This guide illustrates how to manually add operations, including setting up operation types, assigning resources, and determining cost implications. It emphasizes the strategic importance of these operations in optimizing production workflows, ensuring each product is manufactured efficiently and cost-effectively.
This will be an overview of creating Production operations for a product with no variants. If you enabled variants for a product, you can create specific operations for each product variant.
Production operations can be created for a product manually, through an import, or by copying operations from another product inside Katana.
Note: If you don't see the option to create/edit production operations, take a look at this article regarding user permissions.
Manually creating production operations
Navigate to the Production operations tab on a product card
Production operations can be created for a product from the product card. Navigate to the Items screen > Products table and click on the product you want to edit. Find the Production Operations tab (only visible if you have Make checkmarked) next to the General Info and Product recipe tabs.
Add operation steps
You can create new Operation steps or copy them from another product.
Operation step fields
To create Production operations, add the operation steps needed to manufacture a product by filling in the following fields:
Operation - These are operations such as Cutting, Assembly, Quality Control, etc.
Select an existing Operation from the drop-down menu or create a new one by typing out the operation's name and selecting Create new "operation" from the drop-down.
Type - This column allows you to specify the exact type of operation.
There are 4 types available (Process, Setup, Per Unit, Fixed cost) and each provides a unique calculation which allows you to better adjust for the different costs involved in operations.
Note: Different operation types are only available through the Advanced Manufacturing add-on (you need to be on a Standard plan or higher to use this Add-on).
Resource - Either a workstation or an employee
Select an existing Resource from the drop-down menu or create a new one by typing out the Resource name and selecting Create new "resource" from the drop-down.
Read about managing Tasks for Resources.
Cost per hour - The average hourly cost for performing the operation step.
This typically includes salary cost (labor cost) and could also include other things such as the average hourly maintenance and electricity costs of the workstation (does not include material costs).
When you first enter the Cost per Hour for a Resource, the value will automatically be saved as the default Cost per Hour for that Resource. You can assign and edit this value from Settings > Resources. The default Cost per Hour will automatically be populated to your Resource when you add it to a Production operation step.
Time - The duration of an operation step to produce one unit of a product.
This can be edited on each manufacturing order (MO) if the actual time spent in production is different from the default value defined in the Production operations tab for a product.
Cost - The operation step cost to produce one unit of a product.
This is a calculated field and cannot be manually edited by the user (Cost = Cost per hour x Time).
Copy Production operations from another product
If the Production operations of one product are similar to another, a quick way to create operations is to copy them from the other product.
On the Production operations page for a product, click on Copy operations from at the top right corner of the operations table.
Search for the product that you want to use as a template for the current product.
If you already entered operation steps to the current product, you will be asked to confirm the copy action as your current operations will be overwritten.
If you enable variants for a product, you can create specific operations for each product variant. See more detailed instructions for creating variant-specific operations.
Import Production operations
If you're importing your Product operations, here is a list of instructions.
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