Multi-variant BOM usage example

<< Prev   Next >>

This section contains an example scenario illustrating creation and usage of multi-variant bills of materials (BOM).

The scenario describes a case of creating a single BOM for manufacturing shirts of many different colors and sizes.

Scenario overview

A company intends to manufacture shirts of 3 colors and 4 sizes.

The shirts are manufactured according to the following rules:

• S-size shirts require 1.8 m² of fabric
• M-size shirts require 1.9 m² of fabric
• L-size shirts require 2.0 m² of fabric
• XL-size shirts require 2.2 m² of fabric
• Black shirts require 8 white buttons
• White and red shirts require 8 black buttons

Now, you can either create a separate BOM for each shirt variant, or save time and effort by creating a single multi-variant BOM that describes all 12 shirt variants at once.

During the scenario, you will go through the following steps:

1. Filling initial data
2. Creating a multi-variant BOM
3. Creating component autofill rules
4. Using a multi-variant BOM in documents

1. Filling initial data

First, you need to fill 1C:Drive with the initial data you will need to create the BOM:

1. Create a product category named Shirts.
   

   The shirts are differentiated both by size and color. To reflect this fact, create two additional attributes for the Shirts product category:

   • Color. Values: Black, Red, White.
   • Size. Values: S, M, L, XL.
2. Create a product category named Components. It will contain both of our components: fabric and buttons.

   As the components are differentiated by color only, create one additional attribute for the Components product category:

   • Color. Values: Black, Red, White.

   Note that Color attribute has identical sets of values for both product categories (Shirts and Components). This will be important later.

3. Create a product named Shirt in the Shirts product category.
   Set Replenishment method to Production.
   Generate all possible product variants for Shirt:
   
4. Create a product named Fabric in the Components product category.
   Generate variants for it:
   
5. Create a product named Buttons in the Components product category.
   Generate variants for it (please note that in our case, we have no red buttons):
   

That's it, you've created all the data we'll need.

2. Creating multi-variant BOM

Now that all the data is in place, let’s create the BOM.

Enter the details as on screenshot below:

3. Creating component autofill rules

Now, it's time to describe which components are required to manufacture which shirt variant. Each such description is called a component autofill rule.

We need to create two sets of rules, one for fabric and one for buttons.

Creating rules for fabric

On the Components tab, click Add and then click Component autofill rules. Now, you are in the rule creation mode.

First, let's create a rule for the XL shirts:

Field	Value
Attributes of finished product	Size Equal to XL
Component	Fabric
Variant search rule	By component additional attribute: Color
Quantity	Formula: [OrderedQuantity] * 2.2

This might look complicated but it's actually very simple. The rule says that to manufacture an XL shirt of any color, we need 2.2 m² of fabric of the same color (this is why having a common Color attribute is important; the rule would not work otherwise).

Create similar rules for L and M shirt sizes.

Now, the rule list should look like this:

To make sure we have created all required rules, click Rule validity check.

Looks like we have forgotten to do something:

The error report says there is no way to determine what sort of fabric is required for black S, red S, and white S shirts. In other words, some rules are missing!

Luckily, this error is very easy to fix. Just create a rule for S-size shirts and click Rule validity check again. Now, everything is in order, and each shirt variant has its own rule.

To save the rules, click Save and close.

Creating rules for buttons

Now, you need to repeat the procedure with the buttons.

On the Components tab, click Add and then click Component autofill rules.

This time, you only need to create two rules:

This means that black shirts require 8 white buttons, while all non-black shirts (white and red, in our case) require 8 black buttons.

When done, perform the rule validity check:

Great, everything is OK. Save the rules, save the BOM, and we're done here.

4. Using multi-variant BOM in documents

Now that you have created a multi-variant BOM, you probably want to see it in action.

A quick and easy way to do this is to create a production order for, say, 50 black M-size shirts and 100 red S-size shirts:

Next, generate work-in-progress (WIP) documents from it. You should get two WIP documents: one for the black shirts and one for the red ones.

Open either WIP and check the component list. As you can see, both WIPs have the components exactly right, down to the color of the buttons:

<< Prev   Next >>