MFG - Routing and Resources - Setup and Maintenance Overview

The Routing and Resources module provides much of the data required to use routing and non-material resources in the Production and Bills of Material modules. Therefore, most tasks within this module are setup tasks; there are no daily tasks required. The initial tasks within this module help you define non-material items such as labor and machinery for your facility, and to define the step-by-step routing that manufacturing follows when producing a product. These manufacturing tasks are broken down into such areas as labor, work centers, operations, tooling, machines, and so on. By defining these different areas, you can track their impact on the manufacturing process as a whole, and you can see where to fine-tune these areas in order to improve overall profitability.

Before you can use the Routing and Resources application, follow the setup procedures outlined below. Follow these procedures carefully, because the choices you make determine how the system operates.

To set up the Routing and Resources application, follow these steps:

Set up Business Rules

Set up your Business Rules first. The Business Rules function allows you to interface Routing and Resources with General Ledger, Payroll, and Accounts Payable; set the default time units and define a default shop calendar; and define the user-defined text and numeric fields.
Define Cost Groups

Next, set up your cost groups. Use the Cost Groups function within the Bills of Material module to create predefined groups of cost areas. Use cost groups to group BOM costs into specific assigned areas. Each cost group is summarized on the General tab of the Bills of Material screen. You can assign each BOM element to a unique cost group.

For Example: Your company makes cabinets and, for costing purposes, you want to break down your components by vendor, or you want to break out hardware components from the rest of the wood components. You could assign such cost groups as MATLACE001 and MATLCAB001 to separate vendors, or MATLHWRE and MATLWOODS to break out components by their use.
Set up Employees

After you define your cost groups, set up your employee information. If you do not have the TRAVERSE Payroll application, use System Manager to store employee names, addresses, and contact information. The Job Cost/Project Cost application also references this table for Employee ID lookups if the TRAVERSE Payroll application is not installed and not interfaced. If Payroll is installed, use the Employee Information function on the Payroll Setup and Maintenance menu.
Define Media Groups

Next, set up your media groups. Use the Media Groups function within the Bills of Material module to group multimedia documents under one media group ID. Rather than assign specific documents to specific inventory items, bills, and operations, the system enables you to assign those documents to a media group ID. This ID can then be assigned to a specific operation, tool, component, and so on. This creates the flexibility to assign a potentially large group of related documents to a single process or material requirement.
Set up Schedules

You must set up at least one schedule next. The schedule is used in the Bills of Material and Production modules although you set it up and maintain it in the Routing and Resources module. Schedules enable you to specify the availability of shifts, the hours in each shift, plant closings, special holidays, planned repairs, maintenance, and so on. You can maintain as many schedules as you want. You can then assign shop schedule IDs to specific work centers, machine groups, or labor types so that specific availability or capacity can be calculated.
Define Tooling items

After you set up user-defined fields, define your tooling use. Having the correct tooling is crucial to many machine processes. You can choose to set up and define tooling based on its maintenance, method of use, cost, and so on. TRAVERSE Manufacturing does not track tooling use or maintenance, but the proper tooling for each operation appears on relevant reports and inquiries to help properly set up the operation.
Define Labor Types

Next, define your labor types. Labor types define the skill or grade that can be defined and applied to specific processes. Associated with the labor type is either a rate per piece or an hourly rate. You can assign a labor type to multiple employees, and you can assign an employee to multiple labor types. Labor types are later assigned to operations to calculate the labor costs involved.
Set up Machine Groups

Your next step is to set up your machine groups. A machine group can represent a single machine or an entire bank of machines. If the cost factors differ significantly from machine to machine, or the materials that can be processed vary from machine to machine, you may want to define each machine with its own machine group ID. Group machines by their basic function and cost factors. Like labor, you can assign to machine groups a shop calendar, hourly costs, and so on. In some environments, specific labor skills are required to operate that machinery, so be sure to identify those labor types that are appropriate for the machine group. Assign machine groups to operations to establish a machine-related cost.
Set up Work Centers

After you set up machine groups, use the Work Centers function to define where work takes place and to set up overhead rates, methodology, and GL accounts. The Work Centers function also includes a field for a shop calendar so that the capacity and load can be calculated by each work center. Within the TRAVERSE Manufacturing modules, more emphasis is placed on operations than on a work center, but work centers play an important part in managing labor and machine resources. Later, you will assign work centers to operations to indicate where the work takes place or what the overhead factors should be for that operation.
Set up Operations

Next, use the Operations function to define the operation process by pulling the tooling, machine group, labor type, and work center information together. Drilling, painting, mixing, and packaging all describe typical internal operations. If the operation is internal, you can define the various related times involved in manufacturing. Here, you can define queue time, setup time, run time, wait time, and move time in hours, minutes, and seconds. You can also use this function to set up a subcontracted operation.
Define Routings

Next, define your routings. Routings are defined as the general flow of an assembly as it goes through the plant. Routings are made up of routing steps, which define the operation performed at each step. You can assign the appropriate routing when you set up a bill of material (BOM). Having standard routings makes creating a BOM easier and quicker.

Note: You do not need to create any preset routings to use the Bill of Material module. If you choose not to set up standard routings, you can define the routing steps individually when you set up a BOM.
Set up Bills of Material

The final setup step is to define your bills of material. You define all elements of the BOM using the Bills of Material function within the Bills of Material module. The BOM consists of both material components and routings, and you establish a connection between the two.

Note: You can disregard routing steps completely and create BOMs that are solely material components, if necessary. For more information on defining bills of material, see the Bills of Material Training Manual.