In Katana, a manufacturing order (MO) is used to manage the production of products from raw materials and subassemblies. MOs facilitate inventory movements, production scheduling, and tracking of manufacturing costs.
Overview
All MOs are accessible in the Schedule tab of the Make screen. Creating and completing an MO triggers relevant inventory movements for the connected product and required ingredients (materials or subassemblies) included in the product recipe/Bill of Materials (BOM).
Types of manufacturing orders
Katana supports two types of manufacturing orders:
Definition: An MO created to fulfill a specific sales order (SO).
Characteristics:
Permanently linked to the underlying SO.
Reflects the exact quantity required by the SO.
Cannot edit the link to the SO, product, or planned/actual quantity.
Priority is automatically synced with the linked SO.
Creation:
Click + Make → Make to order in the Sell screen or on the SO card.
Bulk creation via Bulk actions → Make to order in the Sell screen.
Note: If integrated with Shopify and order changes are synced, these changes may influence your MTO manufacturing orders.
Read about how this affects sales items availability for sales orders.
Definition: An MO created to produce products for stock, not linked to any specific SO.
Characteristics:
Can be created in bulk for future sales.
Not permanently linked to any SO.
Priorities in the Schedule tab do not change if SO priorities are adjusted.
Creation:
Use the global "+" sign and select + Manufacturing order.
Click + Make on an SO in the Sell screen with a Not available status and select Make in batch.
In the Inventory tab of the Stock screen, click + Make at the end of the row for a product.
Note: If there are open SOs requiring products produced by an MTS MO, the Schedule tab will display relevant customer names and SO numbers in the Customer column. However, this does not create a permanent link between the MTS MO and the SO.
Managing manufacturing orders
Priority management:
For MTO MOs, changing the priority of an SO in the Sell screen automatically updates the production priority in the Schedule tab, and vice versa.
For MTS MOs, priorities are managed independently.
Inventory movements:
Creating and completing an MO adjusts inventory levels for both finished products and consumed ingredients.
Production tracking:
Monitor production status and manage tasks through the Schedule tab.
Printing manufacturing orders
You can print MOs using various templates:
Manufacturing order: Includes all data displayed on an MO card.
Manufacturing order (excl. cost): Excludes cost data for ingredients or operations.
Manufacturing order for taking notes: Excludes cost data and provides space for notes.
Manufacturing order partially done: Displays consumed/remaining quantity and time.
Manufacturing order partially done (excl. cost): Same as above, without cost data.
Pick list: Lists necessary ingredients with quantities.
Pick list with storage location info: Includes default storage bin information.
Tip: You can print multiple MOs at once or create a consolidated pick list.
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