MISys Production Orders

When writing about the MISys Manufacturing System, we frequently refer to “Production Orders” to describe an electronic document that is used to drive and guide production. Truth be told, there is really no such entity called a “production order” in the MISys software. We just use the term when it is inconvenient to distinguish between Work Orders and Manufacturing Orders.

The MISys Basic Manufacturing module includes Work Orders in its function set.  A Work Order is a list of assembled items that you wish to build. Information about how each assembled item is built comes directly from the MISys Bill of Material.

Work Orders were a mainstay of the old MISys/DOS. They became popular when manufacturers first discovered the art of “backflushing” that is, removing from stock all the components indicated by the bill of material and putting the finished good back in stock.

Work Orders disappeared from the MISys turf for a few years, but are back in full force in MISys Manufacturing v5.0.

At the same time, we recognize a whole class of manufacturers that build variations of standard products, something similar to what the bill of material indicates, or something similar to what they built in the past. For these people, the Advanced Production module offers Manufacturing Orders.

Manufacturing Orders are similar to Work Orders in that they guide your production activities, but Manufacturing Orders provide far, far more flexibility if you need to vary from a standard bill of material. MO’s also allow you to track production costs on a job-by-job basis because you indicate what material you actually used to complete a specific MO.

For manufacturers who assemble strictly from the bill of material, Work Orders are a fine solution. However, for those who demand flexibility from one production order to the next, Manufacturing Orders are what you want.

Here is a link to the Advanced Production factsheet: http://www.misysinc.com/assets/pdf/factsheets/03_AdvancedProduction.pdf