1. The Part # / Item # should be at least 30 characters in length or look for a package with a Part # length parameter. Many Engineers and Designers prefer to use an internal scheme of self defining Part Numbers rather than an automatically assigned sequential Part. Once established, a self defining Part # scheme can be faster to use than a sequential Part #, based on Part # attributes (material type, grade, shape, dimensions [length, width, height, gauge, outer diameter, inner diameter, wall thickness, etc.]).
2. If properly defined, a series of attributes can be established which would uniquely define any raw material, purchased component or finished good.
3. Units of Measure (Metric & English) and their conversion ratios should be user definable - an extensive list or table of Units of Measure and their conversion ratios should come as standard with the package:
4. Multiple Types of Units of Measure by Part # (User defined)are required for various business processes (engineering, sales, packaging, purchasing, manufacturing, costing, etc.)
a. The Stocking or Inventory Unit of Measure should be used for Costing.
b. Each Part # could have unique conversion ratios between its different Types of U/M
5. Various costing methods should be available by Facility:
a. Standard
b. Last Actual
c. Average Actual, based on a weighted average = On-Hand X Current Average Actual cost + Receipt X Order Cost/Unit) / On-Hand + Receipt)
d. Lot Specific Actual, based on Purchase Order or Job Cost with Cost Detail:
1) Material Cost
2) Labor Cost
3) Fixed & Variable Overhead
4) Outside Service
5) Sales Tax
6) Freight
7) Import Tax
8) Import Freight
e. LIFO (Last In First Out), based on the Purchase Order OR Work Order received
f. FIFO (Fisrt In Fisrt Out), based on the Purchase Order OR Work Order received
6. Must have a Complete Cycle Counting module with randomly scheduled recounts, based on frequency codes (annual, monthly, weekly or daily) with bar-coded count cards and bar-coded counting lists. Each Cycle Count is like a mini-Physical with Costed Transaction and G/L Account Adjustment Reports and Journal Entries.)
7. Provide a complete Physical Inventory module with bar-coded Count Sheets and Tickets Tag # Reconciliation, Variance Analysis, Cost Adjustment reports and automatic Journal Entries.
8. Must have Inventory Transaction Inquiry screen which can drill back to the source (PO, Sales Order, Jobs, Lots, etc.)
9. The system must support tracking Inventory by Location, Lot & Location, Serial #, & Location and Serial # within Lot.
10. Job/Work Order costing must support Scrap Costing by Operation within a Job/Work Order.
11. Under Actual Lot Specific Costing, Work Order Receipts/ Mfg Lots would be valued at their share of the Actual Cost for each Operation, across all Operations.
a. Operation Costs (Material, Tooling, Fixturing, Outside Service and Overhead) are to be divided by the Quantity (Completed and Scrapped) at that Operation.
12. Under Actual Lot Specific Costing, a Purchase Order Receipt's value would equal (Receipt Quaintly X PO Unit Price) this is the Value of the Inventory Lot created by the Purchase Order Receipt.
13. Provide for authorized Part substitution with "Daisy Chain" / looping edit.
14. Provide for a Part # - Customer ID reference, so you know which Parts are ordered by which Customers. This is a helpful feature when significant overruns of a Part are in stock for a Non-Stocked Part or to perform a "soft edit" for Sales Order Entry.
a. This is highly desireable for a Job Shop or a Branded Manufacturer.
15. Provide for the Original Source of Manufacture on Purchased Parts and Raw Material. This information would be used by the Purchasing Module.
a. Original Source of Manufacture would be a File/Table Linked to the Part File/Table by the Part #. It would contain the Original Manufacturer's Part #, Description, Contact, Name & Address, Phone, Fax, etc.
b. This information could optionally print on a Purchase Order
16. Provide by Lot Certification data (Chemical, Mechanical, Specification, Country Of Origin [Mfg, Melt]) for shipments.
17. Revision Control of Inventory Lots and Transactions is highly desirable.
18. Provide Planner Code or a Code with dropdown choices which will support a Planner Workbench function to segregate the firming of Planner Orders into Purchase Orders and Jobs/Work Orders by Product Line or Finished Goods vs. Sub-Assemblies vs. Components vs. Raw Materials.
19. Provide Product Codes with dropdown choices or Codes which will determine which G/L Accounts are to be Credited and Debited for Inventory and WIP Transactions by Item.
20. Provide Re-Order Point and Re-Order Quantity to trigger and Lot Sixe Planned Orders.
21. Provide Order (Minimum, Maximum and Multiple) quantities for the Lot Sizing of Planned Orders.
22. Provide Fixed Order Quantity for the Lot Sizing of Planned Orders.
23. Provide a Master Scheduling Code (Y/N) for Master Scheduling
24. Provide Master Scheduling Time Fences for determining when to Release MasterS heduled Orders, when to consume the Master Schedule by Sales Orders and when to base the Master Scheduling on Forecast +/- Sales Orders.
25. Provide Minimum and Maximum Stocking levels to trigger a Planned Order Quantity = (Maximum - Minimum), when inventory hits or goes below the Minimum Stocking level.
26. Provide a Lot Controller Code (Y/N) - a Part can be both Lot & Serial # Controlled
a. Machined castings on aircraft required both Serial # and Lot (Heat) tracking
27. Provide a Serial # Controller (Y/N) - a Part can be both Lot & Serial # Controlled
28. A Location Master File/Table by Facility will provide the Materials Locator capability.
a. ALocation should provide for a format of Facility, Building, Floor, Room, Row, Bin, Shelf
b. If a Location is coded as a Floor Stock Location it's on-hand balance will be reduced via Labor Transactions against Operations coded as Back Flush
29. Provide for Safety Stock which will be considered by Planning to be a demand due today.
30. Provide packaged product information by Part for Shipping, Stockroom and Sales personnel:
a. Maintain the ratios of units to container types - pieces/bag, bags/box, boxes/carton, cartons/case, cases/master pack, master packs/skid - by Part.
b. Maintain on-hand balances by container type within a Part.
c. Maintain User defined containers and their tare weigths
31. Provide Non-nettable Locations that are NOT available for Planning or visible to Sales Order Processing
32. Provide for the On-Hand Quantity of a Lot to be spread across multiple locations within a Facility.
33. Provide a Make or Buy Code (Make, Buy or Both) selected from a dropdown list:
a. Both would allow the Purchase or Manufacture of a Part.
b. Planning would prompt the Planner to choose Make or Buy, when converting a Planned Order to either a Job/Work Order or a Purchase Order.
34. Provide for both a (Make & Buy) Lead-Times - in days.
35. Provide for a Part Type Code (FG, Assembly, Sub-Assembly, Component, Raw Material, Tool, Fixture and Oustside Service) selected from a dropdown list.
36. Provide for a System Parameter Default Packing & Shipping Lead-Time - in days which would be used to claculate the Planned Order's Due Date = (Scheduled Ship Date - Packing & Shipping Lead-Time):
a. The Packing & Shipping Lead-Time could be Overridden by Part.
37. Provide for a System Parameter Default "Dock-To-Stock" lead-time which would be used to calculate the Purchase Order Line Item/Release Due Date = (Planned Order Date Required - Dock-To-Stock) which would print on the Purchase Order as the Due Date:
a. This is designed to provide adequate time for Receiving and Inspection of Materials.
b. The default Dock-To-Stock could be Overridden by Part.
38. Provide for Move Batch Size - this allows the system to calculate how many Move Tickets it should print OR how many containers a Job will require as it progresses acroos the Shop Floor.
a. This could vary by Operation - see Engineering REQ # 14.
39. Make Type would determine if a Make Part is to be made:
a. Make-To-Order requires a Cross-Reference to a Sales Order
b. Make-To-Stock - Planning could trigger when On-Hand drops below a Part's (Re-Order Point, Minimum Minimum Stocking level or Demand being > time-phrased Supply)
40. Daily Transaction Reports / Screens would show the detailed Inventory Transactions that were created with Inventory G/L Adjustment Journal Entries for Raw Material, WIP and Finished Goods
a. Each Part # would carry a Product Code or Commodity Code which would determine the G/L Account # to Credit or Debit for that given Part #
b. Inventory and WIP should have a Sub-Ledger (holding area) where transactions could be edited prior to entering the G/L Journals
41. Provide for a Preferred Vandor (Vendor must already exist on database).
a. With Quoted Price or Quoted Quantity Price Breaks.
b. With a Vendor U/M and a Converstion rate, if the Vendor's U/M does not equal the Part's Purchasing U/M
c. With a Vendor Part # and Description, optionaly printed on the Purchase Order
d. With a Vendor specific Lead-Time which would override the Part's Lead-Time to backward calculate the Purchase Order's Release Date
42. Provide for an Extended Descriptions:
a. Internal
b. Purchasing
c. Sales
