Introduction

Using the Assemblies function enables users to build products quickly and easily.  Some users use the Auto Assembly option to assemble products with a set range of components. Others have a set of components for their products and choose to build their assemblies manually. For instance, users who do not sell their components as individual items but instead assemble them in bulk. 

See Assemble a Product for more information. 

Some users have components that vary from sales to sale, so they choose to create assemblies on the fly; this help article explains how you can do this. 

Creating Assemblies is very useful

Creating assemblies on the fly can be used in many situations, e.g.

•  A shop which creates a platter that uses a range of cheeses individualized to their customer.
• Or the brewer who uses varying amounts of hops and yeast depending on their tastes.

The benefits

1. You can create multiple Bill of Materials (BOMs) that represent frequently used components that can vary a little or a lot from assembly to assembly. BOMs that represent frequently used components that can vary a little or a lot from assembly to assembly.
2. You can create a unique assembly that can then be as simple as choosing the BOM closest to your needs, and removing quantities or components until they meet your requirements.

About creating assemblies on the fly in Unleashed

Whenever you create a BOM, you need to create products to use as your components — includes the quantity and any wastage. When you create the assembly, you can delete these components, and reduce the quantity/wastage if required. However, you cannot increase the quantity and wastage, or add in any other components, which can be limiting and very frustrating. This is why creating a variety of bill of materials (BOM) that include frequently used components to build assemblies on the fly is so compelling. When you create a BOM for a product that you create regularly - that could use similar, yet slightly varying products, if you include every product you use with the maximum quantity and wastage you need; then you should probably create these on the fly. 

Example of creating assemblies on the fly

In this example, an asbestos removal company, need all of their component products they use as one item by the meter on their sales orders (but for whom those products may vary from job to job).

On job scenario #1, it may be by;

• heavy-duty black sheeting by the square meter
• three pairs of gloves
• three rolls of garbage bags; and
• Five face masks.

On job scenario #2, it may be by;

•  lightweight white plastic sheeting by the square meter
• only one pair of gloves
• five rolls of garbage bags, and
• Three face masks.

This can all be achieved by using one Bill of Materials.

In the following process, we'll use scenario #1 as our main focus, but will use scenario 2 for any differences that need to be considered.

The process - how this could be achieved

1. Create all of the products in Unleashed (Inventory module menu)

• All products must have stock on hand before the sale is complete.

1. Create the BOM

• You can create the BOM via the Production module (Add Bill of Materials); using the finished product — we’ll call Materials by Meter.

1. Add the Components

• The black & white plastic sheeting, gloves, garbage bags and face masks etc. We use the maximum quantity we could need per square meter. So if some jobs require eight pairs of gloves (mentioned in scenario#2) but some only need three pairs of gloves, we would list the quantity as eight, plus any wastage.
• We do this for all of our component products — as many units of that product as we could possibly need. This is because we can delete products from a manual assembly, but not add them.

4. Create an assembly for the product

• Create an assembly for the product; Materials by Meter. Go to Production | Add Assembly and choose our finished product – the entire component products, quantities and wastage loads. For scenario #1, we just need the heavy-duty black plastic sheeting but not the lightweight white plastic sheeting, so we simply delete the lightweight white plastic sheeting off the assembly.
• Our assembly lists eight pairs of gloves, but we only need three, so we reduce that quantity. We do this for the rest of the components, quickly changing the quantities to match what we specifically need for this job – three rolls of garbage bags and five face masks.
• You can remove components if they are not required on the sale, in this instance you could remove the face masks. 

If you wanted scenario #2 you would change the components and quantities to suit; lightweight white plastic sheeting by square meter, only one pair of gloves, five rolls of garbage bags and three face masks.

1. Set the quantity of the Materials 

• Set the quantity of the materials by the meter that we create. For example, if we create three units of Materials by Meter, the assembly removes nine pairs of gloves from inventory in the first scenario, and three in the second.

6. Complete the component stock

• Once you’re happy with the assembly, you can complete it and the component stock is taken out of inventory, while three units of the Materials by Meter product are put into your stock on hand. This way our Asbestos removal company can put the Materials by Meter product on their sales orders, confident that the right amount of component products are being removed from their inventory and see the exact cost of the materials they’ve used.