When you are scheduling production for "Not available" items directly from a Sales Order, you have an option either to "Make in batch" or "Make to order".

Make in batch - allows you to customize the quantity manufactured based on your desired batch size.

Make to order - will create a manufacturing order for the exact quantity of product needed for this specific sales order.

In both cases, a Manufacturing Order (MO) for the required products will be added to the "Schedule" in the "Make" screen. However, the characteristics of the MOs are different when you are either making in batch or making to order.

Let's dig a little deeper into the differences of "Make in batch" and "Make to order".

... if you are looking to select a quantity of the product to make with the Manufacturing Order you are creating.

You can make a different quantity that is required by the specific Sales Order. By default, the suggested quantity for the Manufacturing Order is the total missing quantity for a product, based on all your existing sales orders, stock on hand, and open manufacturing orders. You can see the missing quantity in the "Missing/Excess" column in the "Stock" screen. You can edit the quantity for the created MO at any time to match your desired batch size for manufacturing.

This Manufacturing Order is essentially a "Make to stock" order that will not be permanently linked to any Sales Orders. This means that when Sales Order priorities are changed, the products made by this MO might be rebooked to other Sales Orders. Also, the priorities in the "Schedule" do not change if the priority for any Sales Orders is drag-and-dropped.

... if you are looking to make products only for the specific Sales Order.

The created Manufacturing Order will be for the exact quantity of the product required by the underlying Sales Order. The quantity or the link between orders cannot be changed.

The MO will be permanently linked to that Sales Order. The priority of the MO is automatically synced with the linked Sales Order: changing the priority of the Sales Orders in the "Sell" screen automatically updates production priorities in the "Schedule" and vice versa.

Read more about different types of Manufacturing Orders.

Read more about how MOs affect Product Availability for Sales Orders.

Also, here's how a typical Make to Order flow and Make to Stock flow work in Katana.