Wondering if there is anyone that uses Advanced UOM in their Methods. I fully understand the concept of AUOM but would like to understand more about how it works in a BOM.
Can you specify a quantity that will be cut from a cut size and MRP will use that in its calculations? I basically want to learn just how embedded it is in the manufacturing process as that is the game changer. The inventory, sales order, and PO benefits are nice, but nothing compared to helping manufacturing if it was done correctly.
I don’t have the module but attended the training for it at insights. Yes, you pick the attribute set in your method. So if you have sheets of material, you might have attribute sets for 2’x4’ and 4’x8’, for example. When you add the material to the method, you pick the part number as usual, then you also pick which attribute set to use.
Where AUOM falls short imo is that it isn’t smart enough to know that a continuous dimension is required for manufacturing. What would be nice is if AUOM could figure out which inventory to use based on the amount of material required in your method of manufacturing and what you have on hand, and optimize it for you. It won’t do that. So if you have have a 6" x 4’ scrap left out of your 2’x4’ sheet, you still have to set up the scrap on your method. Otherwise it will still tell you you need less material than you actually need (because it will just add up the total area and divide by the area needed per part, just like if you didn’t have AUOM).
The benefit with AUOM is you can salvage that scrap piece back into inventory UNDER THE SAME PART NUMBER (just set up another attribute set for the scrap size, or have an attribute set called offcuts or something for the misc pieces).
We do have this module and are live on it in one site with more sites planned to go live this summer.
I was at one of the Insights presentations also and our setup is fairly simple so far, but working well for us. It removed 12-14 customizations from our implementation plan.
We sell bar and tubing. The raw material length is our inventory attribute. This let’s us track 1000’ FT of tubing, but with a defined attribute length of 10’ the system calculates that we have 10 pcs. This is great for the raw tube resales. We may buy and receive this same part in 10’, 20’ and 40’ lengths (attribute sets) and have visibility for the lengths in inventory.
For cutting jobs and BOM we indicate the attribute length needed for the material. So in my example the part being sold is 1 FT long let’s say. We get 9 pcs from a 10 FT bar due to saw blade widths and the bar grip area. So the Qty Per on the job is 13.33 inches and the Attribute Set used is 120 inches (10FT), the issued material used the attribute set, the return material can use a different attribute set for drops.
The inventory length visibility and ability to enter pcs for items being issued and have the system calculate the total footage is a big deal for us.
There is a lot more that can be done with this module. We are just getting into the possible attribute calculations and how that can be used for cutting jobs with the FG cut part as a attribute part.
We are trying different ways of setting this up, but am stuck on an apparent show stopper, you can’t backflush the material once you turn on attribute tracking? It’s confusing because I only get the error when selecting backflush in Part Entry, not in Job Entry. I’m curious if you have tried to backflush any of your attribute tracked parts?
I am not opposed to backflushing if it’s clear as day that they had to use X amount of material to complete the operation AND they pulled it from X location. reporting scrap is a different ordeal.
But I am with you John, I guess the best thing is always that someone understands what they are doing and how it impacts the system.
The only consideration is, if I can’t seem to train or retain the level of talent that it takes to issue material correctly all the time, is it better to backflush it if backflushing results in more accurate inventory?
I actually figured this out after I posted - you CAN backflush an attribute tracked part. You just can’t backflush by default. The merits of backflushing aside, if you have an entire plant that has only ever backflushed everything, its not feasible to suddenly switch to issuing everything. I think Epicor’s reasoning here is flawed. If you can backflush an attribute tracked part (which you can, by marking it in job details), then there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to backflush it by default (which you can’t because it doesn’t let you in part entry).
@aosemwengie1 , the reason you can’t backflush an AUOM part at the part level is because you cannot specify an attribute set. When you build a method, you are selecting an attribute set that identifies the exact attributes you need, which allows it to backflush. Until the attributes are defined, what will the system backflush?
@utaylor , my answer would be no, it does not produce more accurate inventory. I would argue that it actually causes inventory to be less accurate as employees know they can just go “grab” something without having to do a transaction.
The attribute set is defined in the job details. The backflush flag on the part doesn’t NEED to know which attribute set because the backflushing doesn’t occur at that stage. The whole point is just to indicate that the part will be backflushed by default, whichever attribute set is eventually selected.