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Using the Packaging Configurator

Business Central provides the ability to differentiate between production and packaging activities in the manufacturing process. This is accomplished by creating an intermediate item that is linked to a production bill of materials such as a formula or an item process. This intermediate is then listed as a component in a second bill of materials called a package BOM. The output of a package BOM is a finished good. This allows you to create multiple package BOMs that feature the same intermediate item. If one intermediate item is packaged in multiple ways, you can use these package BOMs to create different production requests.

In some cases, it may be that a company packs multiple intermediate items in the same packaging configurations. For example, a company that manufactures paint may produce 30 different colors of paint, with each color being packaged in one of three different can sizes. In a scenario such as this, the packaging materials remain mostly the same, with a few exceptions, such as the label that appears on the paint can.

Rather than create separate package BOMs for packaging activities that are similar to one another, you can use the Packaging Configurator granule. The Packaging Configurator utilizes item variants that represent the different ways in which an intermediate item can be packaged. You can create a single bill of materials listing standard packaging items, then assign this BOM to multiple item variants. When a production order is created for an item variant, the production order components are determined from the associated bill of materials.

Package Variables

Although the materials in a standard packaging configuration are primarily the same from item to item, there may be some differences. For example, we may use the same can, lid, and box to package both red and blue paint, but the labels that appear on these items will be unique.

You can create package variables to account for differences in a list of standard packaging materials. A package variable acts as a placeholder for an actual inventory item on a bill of materials. When a production order is created from the bill of materials, the program replaces the package variable with a specific item.

Item Variants

Item variants are defined when different types of an item are present in your inventory that are virtually identical except for one particular characteristic, such as size. When the item is entered on a transaction line, you can specify a particular variant.

You use item variants in conjunction with the Packaging Configurator to indicate the different ways in which an item can be packaged. Rather than create multiple package BOMs for the same intermediate item, you enter item variants for each packaging configuration instead. Each item variant must also have an assigned package BOM. This package BOM should contain the packaging materials that are required to produce the item variant. You can assign the same package BOM to multiple item variants.

Because packaging methods are defined as item variants for an intermediate item, there are no finished goods in a manufacturing process that utilizes the Packaging Configurator. As a result, intermediate items are entered directly on sales lines. You can however assign a variant code on the sales line, and the item's description and unit of measure will change according to the item variant's setup.

Item Variant Variables

If the bill of materials you have assigned to an item variant contains any package variables, you must set up item variant variables. Item variant variables are the inventory items you want the program to insert in place of a package variable when production order components are calculated from a package BOM.

The use of item variant variables allows you to set up a single package BOM that represents a common packaging configuration, then assign this BOM to multiple item variants. Using our previous example, we could set up a package BOM that consists of a paint can, lid, and box, as well as a package variable for the label. When we create item variants for red and blue paint, we can associate the same package BOM to both of them. For each variant, we can then assign the package variable to separate inventory items for the different labels.

Production

When you create a production order for an intermediate item, you can specify an item variant that has been defined for that item. The program calculates production order components from two bills of material:

• Raw materials for the production item are calculated from the production BOM that is assigned to the intermediate item.
• Packaging materials are calculated from the package BOM that is assigned to the selected item variant.

Package variables that are present on BOM lines can not be entered as production order components. The program replaces these package variables with the corresponding item variant variables that are defined for the relevant item variant.