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Manufacturing : Make an Item but also purchase the same item

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Posted on by October Sky

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In manufacturing in BC, you generally set up the Item card to be a Prodn Order (Replan system) if is is to be made during the manufacturing process. However, we would also like the ability to be able to purchase this item during busy periods and then change back to a Prodn order part after the busy period has passed. It is generally cuts of steel and or an assembly of steel welded together so can be readily sourced externally.

Can this be achieved in BC and allow the same Item number to be kept? Seems like the fields on the Item card would need to be updated each time. It would be quite a cumbersome task each time so looking at alternatives. Surely, this would often exist as a scenario for some manufacturers.

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Teagen Boll 1,636 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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I would recommend using Item Variants. Setup 1 item but create variants. 1 variant will be the purchase item itself and the other would be the manufactured item. This would also help you differentiate between whats been bought and what has been built. You can manage this with SKUs in BC. This meets your requirements of one item but two different planning settings as SKUs themselves have their own planning settings.

See more info about item variants - Manage product variants - Business Central | Microsoft Learn and SKUs in BC - How to set up stockkeeping units - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

Best,

Teagen

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Valentin Castravet 32,319 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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You can purchase or manufacture an item regardless of the Replenishment System selected on the item card.

Do you use the planning engine? i.e. use the Requisition or Planning Worksheet? The Replenishment System field is used by the planning engine to suggest to create purchase orders or production orders in the Requisition/Planning Worksheet based on the value selected in the Replenishment System. But it's just a suggestion in the worksheet, you can still use the item on both purchase orders or production orders.

Valentin Castravet
Work: Zander ERP Services
Blog: Dynamics 365 Business Central Insights
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/valentin-c-0500a247/

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October Sky 673 on at

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Yes, planning worksheet is used to create the Prod Orders and Purchase orders.

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Aziz Skhiri 413 on at

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Hello , An item can be either purchased or manufactured independently of the Replenishment System specified on its item card.
The Replenishment System plays a role only within the planning engine. When running the Requisition Worksheet or the Planning Worksheet, the system relies on this field to decide whether to propose a Purchase Order or a Production Order. That being said, this behavior applies only to planning suggestions. It does not limit operational transactions. Users remain free to create either Purchase Orders or Production Orders for the item, regardless of the Replenishment System configuration.Finally I hope this helps you !

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YUN ZHU 99,324 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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I agree with Valentin; you can purchase it directly via Purchase Order.
You can try it in a test environment first.

Thanks.

ZHU

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OussamaSabbouh 13,323 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hello ,

Keep the same Item No. and avoid flipping the item card back/forth: use planning as the switch. In Order Planning / Planning Worksheet, each planning line’s Replenishment System defaults from the Item/SKU, but you can change it per demand line to Purchase (pick vendor in Supply From) during peak periods, and then go back to letting planning create Prod. Orders when things calm down—no item-card maintenance cycle needed. If you want it even cleaner, control it via SKU per location (one location replenished by Prod. Order, another by Purchase/Transfer) so planners just choose the right supply path without editing the item master.

Regards,
Oussama Sabbouh

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AndrewThomas81 518 on at

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Replishment method doesn't restrict, so if standard is production, you can still purchase the item or assemble it if applicable.

Kind Regards

Andrew Thomas
https://www.usebusinesscentral.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@usebusinesscentral

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Guy-JM 129 on at

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I'd suggest steering clear of Variants unless you are already using them widely.

Whilst their functionality is far more robust today than it used to be, a mix of variant and non-variant items introduces inconsistency in processing requirements for users and it becomes a point of off-line local knowledge.

i.e. for most items we do this, but for a random selection of items we do something slightly differently. Creates confusion for front line operatives.

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Dhiren Nagar 2,898 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,

The replenishment fields on the Item card are only for Planning purpose. Apart from planning engine you can also manually create Purchase order or Released Production order irrespective of the Replenishment method updated on the Item card.

So on the Item card keep the Default Replenishment method and when sometime you need to buy that item, just go ahead and create a production order for the quantity you need.

✅ Tick the checkbox below to mark the answer as verified, if it helped resolve your question.

Regards,

Dhiren.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ca-dhiren-nagar-5079081b2/

Blog - https://dhirennagar.blogspot.com/

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