Your first build order
Build orders are how you make units in BuildTrace. A build order is a plan to build a number of units of one assembly. This page takes you from an empty workspace to a produced unit. You need a product with a released revision. If you did not turn on Lock for production when you added the product, release its v1 revision first.
Who can do what: adding a product needs a role with parts:write (ENGINEER, MANAGER or ADMIN). Receiving stock needs inventory write access, and creating and reserving build orders needs production:write. OPERATOR, MANAGER and ADMIN have both.
1. Receive materials into a location
Section titled “1. Receive materials into a location”Stock lives in locations, such as a warehouse or a shelf.
- Open Inventory, then select Locations, and add a location. Give it a code, a name and a kind.
- Receive the parts your product needs:
- Select + Stock (RAW) for parts you track by quantity. Choose the revision, the location and the quantity. A lot and a supplier are optional.
- Select + Serial for parts you track by serial number. Choose the revision and the location, then enter the serial numbers or generate a range.
The setup checklist also links to both steps, with its Add location and Receive stock buttons.
2. Create the order
Section titled “2. Create the order”- Open Build Orders and select New build order.
- Choose the Assembly Revision and enter the Target Qty, the number of units you want.
- Choose Consume materials from and Produce units to. These are locations. They can be the same.
Only assemblies appear in the list. BuildTrace copies the order’s lines from the revision’s effective BOM at the moment you create the order. Later changes to the BOM do not change an order that already exists. See BOMs.
A new order starts as DRAFT.
3. Acknowledge change orders and reserve
Section titled “3. Acknowledge change orders and reserve”If any engineering change orders (ECOs) apply to the revision, the order lists them on its ECOs tab. Acknowledge each one before you reserve. The Reserve button stays disabled until you do.
Select Reserve. BuildTrace sets aside the quantities and the serialized components the order needs, and the order moves to RESERVED. If there is not enough free stock at the consume-from location, the reserve fails with an error that says so, and the Materials tab lists every item that is short. The order stays DRAFT. Add stock and select Reserve again.
Later, if a reserved serial is quarantined or scrapped, the order shows how many reserved parts are short. Select Reserve replacements to top it up.
4. Start and produce a unit
Section titled “4. Start and produce a unit”Select Start. The order moves to IN_PRODUCTION. Then select Produce unit. A six-step wizard walks you through it:
- Overview
- Kit / Materials: pick the serialized components and enter the lots you are using.
- Work Instructions: tick off the steps.
- ECO Application: say whether each change order was applied or skipped.
- Final Test: if the revision has a test plan, you enter the results here, and BuildTrace judges them against the limits. If it has no plan, this step says so.
- Review & Finish: select Finish.
Finishing consumes the reserved components and lots and creates a new serial number for the unit. It also writes the unit’s immutable as-built record: the exact components, lots, applied changes and test result. If the unit fails its final test, you can still finish it as failed. It is produced, then quarantined.
Repeat for each unit.
5. Complete the order
Section titled “5. Complete the order”When the number of units produced plus the number scrapped reaches the target, select Complete. The order moves to COMPLETED.