Shortfalls found on the line
An order is accepted, the work starts, and a component runs out halfway through, because nobody checked the bill of material against stock.
Manufacturing & Assembly
What was used and what was made, on one ledger.
A manufacturer or assembler buys components, turns them into something else and sells that. When the three sit in different systems, nobody knows what an order will need until the line stops. OrbitWix explodes each order into its bill of material, raises what is short, and books consumption and output as one movement at actual cost.
The problem
Where the line stops.
The factory can build it. What stops it is the part nobody knew was short.
Two records of the same stock
The store issues material in one system and production reports output in another. At month end, they disagree.
Cost is a standard nobody revisits
The finished goods are costed at a figure set last year. Scrap, rework and price rises never reach the margin.
Promises made without capacity
Sales confirms a date without seeing what the line is already committed to, and the planner finds out from the customer.
Typical workflow
How an order is built.
From the customer’s order to finished goods on the shelf, the order, the materials and the work order stay linked.
A build moves through six stages: a sales order, the bill of material exploded against stock, shortfalls raised as purchase requests, the work order released, built with quality inspection, and finished goods received at actual cost.
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01 Order
WO-2026-0064
Confirmed
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02 Materials
WO-2026-0064
1 short
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03 Purchase
WO-2026-0064
Received
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04 Work order
WO-2026-0064
Released
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05 Build
WO-2026-0064
Inspected
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06 Finished
WO-2026-0064
At actual cost
The solution
What OrbitWix puts in place.
Six parts, from the order to the cost of what was made.
Bills of material
Each product’s components, quantities and sub-assemblies, versioned so a change is a new revision rather than an edit.
Material checked before the work
A sales order exploded into the materials it needs and checked against stock before anyone promises a date.
Shortfalls raised as requests
What the bill needs and the store lacks becomes a purchase request, linked to the work order that needs it.
One ledger for raw and finished
Materials consumed and goods produced posted as one movement, so the store and the line never disagree.
Quality checks on the batch
Inspections recorded against what was made, with the batch held until it passes.
Actual cost on the order
Material, scrap and operating cost rolled into each unit, and the order’s margin read against it.
Example
One order through the factory.
An illustration of one order from confirmation to finished goods. The names are made up; the sequence is the ordinary one.
- Mon 09:00 Grant Traders orders 200 LED panels. The bill of material is exploded against stock: drivers, strips and diffusers are there; 60 aluminium frames are short.
- Mon 09:05 The 60 frames become a purchase request linked to the work order, and the planner promises a date that allows for them.
- Wed 11:00 The frames are received. WO-2026-0064 is released, and every component is reserved for it.
- Thu 16:00 Line 2 builds 200 panels. Three frames are scrapped and recorded on the work order, and the batch passes inspection.
- Fri 08:00 200 panels are received into finished goods at an actual cost of 31.42 each, against a standard of 30.80, and are ready for dispatch.
Visibility
Reports you read, and work you stop doing.
Both read the same records the work is done on, so neither needs an export to stay current.
Reports
- Material shortfallsWhat open orders need that the store does not have, by component.
- Work orders in progressWhat is released, what is built and what is waiting for material.
- Actual against standard costPer product and per work order, with the difference explained.
- Scrap and reworkBy product, by component and by line.
- Consumption by componentWhat the factory actually used, against what the bills said it would.
Automation
- Components short for a work order are raised as purchase requests
- Consumption and output are posted together when a work order is completed
- A watch on work orders whose materials will not arrive before their planned start Early access
Items marked early access run on Watcher, which is still being finished.
Recommended apps
Where to start.
Manufacturers and assemblers start with production and stock together, then add Purchase and Sales so orders and materials drive the plan.
Manufacturing
Bills of material, work orders and quality checks.
Inventory
Raw material and finished goods on one stock ledger.
Purchase
Shortfalls raised against the work order that needs them.
Sales
Orders checked against materials before a date is promised.
FAQ
Questions from manufacturers and assemblers.
Can a bill of material have sub-assemblies?
Yes. A component can have its own bill, so a sub-assembly is built on its own work order and consumed by the next one up.
How is the actual cost of a unit worked out?
From the materials actually consumed, at their stock value, plus scrap and any operating cost recorded on the work order. It is compared with the standard on every completed order.
Can work be sent out to a subcontractor?
Material can be transferred to a subcontractor’s warehouse and the finished items received back against a purchase order. Talk to us about how your subcontracting runs before relying on it.
Does it schedule the line?
Work orders carry planned start dates and the operations on them. Detailed capacity scheduling depends on how your floor works, so it is something we set up with you rather than a promise on a page.
Have a different question? Talk to us.
See one of your orders built on the record.
Bring a bill of material and an order you built last month. We will show what it needed, what was short, and what it actually cost.