Before proceeding, we suggest reading our Manufacturing orders article first.
For Katana, there are two types of Manufacturing order (MO) – Make-to-Order and Make-to-Stock – which are created in different ways.
Creating a Make-to-Stock MO
You can create a Make-to-Stock Manufacturing order through:
The global "+" sign by selecting + Manufacturing order
Selecting Make in batch for a Sales order (SO) in the Sell screen - This method allows you to customize the number of missing products based on your desired batch size.
Using the + Make from the Inventory tab in the Stock screen - this is a quick way to create a Make-to-Stock MO for products whose stock level is below the optimal level, taking into account the quantities you have in stock, expected, committed, and Reorder point. To enter more details or edit the MO, navigate to the Schedule tab and find the new MO.
Creating a Make-to-Order MO
Navigate to the Sell screen.
Click on + Make → Make to order from the Production column of a SO. This will create Make-to-Order MO for all products required by the SO. This MO will be permanently linked to the SO.
You can also create a Make-to-Order MO for each Sales order line separately by opening a SO and clicking on + Make → Make to order on a SO line.
Production statuses
Each MO has a Production status, which can be manually changed. Different statuses trigger specific changes in inventory and help to monitor and manage production activities.
Read more about Production statuses.
Manufacturing order card details
*Manufacturing order #
A unique auto-generated identifier. If the MO is linked to a SO, it will display the underlying SO number with a suffix (for example "/ 1"). For a Make-to-Stock MO, the order # can be manually edited.
*Product
The product this MO will produce. The field value is a combination of Product Code, Product name, and Variant Option values (e.g. "[P-1] MyProduct / White"). You can only add one product or variant to a MO. A Make-to-Order MO won't allow you to change the product as it is linked to a specific SO.
Customer (only visible for a Make-to-Order MO)
The name of the customer on the related SO.
*Planned quantity
The quantity you wish to produce with this MO. The unit of measure for the product can be set and edited on the product card. You cannot change the quantity on a Make-to-Order MO that is linked to a specific SO.
Actual quantity
Indicates the actual quantity of products to be made with the MO. If you complete the MO without indicating the actual quantity, the planned quantity will be automatically used. Changing the actual quantity does not change the quantity of ingredients on the MO. You cannot change the quantity on a Make-to-Order MO that is linked to a specific Sales Order. Actual quantity can also be reported on the Shop Floor App.
Total cost
The total cost to manufacture the selected quantity of product. This includes the cost of ingredients from Product recipe / BOM plus the cost of Production Operations multiplied by the quantity. For an open MO, the cost calculation is shown based on the planned quantity of ingredients but is recalculated when the MO is completed if the actual quantity of ingredients consumed is different from the planned.
*Production Deadline
The expected date of completion for the MO. Shown in red if at least one ingredient required by the MO is unavailable, the arrival date of an ingredient is later than the MO deadline, or if the deadline has passed.
Read more about managing Production Deadlines.
Delivery Deadline (only visible for a Make-to-Order MO)
The delivery deadline for a related SO that requires products from the MO.
Manufacturing Location
The Location of the MO. The product will be added to this Location when the MO is complete. The Ingredients availability is based on the stock levels at this Location and the ingredients are also consumed from this Location.
*Created date
The date the MO was created. The default is set to today but can be edited.
Done date (only visible once a MO is completed)
Automatically assigned to a MO when the Production status to changed to Done.
* = Required
Ingredients
The Ingredients table shows all materials and subassemblies that are required to produce a product.
Ingredients and quantities are taken from the Product recipe / BOM (set and edited on the product card) and the cost is based on the current Average cost of these ingredients in your Stock.
Katana allows you to record waste of ingredients created in manufacturing or account for varying amounts of ingredients in the production process. If you use more or fewer ingredients in production than planned, you can insert the actual quantity used. Click on the quantity of an ingredient to edit. This can also be reported via the Shop Floor App.
Note: Changes to the default Product recipe of a product on the product card won't automatically be applied to any open MO for that product. You can apply changed Recipes to open Manufacturing orders in bulk in a few clicks or update MOs individually - read more.
Ingredients Availability shows you if the required materials and subassemblies for a MO are In stock, Expected or Not available. This status is always based on the planned quantity of ingredients. Read more about Ingredients Availability.
The date below the Expected status indicates the arrival date of a related Purchase Order (PO) for materials or the Production Deadline of a related MO for subassemblies.
Clicking on the Ingredients availability status opens an Inventory Intel window which shows additional info about the inventory level of the specific material or subassembly. You can see the In stock, Expected, and Committed quantities of the ingredient and see all the Manufacturing orders which this ingredient is reserved for. Manufacturing orders are ordered by priority here (can be changed in the Schedule tab) and the current MO is shown in bold.
An important concept regarding Ingredients Availability:
The Ingredients availability status indicates whether an ingredient is available for this particular MO. It takes into account the priority order of Manufacturing orders (set in the Schedule tab). Even if you have some quantity In stock for the required ingredient, the Ingredients availability for this particular MO may still show Not available if another higher priority MO has already reserved the same ingredient. Changing the priority order of Manufacturing orders could also change the Ingredients Availability for a MO. There are no permanent links between any MO and PO.
Production operations
The table at the bottom of a MO shows the production Operations you need to complete to produce the product. Operations, resources, time, and costs are all taken from the Production Operations (set and edited on the product card). This information can be edited on the MO if needed.
You can also assign Operators (Shop Floor App users) to operations on an open MO.
If the actual time to complete an operation differs from the default time defined in Production Operations, you can change the Actual time for each operation on the MO after the Production Operation has completed. Actual time is recorded automatically via the Shop Floor App or in Katana when an operation is set to In progress.
The Actual time is taken into account in cost calculations for the product and allows you to track the actual manufacturing costs for products - read more.
Any changes to the time of operations on a MO are not applied to the default Production Operations on the product card.
Note: If you change Production Operations for a product on the product card, the changes do not apply automatically to existing Manufacturing Orders. You will see a notification at the bottom of the screen on a MO if the Production Operations for the product have been changed and can choose to refresh the operations for the MO.
You can track the production status in more detail for a MO by changing the statuses for production steps. Click on the icon at the end of the operation step row to change the status. Status can also be changed directly from the Shop Floor App.
Read more about managing production statuses.
Additional info
You can add comments to any MO such as specific instructions to production personnel, production details, reference numbers, or references to relevant file locations, etc.
This additional info is also displayed in the Shop Floor App when clicking on the Task in the app and navigating to the Notes section.