Job Pick vs Job Issue in Made2Manage™

Jun 24, 2024

MobileManage™ introduces the concept of Picking versus Issuing for the components on a Job. In Made2Manage™ you issue materials to a job. At the time of issuing, material is relieved from the issuing location and your WIP is increased. In reality, most Made2Manage™ implementations use a paper “pick” list to roam the warehouse and gather the components needed for the job. “Picked” quantities, and lot\serial numbers are noted on the paper pick list. Then, later, the hard copy paper list is given to someone to enter the “picks” into Made2Manage™.

This can cause a tremendous lag time between the physical movement and the electronic movement, causing problems on the floor. This lag time is further exasperated if you are picking specific Lots and Serial numbers. Because of this time lag (among other reasons) many companies choose to Backflush at the labor op (as Matt described in his post), even though the quantities are “assumed” versus “actuals”.

Backflushing can help in the timing of the consumption into WIP, but it will not recognize the components “reserved” (staged or allocated) to a specific Job. It’s open season on your inventory. And Backflushing won’t work with Lot\Serial control.

MobileManage™ distinguishes between the Picking and Issuing process to keep the physical quantities in sync with the electronic quantities. When a component is picked off the electronic pick list, it is allocated to the Job immediately. The component remains on-hand, but the amounts are now reserved for this particular Job. An “available calculation” reduces the inventory availability to other Jobs. This is especially important with Lot\Serial. If a Lot\Serial component is picked, the specific Lot\Serial number is allocated to that Job, no one else can pick it.

We will soon have the ability to automatically transfer picked product to a “staging” location for the Job. What does this mean? Customers will be able to “stage” the material for a job, maintain full visibility of allocated material to the Job, accurately represent available inventory for planning purposes, and single click issue the picked material to the Job, by operation if applicable. In a sense, “Backflushing” with actual quantities, including Lot\Serial numbers.