Some products are not on a shelf. They have to be built first.

First it has to be settled what is to be built

Some products exist at first only in the head of the customer. A flight case to its own dimensions, a marquee in a particular configuration, an exhibition stand, a sales trailer, a machine.

A product can be described through groups, categories and attributes, plus variants and options. At the start there can be a product configurator with which sales, or the customer directly, puts together what is to be built.

For articles made up of several parts there are assemblies with their own parts list, and groups can be nested inside one another. That describes what the product is made of before anyone starts.

The costing comes out of that assembly. The calculation over the margin shows which sales price yields which gross profit, including material costs and the hours needed for it.

Procuring and scheduling

What is in the warehouse gets used. Stock arises from receipts, issues and transfers, and whatever is missing becomes visible as a requirement.

Every article carries several supply sources with purchase price, minimum quantity and lead time. The planned total sits next to the ordered one, so it stays clear what is still on its way.

The production type distinguishes how the costing works and which qualifications are needed. Who gets scheduled follows qualification and availability, and approved absences take effect on it immediately.

The bar chart lays jobs and line items across time. What has to be finished first so the next step can begin therefore becomes plannable rather than a matter of agreement.

Building, installing, handing on

Installation and set-up are planned separately from the delivery and have their own dates. The unit is finished before it goes to the customer, and the set-up there is a step of its own with its own date.

While the build runs, everyone involved books their time onto the job. A service is a line item type of its own and sits next to the material in the same job.

If work comes up that you do not carry out yourselves, it is kept as a special expense or bought in from a supplier. That too belongs to the figure that stands under the unit at the end.

And once the unit is finished it does not stop existing. If it carries a serial number it can be followed across its whole life history: sold, hired out, serviced, repaired. What you built stays findable.