IFS/Manufacturing has flexible backflush management which can vary, depending on the requirements for delivery assurance for different parts. Availability checks are a major part of IFS/Manufacturing. Each time a part is received into or issued from inventory, its quantity on hand changes. In the same way, the availability of the part changes each time you plan an issue or receipt.
The availability check monitors the development of the available balance within the product's lead time. This means that each time a change occurs, the system determines whether all shop orders can be delivered on the promised date. The change can be an order entry, an issue, or a reservation. Only changes within the part's lead time are taken into account, since the availability of the part outside the lead time is considered to be under control.
The shop order backflush process controls which components to issue from inventory, the quantity to issue, and the locations from which they are issued. Backflushing is triggered by the following shop order processes:
Note that the shop order should be in the Released status or higher before material can be issued for it.
When the material line is reserved before it is issued, issuing will primarily be done from the reserved location(s), i.e., all reserved material will be issued before any backflush to try to find other locations to issue material from. Within the reserved location, material is issued from according to a certain priority order, such as FIFO (First In, First Out). This principle is not used if the material has an expiration date. In that case, the material with the earliest expiration date is issued first.
By manually issuing material, you ensure that you get exactly the material you want. When you use this method the backflush hierarchy and part parameters are ignored, and you are allowed to manually issue available material from locations of the floor stock, picking and production line types. You cannot issue more material than the demand unless you have scrapped material.
When you receive a shop order, the system will automatically backflush material that is not yet issued. Backflush hierarchy and part parameters will be used to find locations where material is allowed to be backflushed.
When an operation is reported, all material connected to that operation needs to be issued.If all material connected to the reported operation is not reserved or issued, the backflush hierarchy and part parameters will be used to find locations where material is allowed to be backflushed from or use this function to reserve material linked to a specific operation. By linking material to the operation in which it will be used, you do not have to reserve material too far ahead in time.
Use this function to unissue previously issued material. Note that the shop order material should be in the Issued status before you can use this function.
Use this function to unissue all previously issued material. Note that the shop order material should be in the Issued status before you can use this function.
To determine the locations from which to issue materials, the system uses a hierarchical set of rules. Understanding this set of rules will help you control the locations used for backflushing. To issue components, the system looks for available inventory, until enough is found, in the following order:
If negative inventory is permitted for the site, the system will continue with the following step:
The first location found for the part using the backflush hierarchy identified above will be used for negative on hand for this specific order.
An inventory part has two parameters that affects the reserving and/or issuing of material for a shop order:
Reserve/Issue Method consists of three options, which are Reserve, Backflush, Reserve and Backflush, that determines whether you are allowed to reserve or backflush material. This parameter is passed to the shop order material line and it can be modified at the shop order material line level.
Backflush Part consists of three options, which are All Location, Only Floor Stock, Only Specified Location. The selected option determines from which location you are allowed to reserve material for a shop order. If the Only Specified location option is selected, the logic will stop after that step in the hierarchy.
Work center has two parameters that affects the issuing of material for a shop order.
Outside Reserve/Backflush consists of four options which are Reserve Allowed, Backflush Allowed, Reserve and Backflush Allowed and Not Allowed. The selected option determines whether the operation connected material should be allowed to continue with reserve and/or backflush after this step or not, using locations other than the work center inbound locations.
In the Work Center/Location tab, the Shared Location check box determines whether the location is allowed to issue to other material demands that are not connected to the particular work center. In an instance when the location is protected against the work center, no other material demand is able to automatically reserve material from this particular location. This helps to avoid unexpected shortages due to reserving of material that is not supposed to be processed in the work center.
Outside Reserve/Backflush which is in the production line affects both automatic reserving/issuing of production schedule and shop order material. Options determine how the reserve/backflush of material is allowed from locations other than the production line inbound locations.
If you have specified more than one inbound location, or more than one location of a specific location type, the system looks at the expiration or receipt date of the material and uses a FIFO process to determine which location to use.
Only inventory available for automatic issue according to the part availability control on the inventory part in stock location will be available for backflush. The existence of a W/D/R number does not affect part availability. Inventory part in stock locations for tracked parts and parts with W/D/R numbers will not be considered for negative inventory.