RMA Processing in pcMRP

For a complete detail of the recommended RMA Process, please contact us:

support@dmscoinc.com

New pcMRP Accounting Reporting Functions!

Check out the new reporting screens in pc/MRP’s accounting module.  This new functionality streamlines your ability to get the information fast and accurately.  The new selection screen allows you to go directly to your selected date ranges without the redundant clicks and questions!

Outside Processing in pcMRP

In any system there are always work-arounds and tricks for outside processing, but it is relatively straightforward within pcMRP. I have seen a tremendous amount of fancy steps that are taken by companies, which for the most part are not necessary.

The point of focus for outside processing is to be sure that the cost of the outside processing is included within the bill of materials, but that the assembly itself does not take on the cost of the outside processing only.  This is an area where many people make errors and is certainly worth exploring.

Let’s begin life with a simple bill of materials. Let’s say that we’re a manufacturer of a part that is cut from an aluminum extrusion, and once the extradition is cut, de-burred, and drilled (all internal operations), we have to send that part to an anodizer for color (the outside process).

Our bill of materials would look like this (Simple but effective):
    Qty                P/N            Description                                                                Cost
    .10 Feet    12345    Extrusion- Alum, “T” shape, 20Ft. Lengths    120.00
A routing sheet for a work order for 1000 pieces to be manufactured would call for us to withdraw 5 each P/N 12345 to be issued to the work order.  The total cost of the materials for this work order would be calculated as follows:  5 Each P/N 12345 at $120.00 or a total of $600.00 of raw material cost.
The routing sheets would also call for this work order to pass through the workstations identified as:
•    Cut  to length,
•    Debur Edges
•    Drill per specification
This assembly will now take on a new part number (Lets call this P/N 23456-Drilled T-bar) , because we have the added value and it no longer exists as a length of extruded aluminum in its raw state.  We now close the work order, and 1000 pieces of part number 23456 are now in stock, and five 20’ Lengths of aluminum, part number 12345 have been credited from your inventory and charged to the work order.  You may also have included labor in the cost for this assembly…. For the sake of this example, labor was .10 Hr @ $25/Hour or $2.50)

Now it’s time to address the outside processing.  Another level assembly must be identified ( lets give this a part number of 98765) because we are going to take part number 23456, and send it to our outside processor for anodizing.  We must purchase the anodizing, and add that cost to our part number 23456.

The anodizing should be set up in your pcMRP inventory module as a labor-outside (lets call this part #, 56789) because this identifies the cost (Let call it $1.10 for this example) for each part’s outside process, and will be combined with the subassembly 23456 cost, which will give us the total cost per final anodized part.
The bill of materials for part number 98765 would look like the following:
BOM for P/N 98765 – Blue Anodized, Alum T-bar, Drilled p/spec abcdef
    QTY           P/N                                            Materials Cost         Labor Cost    
•    1 Each    23456 Drilled T-bar                            .60                            2.50
•    1 Each    56789 Anodizing, Blue                                                         1.10 (OS Labor)        
         Total costs for this part  is:  .60  +    3.60    =    4.20

This step requires you:
•    To write a purchase order to your vendor for the anodizing for 1000 each of part number 56789 (Anodizing, Blue) at 1.10 each
•    To write a work order to assemble 1000 each part number 98765 which will ask you to issue 1000 pieces of assembly number 23456 & look for you to purchase 1000 each of the 56789 so that they can be combined which will result in 1000 pieces of part number 98765, Blue anodized drilled T-bars.

When you complete the steps it will relieve your raw materials from the beginning, relieve the sub assemblies which are drilled ready for anodizing, tell you to purchase the anodizing at it’s cost, and finally return the finished product to your shelf at the correct cost.

pcMRP Stockroom’s Check Availability

Using pc/MRP’s stockroom check availability function allows users to enter a bill of materials for a projected build, and check their inventories for appropriate amounts of stock to complete that build. As one might imagine there’s more to this routine than meets the eye.

Having enough materials to build a projected order is only part of the issue at hand. What happens if there are already orders in the system that MRP as planned for?  What happens if there are materials already on order to satisfy those plans, and when are they coming in?  All of these are answers that the MRP module could answer, but when you want to do a quick assessment, this is the place to do it.

Here’s the process:

1. Open pc/MRP and go to modules, stockroom, check availability as shown here:
2. Once you complete this navigation you will be presented with a number of choices of how you want the Check Availability routine to run for you.  The initial entry that you must make is to insert the assembly that you wish to check availability for.
3. Be sure to Identify the area or “ALL AREAS”  for the system to check availability in.
4. The next entry is very critical. The question is asked of the user:
5. If you select:” Assembly (If available), then Component Parts” as shown above, the system will go to the bill of materials for that top level assembly, and first look for any subassembly that is available to fill its needs. If it does not find the subassembly, it will then go to the component parts of the  subassembly, and look for them to fill in its needs.

With this method you would get a combination of assemblies and parts depending upon what you had in inventory at the time you ran this routine.  It will not take into account any sub assemblies that are being built, as it sees only actual inventory of completed, in stock assemblies and/or parts.

1. If you select “Parts Only”, the system will go to the bill of materials for that top level assembly and then break down the sub assemblies into parts only. It will look for inventory of the parts only. This is what is known as a “Flat BOM”

With this method you would get parts only of what you had in inventory at the time you ran this routine.  It will not take into account any sub assemblies that are being built, it sees only actual inventory of the parts.

1. A preferred method uses the last choice, “Sub-Assemblies Only”, and a secondary choice is to identify when the system should ask you to break down those sub assemblies. Your choices here give you the flexibility that you may need at that moment in time.

By choosing “Sub-Assemblies Only”, “Ask When Short”, the system will go to the top level bill of materials and look for Sub-assemblies FIRST as a default, and if it cannot find sub assemblies that are available for this build, it will ask you if you wish to break that sub-assembly down into parts for the build. If you respond with a yes answer, pc/MRP will ignore that sub-assembly and only look for the parts within that sub-assembly for this build.

This is a critical choice, because there are times that parts are on the shelf in a pre subassembly status that could be used as is.  The difference between the first choice as identified in 3.a above and this choice is the fact that you are able to choose your method rather than having the system automatically ignore one factor or the other automatically.

1. Additional factors on how the system is going to look for materials are shown here. When factoring in for the top assembly, users may check to look at their on  hand quantities of the top assembly, other orders that are creating demand, and whether or not they wish to include a recommended buy report.
2. When selecting the onhand check box, you are asking the system to do a math calculation, that would subtract the quantity you are asking to check availability for, against the on hand quantity, and if there was still a requirement the system would calculate that needs on the balance only.
3. When selecting the On Demand check box as well as the on hand check box, you are asking the system to do a calculation of what is on hand, minus the demand from other sales orders FIRST.  That amount is then used as the available top level assembly quantity which is compared to the quantity you are asking in your check availability request. If that amount is greater than your check availability quantity, then no new requirement would be created. If the amount is less than your check available quantity, that demand balance would then be used in its BOM explosion for this routine
4. Finally, the include a recommended buy report, would be used if any of the components were short and also spell out any existing purchase orders for the component parts.

This routine is a “Mini” MRP for a given assembly and is very powerful when used correctly.  As always. You should keep your