produce the PO's needed against the Production Order.

    pastedimage1621509126482v2.png

    Here is some general info on Subcontracted Manufacturing - Subcontracting selected operations to vendor is common in many manufacturing companies. Subcontracting can be a rare occurrence or can be an integral part of all production processes.

    Business Central provides several tools for managing subcontract work:

    • Work Centers with assigned vendor: This feature enables you to set up a work center that is associated with a vendor (subcontractor). This is called a subcontract work center. You can specify a subcontract work center on a routing operation, which allows you to easily process the subcontracted activity. In addition, the cost of the operation can be designated at the routing or the work center level.
    • Work Center cost based on units or time: This feature enables you to specify whether costs associated with the work center are based on the production time or a flat charge per unit. Although subcontractors commonly use a flat charge per unit to charge for their services, the application can handle both options (production time and flat charge per unit).
    • Subcontracting Worksheet: This feature allows you to find the production orders with material ready to send to a subcontractor and to automatically create purchase orders for subcontract operations from production order routings. The application automatically posts the purchase order charges to the production order during the posting of the purchase order. Only production orders with a status of released can be accessed and used from a subcontracting worksheet.

    Subcontract Work Centers

    Subcontract Work Centers are set up the same as regular work centers with additional information. They are assigned to routings in the same manner as other work centers.

    Subcontract Work Center Fields

    This Subcontractor No. field designates the work center as a subcontract work center. You can enter the number of a subcontractor who supplies the work center. This field can be used to administer work centers, which are not in-house but perform processing under contract.

    If you subcontract with the vendor for a different rate for each process, then select the Specific Unit Cost field. This lets you set up a cost on each routing line and saves the time of re-entering each purchase order. The cost on the routing line is used in processing instead of the cost on the work center cost fields. Selecting the Specific Unit Cost field calculates costs for the vendor by the routing operation.

    If you subcontract at a single rate per vendor, leave the Specific Unit Cost field blank. The costs will be set up by filling in Direct Unit Cost, Indirect Cost %, and Overhead Rate fields.

    Routings that use Subcontract Work Centers

    Subcontract work centers can be used for operations on routings in the same way as regular work centers.

    You can set up a routing that uses an outside work center as a standard operational step. Alternatively, you can modify the routing for a particular production order to include an outside operation. This might be needed in an emergency such as a server not working correctly, or during a temporary period of higher demand, where the work generally performed in-house must be sent to a subcontractor.

    Calculate Subcontracting Worksheets and Create Subcontract Purchase Orders

    Once you have calculated the subcontracting worksheet, the relevant document, in this case a purchase order, is created.

    The Subcontracting Worksheet page functions like the Planning Worksheet by calculating the needed supply, in this case purchase orders, which you review in the worksheet and then create with the Carry Out Action Message function.

     Note - Only production orders with status Released can be accessed and used from a subcontracting worksheet.

    To calculate the subcontracting worksheet

    1. Choose the pastedimage1621509248627v3.png icon, enter Subcontracting Worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    2. To calculate the worksheet, choose the Calculate Subcontracts action.

    3. On the Calculate Subcontracts page, set filters for the subcontracted operations, or the work centers where they are performed, to calculate only the relevant production orders.

    4. Choose the OK button.

      Review the lines on the Subcontracting Worksheet page. The information in this worksheet comes from the production order and production order routing lines and flows to the purchase order when that document is created. You can delete a row from the worksheet without affecting the original information, just as you can with the other worksheets. The information will reappear the next time you run the Calculate Subcontracts function.

    To create the subcontract purchase order

    1. Choose the pastedimage1621509248628v4.png icon, enter Subcontracting Worksheet, and then choose the related link.
    2. Choose the Carry Out Action Message action.
    3. Select the Print Orders field to print the purchase order as it is created.
    4. Choose the OK button.

    If all subcontracted operations are sent to the same vendor location, then only one purchase order is created.

    The worksheet line that was turned into a purchase order is deleted from the worksheet. Once a purchase order is created, it will not appear in the worksheet again.

    Posting Subcontract Purchase Orders

    Once the Subcontractor Purchase Orders have been created, they can be posted. Receiving the order posts a Capacity Ledger Entry to the production order and invoicing the order posts the direct cost of the purchase order to the production order.

    To post a subcontract purchase order

    1. Choose the pastedimage1621509248628v5.png icon, enter Purchase Orders, and then select the related link.

    2. Open a purchase order that is created from the subcontracting worksheet.

      On the purchase order lines, you see the same information that was in the worksheet. The Prod. Order No., Prod. Order Line No., Operation No., and Work Center No. fields are filled in with the information from the source production order.

    3. Choose the Post action.

    When the purchase is posted as received, then an output journal entry is automatically posted for the production order. This only applies if the subcontract operation is the last operation on the production order routing.

     Caution - Posting output automatically for an ongoing production order when subcontracted items are received may not be desired. Reasons for this could be that the expected output quantity that is posted may be different from the actual quantity and that the posting date of the automatic output is misleading.

    To avoid that the expected output of a production order is posted when subcontract purchases are received, make sure the subcontracted operation is not the last one. Alternatively, insert a new last operation for the final output quantity. When the purchase order is posted as invoiced, then the direct cost of the purchase order is posted to the production.

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks,

    Steve

  • Verified answer
    Ben Baxter Profile Picture
    6,575 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

    While I prefer Steven's method of using Routing Operations to mark the various Sub-Contractor steps, there is a more complicated approach as well.

    The only downside to using Operations is the lack of visibility into Quantity of Items at the various Vendor's location.  The only way to see a visible Quantity at a Location is to actually produce the Item into a Location.  This means instead of a single Production Order you break each sub-assembly into its own Production Order, which is produced into a Location.  You can either group them all into "Sub-Location" or create a Location for each Vendor that will produce parts for you.  Be sure to leave all warehousing requirements off for those locations to simplify processing.

    This means you will purchase Raw Material from V1 into V2's location (assuming you drop ship to them).  V2 will output their part into V3's location.  V3 will output into V4, V4 consumes and outputs to their own location.  V4 will ship the product to your customer (Sales Line Location = V4 Location).

    This gives you the ability to have over production tracked, or a stop in production with visibility into where the sub-assemblies are and in what quantity.

    Again, I prefer the simply Routing Steps to mark the Sub steps, but wanted to at least give you an option we've used before.

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