We are not Live in Epicor yet, implementation is in our near future. Still struggling with a certain part setup. We have parts within a BOM that we make in house, it is our literature (manuals, instruction sheets, etc.). The literature is a free service to our customers, so it is not costed, and inventory is not monitored in any sort of system.
How do we set up this type of part that we do not want to “purchase” or “create jobs” for, still keep it in a BOM because it HAS to be picked with the machines we produce. We don’t want to monitor inventory on them either.
Maybe we don’t have an understanding well enough of all options for a part setup. Does anyone have clear definitions for all the fields to be selected for a part (qty bearing, min/max, etc.).
I have used parts like this in the past, typically a manufactured part, no quantity bearing, with MRP unchecked in on-site settings. The jobs did not produce and the BOM shows the part as being required, but otherwise the part has no demand. You may have to look at the BOM to validate what your settings are on that side, whether you have a quantity as 0 or the actual.
We have actual quantities (1) in the BOM’s, if we set them at zero, it won’t generate need on the picking side, correct? If I set the site level to not process through MRP, we’ll see the noise on the Planning Workbench, which we planned on using as our safety net for anything possibly not set up correctly, or changes due to demand, etc. So I suppose we’ll just need to filter out the literature noise on the Planning Workbench, but I see what you are saying. Was hoping there was an additional part setup where MRP and suggestions could be ignored, in our Legacy program we had a selection where the inventory was not monitored, jobs were not issued or suggested, but demand did show for picking purposes, it was a “DNI” flag indicating we did not monitor inventory or manufacture/purchase those flagged items. Thanks!
I think Scott gave you the clue with “no quantity bearing” because disabling the Quantity Bearing on a part, despite being on a BOM and on a Job, will not trigger demand.
Quantity bearing flag on the part will keep the system from keeing track of how many you have in inventory… even if you “issue” or “Receive” a quantity, that quantity of the transaction does not leave or go into inventory, BUT if you issue the part to a job, it will show the transaction. IF you have a standard cost associated (NOTE that this is NOT required) then the cost will go to the job. but it is totally optional if you do or don’t want to do the issue.
If your part is listed on the bom, it is also optional to put a quantity.. if you list it as zero, then it will not be issued. If it has a quantity other than zero, you can also mark it as backflushed and it will automatically be issued and marked complete.
I have seen this used in multiple ways.
some companies have a bunch of hardware that they have in stock, but is all expensed when they receive it. They don’t want to keep track of the qty, because the supplier delivers and fills the bins. They DO want to charge the jobs for any consumption, so they have the BOMS listed, and backflushed. The cost they put on the non-qty bearing parts gets posted to the job
Some companyes have lit packs that are zero valued. They want the part listed, and may or may not have the quantity. They put these into a special part class, and intentionally hide (with a customization) the parts from the picklist.
So in the second scenario. Are non-nettal bins in use? Since purchased items being replenished can require many strategies, I know Kanban can be used in Epicor to deal with small items that are produced and used, or in the case of the hardware that is replenished without a purchase order, and no qty on hand is used. Thanks @timshuwy, too many ways to do anything, but good ideas all around.