Creating materials in Katana involves adding raw inputs essential for production, complete with details such as SKU, cost, and stock levels. This helps you to manage and track raw materials, ensuring accurate inventory records and efficient production planning.
In Katana, there are three main ways to create a new material.
Note: If the option to create/edit a material is not available, take a look at this article regarding user permissions..
Creating a material - 3 methods
Click on the global "+" button and select + Material.
On a purchase order card or product recipe,type the name of a new material into an item field and select Create new "material name" from the drop-down list. This will open a pop-up window where you can enter basic details of your material (name, unit of measure, variant code, purchase price).
When you click Done, a new material will be created and automatically added to the purchase order (PO) or product recipe. To enter more details about the material you created, go to the Items screen and click on this material in the material list to open a full material card.
Popup window for a new material:
Import materials in bulk using our spreadsheet template. Learn more.
The material card
A material card, where you can add details about a specific material, is made up of 3 tabs: General info, Used in BOMS, and Supply details.
General info tab
Material name (required) - unique name of your material. If your material has multiple variants, we don't recommend including material attributes in the material name (color, size etc.). You can use our variants feature to create these variations. Read more.
Recommended example: Table leg
Not recommended example: Table leg white with black lines
Category - group your materials into distinct categories. These are useful for better organization and analysis of similar materials inside Katana. Read more about categories, creating categories, editing, and deleting categories.
Example categories: Tables, Chairs
Unit of measure - the unit you use to measure the quantity of your material (e.g. pieces, kilograms, meters). You can manage the list of units (add, edit and delete) in the Settings screen.
Usability - Selecting Sell under this section allows you to add this material to sales orders (SOs).
Material tracking - choose whether you wish to track batch information for the item (all variants of the item). Tthe Full Traceability add-on is required to use this feature. Read more about batch tracking in Katana.
Variants - groups of the same material, categorized by specific attributes. Attributes could be color and size, for example. Using the variants feature (compared to creating separate material items for each variant) can save a lot of time, as they enable changing supply terms globally for all variants of the material.
Activating the variants check box opens a 'Variants setup', where you can enter variant options (e.g. color, size) and option values (e.g. red and blue for 'color' option). Variant options will appear as new columns in the table at the bottom of the material card and option values can be chosen from the drop-down menu in the text fields of those columns. If you have not enabled multiple variants, then the material is considered to have a single variant.
Default columns in the General info table:
Variant code / SKU - a unique identifier for your material variant. If you have not enabled multiple variants, then the material is considered to have a single variant. You can use it to create your own material identification system. Read more about variant codes
Registered barcode - the barcode used on physical barcode labels.
Internal barcode - unique code for each material variant. These can be generated automatically.
In stock - how many of the material (or variant) are currently in stock.
Bin - The default storage bin of a material in your warehouse. It is shown on put-away and picking list PDF printouts. This is an Standard or higher plan feature. Read more about storage bins.
Note: Safety stock levels for material can be set on the Stock screen. It's the inventory level for a material that indicates a need to replenish its stock. It is used to ensure that you always have sufficient stock to protect the business against spikes in demand. Read more about safety stock levels and determining the appropriate level.
Used in BOMs tab
This tab gives you a quick glimpse into what product recipes / BOMs the material is being used in (if the material hasn't been added to a product recipe / BOM, it won't show).
You can also replace a certain material in multiple Product recipes by clicking on Swap-out material button:
Click to view an interactive walkthrough
Supply details tab
Default supplier - the supplier from whom you are purchasing the material by default. This supplier is added to a purchase order automatically when the related material is added to the order.
Supplier currency (only available on Standard or higher subscription plans) - The currency that your supplier does their business in and the currency your purchase prices are set in (Read more about setting supplier currency).
Default purchase unit of measure - if the supplier uses a different unit of measure for purchasing, you can define that in this field.
Unit conversion rate - if a different unit of measure was added, use this field to add the conversion rate to the material's default UoM.
Default columns in the Supply details table:
Variant - this column includes the names of the variants for this material
Supplier item code - codes used to identify raw materials and purchasable materials. Each variant can have multiple supplier item codes. Learn more about barcodes.
Default lead time - lead times reflect the time it takes for an item to be delivered or produced. This time could vary based on supplier or production process.
MOQ - The supplier's specified minimum order quantity. This helps ensure that orders meet the minimum requirements. Learn more about lead time and MOQ.
Default purchase price - purchase price of your materials from suppliers. This will be the default purchase price added to purchase orders, but can be edited per purchase order. Different purchase prices can be assigned to each material variant.
Your feedback is invaluable. Let us know your thoughts on this article or anything in Katana you'd like to see improved: [email protected]