From NewHaven Software Wiki

Current revision as of 19:06, 14 March 2016

Overview

Kit Builder is a free feature added in CMS version 9.0.5 that allows you to easily build kits - which is the automation of removing stock from components and receiving a completed kit into the inventory of your kit product. An overview of this feature is available in the 9.0.5 Release Notes. This article will explain how to use Kit Builder.

Setup

Kit Builder requires no initial setup. All available options are displayed in the Kit Builder window, most of which and are remembered/defaulted for the next time you use Kit Builder.

Instructions

Step 1 - Selecting kits to build

Selection - The top grid shows all kits that have their own stock and thus are candidates to be built. The grid displays the kits along with the information you might need to make decisions about how many to build.

Filtering

Just above the grid are a few options to help you filter the list down to find just the kits you'll want to build. The options are:

• Show Components - This multi-select combo box allows you to choose one or more components and, when you then click Enter, the kit grid below is filtered down to only display those kits that contain any (not all) of those components
• Show warehouse - By default all warehouse are shown but you can limit the display to show only a selected warehouse
• Kits at resupply point only - a checkbox to filter the kit list to show only those that have fallen below their reorder point (if one was set in your products' setup)

Grid information

• Product - Your product code and description for this kit
• Warehouse - The specific warehouse for the kit (not kits are build from components within the same warehouse, you cannot pull components from one warehouse to build a kit in another)
• Can Build - How many could be built based on the real time availability of components
• Restock At - A product:warehouse level setting that can be used to indicate a threshold you've set for when to build more
• Cur Built - How many of this kit you currently have in stock
• Kit BO - How many units of this kit are currently back ordered on customer orders
• Comp - this button will display all the components, quantity needed for this kit, and how many are currently available

Step 2 - Creating a batch of kits to be built

Create a Batch - You can select one or more kits from the grid to add to the current or new batch (bottom grid). This selection is done either by double-clicking a row in the top grid or clicking the >>> button. If no batch has been created yet, you will be prompted that CMS is creating one for you. These batch names default to the username+date:time but can be changed if desired. These batch names are referenced in lot adjustments for components and lots received for kits so there is a paper trail of all inventory changes resulting from kit builder. Batch history is retained and any batch, complete or not, can be retrieved, viewed, and its batch report printed.

Step 3 - Build and Confirm Kits

Build Kits - Kits can be built in two steps, if you'd like to reserve components first and then confirm the number of kits built once done, or in a single step:

• Two Steps - Useful when you want to create a work-order for the warehouse to build the requested kits. Steps listed assume you have added the desired kit(s) to the bottom grid.

1. In the bottom grid, edit the Amt to Build quantity to represent the amount you want to build for each kit.
2. Click the Reserve Stock button to remove stock from each kit's components
3. Click Print Batch to print out the work order for the warehouse - a report that specifies which components and quantities to pick and from where (if you use warehouse bin locations). Spaces are provided in the report for comments (e.g. if expected component quantity is not found.)
4. Alter the Amt to Build qty if necessary
   1. if you were not able to build the quantity in the report, reduce the Amt to Build and then click Apply. CMS will return stock to components if appropriate.
   2. if you wanted to build more kits than initially requested, you can change the quantity (only up to the "Can Build" quantity displayed in the top grid) and then click Reserve Stock. Clicking Reserve Stock can be done as many times as needed with no risk of double decreasing component stock and should be done if the amount to build has been increased or if other kits are added to the batch after the initial reserve. WARNING - Do not build more than CMS says you have inventory for (the "Can Build" quantity displayed in the top grid), even if you find that you have sufficient components on the shelves. The extra components you've found are committed to other orders or kits and should not be considered available.
   3. Click Confirm Kits to receive stock into the kit product (process is now complete) Note: The completed batch is still displayed for reference but only in this session. A new one should be created if needed in this session otherwise next time you bring up Kit Builder no batch will be displayed.

• One Step

1. Click the "Build in one step" checkbox which will change the buttons/options available to you
2. Confirm the quantities to build by altering the Amt to Build column as needed
3. Click the Build One Step button - this removes stock from components and receives it into the completed kit in a single step
4. Optional - the Print Batch is still an option if a work-order/report is desired

Costs

When building kits, CMS automatically sums the costs of all used components and sets this as the cost for the completed kit. This cost calculation works even in situations where the decrementing of a component's stock pulls from multiple lots at different costs.

In CMS TEN additional logic was added to update the cost of a built kit if any of the components costs change. This addresses the scenario where kit components have been received into inventory (e.g. receiving a PO), the kit is built, and then the invoice from the vendor for the component arrives which a cost that is different than the component was ordered/received at. You may now edit that lot or PO receipt to adjust the cost and CMS will find all of the kits that were built from those lots and update their costs accordingly.

Reporting

In addition to the Batch report printed directly from Kit Builder for a specific batch, activity from Kit Builder can also be seen in the following reports:

• Lots Received - Kits that have received stock as a result of Kit Builder will have a vendor's lot # corresponding to the Batch ID used when building the kit.
• Inventory Adjustments - For all products/components whose inventory was reduced for the building of kits, CMS will note that the adjustment was due to Kit Builder and display the corresponding Batch ID.