Production orders

A production order tells the shop floor what to make and how many. It can be for a customer order, for stock, or for a component that goes to the material warehouse. This page covers the order list, creating orders, the order card, changing dates and cancelling an order.

Where to find it: Production → Production orders

When you'll use it

• A customer order contains goods that you make yourself.
• You want to make products for stock, ahead of demand.
• You need a component made in-house, for example a bracket or a housing, so that it is ready for later work.
• You want to see where an order is, which workstation has it, and what it still waits for.
• The production day or the due date of an order changes.
• An order is no longer needed and has to be stopped.
• A customer order was cancelled or reduced after production had already started.

Key concepts

Order number — Complaia gives the number when the order is saved. It has the form PO- followed by ten letters and digits. A sub-order takes the number of its main order with /1, /2 and so on added.

Main order and sub-orders — a product with a recipe gets one main order. Complaia also creates a sub-order for each recipe line that you make yourself:

• A component marked Produced in-house gets a sub-order for the whole quantity of the line. If that component is made from other in-house components, they get sub-orders too, level by level, up to 12 levels.
• A component marked Purchased gets no sub-order. It is taken from stock as material.
• A product used in a recipe is taken from available stock first. That part is reserved for the main order. A sub-order is created only for the rest, and it has the recipe of that product below it.
• A purchased product used in a recipe gets no sub-order. The missing quantity waits for a delivery.

Quantities multiply on the way down. For example, 10 units that need 4 brackets each give a sub-order for 40 brackets.

Set — a set has no production order of its own. Complaia creates one order for each product of the set that has to be made. These orders show the line For set … with the set's name.

Component order — an order for a single component, not for a product. It is always for stock. The finished component goes to the material warehouse and is available for other work.

What cannot be produced — three kinds of item never get a production order:

• a product or component that is purchased, not made in-house (see Manufactured or resale);
• a variant parent product, which is only a template for its variants (see Products with variants);
• a product that is no longer in the catalog.

From order / For stock — an order from a customer order takes the customer and the items from it. An order for stock has no customer. The list marks it For stock.

Production day — the day on which the shop floor should make the order. It is optional. An order without a production day shows To be planned and waits until somebody plans it in Planning. You can also give a Time. An order with a time stands in the workstation queue before the other orders of that day.

Due date — the day by which the order must be finished. It is a day without a time. It cannot be earlier than the production day. When the due date has passed and the order is not finished, the date is shown in red.

Status — there are three statuses, and work on the shop floor sets them:

Status	When an order has it
Pending	From the moment it is created until work starts.
Started	From the moment somebody starts it at the workstation.
Completed	From the moment the work is finished at the workstation.

You cannot change a status by hand, and you cannot add your own statuses.

Material reservation — when you save an order, it reserves the material it needs from stock, so that other orders cannot take it. If part of the material is missing, the order reserves what is there. The missing part reaches the order from a delivery, in the order of the work queue. If nothing is in stock, the order is created with reservation off.

Site — in a company with several sites, each order belongs to one site. A company with one site does not see this field.

Cancelled — a cancelled order stays in the system with the reason, but nobody can work on it any more.

The screens

The order list

The list shows one row for each main order. Sub-orders are inside the row of their main order. A button with an arrow and a number next to the order number opens them.

Column	What it shows
Production order	The order number. Under it: part of order … for a sub-order, the external number when there is one, and For set … for an order made for a set.
Status	The status. Extra badges appear when needed: Cancelled, Customer order cancelled or Customer order reduced.
Product	The picture, the name and the code of what is being made. A component order shows Component before the code. Variant features, for example a colour, are shown under the name.
Order	The customer order number with the customer's name, or For stock. Click the number to see the customer order in a window, without leaving the list.
Workstation	The workstation, or Unassigned.
Site	Only in a company with several sites.
Quantity	How many, with the unit. When the product has a standard time, the estimated time is shown under the quantity.
When	The production day, with the time if one is set, or To be planned. The due date is shown under it.
Updated	The last change.

You can sort and filter the columns. The Workstation filter can also show only orders without a workstation. The filter panel adds these filters:

• Net value, Due date and Order date;
• Type: Single (an order without sub-orders), Assembly (a main order with sub-orders) or Component (a sub-order);
• a filter that shows Active or Cancelled orders;
• Customer.

The header has two buttons: Distribute automatically (see Planning) and Create order.

The list refreshes by itself when somebody starts, reports or finishes work on the shop floor.

📷 Screenshot to add: the Production orders list with one main order expanded to show its sub-orders, and one row with the For stock marker

The order card

Click an order number to open the order card. The header shows Order PO-… and three buttons: Refresh, Cancel order and Edit.

From the top, the card shows:

1. The item being made — pictures, name, codes (SKU, the stock keeping unit; EAN, the European Article Number; UPC, the Universal Product Code), the quantity to make, how much is produced and how much is left. Links lead to the product the variant belongs to, to the set, or to the main order of a sub-order.
2. Four facts — Workstation (with its area and site), Production day, Due date and For (the customer order, claim or return, or For stock). Net value is added when it is known.
3. The status path — the three statuses, with the time of the last change.
4. The next step — one line that says what the order waits for. For example: sub-orders that are not ready, missing material, no workstation, or too few people at the workstation. When the order has no workstation, a Planning button leads to the Planning screen. When the order is ready or in progress, a button opens the workstation's screen for work on the shop floor (see Shop-floor execution).
5. Note — the note on the order, if there is one.
6. About the product (or About the component) — category, dimensions, weight, standard time, parcels and description.
7. Material — the recipe lines with the columns Item, Needed, Taken, Reserved and Where it is. See Manage the material reservation.
8. Sub-orders — each sub-order with its workstation, status and progress, and how many are ready.
9. Order data — number (with a copy button), order date, unit price, external number, and the times when the order was started, finished, created and changed.

History is shown next to the card. It lists everything that happened to the order: created, assigned to a workstation, material taken, started, quantities reported, paused, cancelled. Show older loads earlier entries.

A cancelled order shows a red notice with the date and the reason. Instead of Material, it shows To settle (see Cancel an order).

📷 Screenshot to add: an order card with the four facts, the status path, the next-step line and the Material section

The edit screen

The edit screen changes only the dates and the note: Production day, Time, Due date and Production order note. It also shows the order's workstation, with a Change in Planning link, and how many sub-orders will move to the new dates together with the order.

Common tasks

Create orders from a sales order

You can start in two places:

• On the sales order, open the Production tab and click Create order (or Add another order when the order already has production orders).
• Go to Production → Production orders, click Create order and leave From order selected. Then choose the order in Order. You can search by number, customer or product, and narrow the list by order status. When you point to an order, its items are shown next to the list. Orders with nothing to produce are marked Nothing to produce.

Both ways open the same screen. Then:

1. Check the Items list on the left. Untick the items you do not want. Items that cannot be produced are listed separately with the reason, for example Purchased.
2. Click an item to see its numbers:
   • Ordered — the quantity in the customer order;
   • Covered — units already packed or reserved for this order;
   • In production — units in production orders that already exist;
   • Free in warehouse — available stock that will be reserved for the order when you save;
   • To produce — the shortage, which the production order will cover.
3. Check the quantity to make. Complaia suggests the shortage, and you can change it up to the maximum shown. Enter 0 if you do not want a production order for this item. Available stock is then reserved for the customer order instead.
4. For a set, enter the quantity for each product of the set, or enter the number of sets to make.
5. If your warehouse works in advanced mode, check the Reservation warehouse. Available stock for the order is reserved from this warehouse.
6. In a company with several sites, choose the Site, or leave Automatically.
7. Optionally set the Due date, the Production day and the Time.
8. Click Create.

You return to the list. A message says how many production orders and sub-orders were created, and what was reserved from the warehouse. Items that already had production orders are skipped, and a second message names them.

An order created this way gets an automatic note with the customer order number. The note is written in Polish, for example Z zamówienia ORD-1042 (from order ORD-1042).

Create an order for stock

1. Go to Production → Production orders, click Create order and choose For stock.
2. Choose what you produce: Product or Component.
3. Click Select goods (or Select a component) and choose the item. Only components made in-house are offered.
4. Enter the Quantity to produce.
5. Check the preview on the right before you save:
   • Orders to create lists the main order and every sub-order, each with its workstation or No workstation;
   • Material from stock says whether the material in stock is enough, and what is missing;
   • a line says what the order will reserve when you save.
6. To make several items at once, click + (Add position) above the list and repeat steps 2 to 4. Each position becomes its own order.
7. Optionally set the Due date, the Production day, the Time, the Site and a Production order note.
8. Click Create.

With one position, the new order card opens. With several, you return to the list.

You can create an order even when material is missing. Work on it can start only after the missing material reaches the workstation and is taken for the order.

Where the workstation comes from

You do not choose a workstation on this screen. A new order normally has no workstation, and you assign it later in Planning. The only exception is an older product that still has a workstation saved from earlier. Its order goes to that workstation if the workstation accepts the item and its queue is not full. The product form no longer has a field for this.

Make the products of a set

1. Create an order for stock and choose a set in Select goods.
2. Under Products of the set, enter how many of each product to make. 0 means no order for that product.
3. To fill the quantities quickly, click Make only the shortage (only what available stock does not cover) or Full quantities.
4. Click Create.

Each product gets its own order, marked For set ….

Send a claim to production

When an item on a claim has to be replaced with a new product, you can order the replacement on the claim:

1. Open the claim and go to its edit screen.
2. Tick Send to production. The text under the check box names the items that will get an order.
3. Click Save and send to production.

The check box cannot be ticked, and the text under it says why, when the item has no catalog product, is purchased, is a variant parent product, or already has a production order. It also cannot be ticked when your role cannot create production orders. On the new production order, the For fact shows the claim number.

Follow an order

1. Click the order number in the list.
2. Read the next-step line under the status path. It tells you what the order waits for.
3. Check Material to see what is taken, what is reserved and what is missing.
4. Check Sub-orders to see which parts are ready.
5. Read History to see who did what and when.

Manage the material reservation

The Material section has a Reservation switch.

• Turn it on to reserve the material in stock for this order. If part is missing, the order gets it from a delivery, in the order of the work queue.
• Turn it off to release the material. A window first lists what becomes available again and which waiting orders will take it. Click Release reservation to confirm.

Two more buttons can appear on a material line:

• Take over reservation — when other orders hold the material that this order needs. The window lists those orders with their place in the work queue. Click Take over at one of them. An order that has already started, or whose material is already taken or at its workstation, does not give up its reservation. If the material is available in another warehouse of the same site, the window says so and offers Transfer stock (see Stock transfer).
• Add a sub-order for the shortage — when a product from the recipe is missing and neither stock nor sub-orders in progress cover it. Confirm, and a new sub-order is created for the missing quantity.

Change the dates or the note

1. Open the order and click Edit.
2. Change the Production day, the Time, the Due date or the Production order note.
3. Click Save changes.

Rules:

• After work has started, the production day and the time cannot change. You can still change the due date and the note.
• A finished or cancelled order cannot be edited.
• Sub-orders that had the same date as the main order and have not started move to the new date with it.
• To move the order to another workstation, use Planning.

Cancel an order

Cancel an order when it is no longer needed. You can cancel an order that has not started, and an order that is in progress. You cannot cancel a finished order.

1. Open the order and click Cancel order.

2. Read What will happen. It lists the sub-orders that are cancelled with the order, the finished sub-orders that stay unchanged, and the reserved material that becomes available again.

3. Answer the questions that apply to this order:

   Question	Choices
   Material at the workstation	Move to the warehouse or Leave at the workstation
   Taken material	Put back on stock or Keep as used
   Finished output	Receive into the warehouse or Write off the output

4. Optionally enter a Cancellation reason. It is shown on the order card and in the history.

5. Click Cancel order.

Cancelling does not change the customer order. The order stays in the list with the Cancelled badge.

If a step could not be done, the order card shows it under To settle. Click Retry on that step. Material that you left at the workstation is also listed there, with a Move to the warehouse button that you can use at any time.

React to a cancelled or reduced customer order

Sometimes a customer order is cancelled, or its quantity is reduced, but its production order is kept. For example, a reduced quantity does not change a production order that has already started. The list then shows Customer order cancelled or Customer order reduced, and the order card shows a notice.

1. Open the production order.
2. Decide whether you still want the goods.
3. To stop production, click Cancel order in the notice. To check the customer order first, click Open order.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
This product is marked as non-produced merchandise, so a production order cannot be created for it.	The product is purchased, not made in-house.	Choose a product that you make, or change the product in the catalog.
A variant parent cannot be produced because it is only a template. Choose a specific product variant.	You chose the product that holds the variants.	Choose the variant itself.
An item is listed under the items that are not produced	It is purchased, a variant parent product, or no longer in the catalog.	Reserve purchased goods on the Stock reservation screen. Fix the other items in the customer order.
The order already has all its goods: boxes, reservations or orders in progress cover it, so there is nothing to produce or reserve.	Everything in the customer order is already covered.	Nothing to do.
A message that an item has at most a certain quantity left to produce	Production orders already cover the rest of that item.	Enter a smaller quantity.
The due date field shows an error about the production day	The due date is earlier than the production day.	Set the due date on the production day or later.
Saved … of … positions…	Creating several orders for stock stopped part-way.	Read the reason, fix it and click Create again. The positions that were saved are removed from the form, so nothing is created twice.
The note you typed when creating from a sales order is not on the order	The note field is saved only for orders for stock.	Open the order, click Edit and add the note there.
A message after saving says the order was created with reservation off	No needed material was in stock.	Turn on the Reservation switch in the Material section of the order card when you want the order to wait for a delivery.
Edit is greyed out	The order is finished or cancelled.	Nothing to do.
The production day cannot be changed on the edit screen	Work on the order has started.	Change only the due date or the note.
Cancel order is greyed out	The order is finished. Its output is already on stock.	If the goods are not needed, release the reservation or correct the stock in the warehouse.
Production order … is cancelled, so this action can no longer be done on it.	Somebody cancelled the order.	Open the order card and settle the material and output under To settle.
Create order is missing in the header	Your role cannot create production orders.	Ask for the permission, see Permissions.

Permissions

To do this	You need
See the list and open the order card and its history	Production: View
Create orders from a sales order or for stock, and add a sub-order for a shortage	Production: Create
Change the dates and the note, cancel an order, settle a cancelled order, manage the material reservation	Production: Edit
Distribute orders automatically	Production: Schedule
Send a claim to production	Claims & returns: Resolution and Production: Create
See what was reserved, in the message after creating orders	Production: Edit or Warehouse: View
Open the customer order from the order card or the order window	Orders: View (for a claim or a return: Claims & returns: Details)
Open the workstation from the order card	Workstations: View
Use Transfer stock in the window for taking over a reservation	Warehouse: Stock movements

There is no permission for deleting a production order. To stop an order, cancel it.

Related

• Production overview — how an order travels from creation to the warehouse
• Planning — assigning orders to workstations and distributing them
• Shop-floor execution — material, start, reporting and finishing
• Sites — which site an order belongs to
• Recipe & production · Components — what decides the sub-orders
• Order record · Claims & returns — where orders come from