In Katana, a material is any raw component or resource used in your manufacturing operations. Materials are essential building blocks in your product recipes and production workflows.
Materials are consumed as part of the production process and are not sold directly to customers (unless configured otherwise).
Overview of materials
Materials represent raw goods or parts that are transformed into finished products during manufacturing. These can include:
Fabric, metal, wood, plastic
Screws, bolts, components
Packaging materials
Any physical item not sold directly but used in production
Unlike products, materials are not manufactured within Katana.
They are either:
Purchased from suppliers
Added to stock manually
Imported via CSV or integrations
Note: If you need to track an intermediate item that is made in-house, use a subassembly, which is treated as a product.
Key attributes
Each material has a material card, where you can manage:
Name: Descriptive title
SKU: Stock Keeping Unit for inventory tracking
Variants: Different sizes, colors, types of the same material
Category: Optional grouping to help with organization
Default supplier: Preferred vendor (Under Supply details)
Purchase price: Cost of acquiring the material (Under Supply details)
Barcode: Optional field for scanning
Stock levels: In stock, committed to production, and expected from suppliers
Custom fields: Additional attributes specific to your business needs
One material can have multiple variants (e.g., color, size). If multiple variants aren't enabled for a material, it is considered to have a single variant.
If multiple variants aren't enabled, there is only a single variant code. If a material has multiple variants, each variant can have a unique code.
Managing materials
To manage materials in Katana:
Go to the Items screen.
Click on the Materials table.
Create a new material or click on an existing one.
Set up item and supply details.
You can also:
Add materials directly into product recipes
Import multiple materials using a CSV template
Adjust inventory manually or via stock adjustments
Make materials sellable by checking Sell under Usability
Tip: Use variants to manage multiple types of the same base material, such as different colors or sizes of packaging.
Materials vs. Subassemblies
Feature | Materials | Subassemblies (Products) |
Can it be manufactured? | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
Can it be purchased? | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
Used in recipes? | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
Treated as a product? | ❌ No | ✅ Yes (full item card & recipe) |
Your feedback is invaluable. Let us know your thoughts on this article or anything in Katana you'd like to see improved: [email protected]