Make to Order Production Process

Use this guide when a customer order needs to be manufactured before it can be delivered and invoiced. The workflow starts from a submitted Sales Order, plans the required production, creates Work Orders, moves raw materials into work in progress, records production activity, finishes the manufactured item, and then hands the order back to delivery and invoicing.

Before you start

Check these prerequisites before creating the production run:

The finished item has an active BOM with the correct raw materials, operations, workstation costs, and quantity to manufacture.
The Sales Order item has the correct BOM No, Delivery Date, Quantity, Warehouse, and selling rate.
Raw materials are available in the source warehouse, or purchase and receipt work has already been planned.
The production flow has a source warehouse for raw materials, a work-in-progress warehouse, and a finished-goods warehouse.
Users who will run the process have the right manufacturing, stock, sales, and warehouse-bin access.
The team has agreed whether materials should move into work in progress before production is finished.

For serialised or batched items, confirm the serial or batch records before transferring or consuming stock. Missing serial or batch selections are a common reason a stock movement cannot be submitted.

If your site uses warehouse bins for manufacturing stock:

Use Bins must be ticked on each item that needs bin-level tracking.
Enable Bin Management must be ticked on the source, work-in-progress, or finished-goods warehouse where bin tracking applies.
Active Storage or Picking bins must exist for stock issues. Receipt bins or putaway rules must exist where Require Bin on Receipt is ticked.
Existing raw material stock must already be assigned to a bin. Use Putaway Unallocated Stock before production if stock is still held without a bin.

The Sales Order, Production Plan, Work Order, Job Card, and Stock Entry records are part of the standard manufacturing workflow. Allocate Bin / Batch, Source Warehouse Bin, Target Warehouse Bin, Receive to No Bin, and putaway controls are provided by NexWave Bin Management. These controls apply only when the item has Use Bins ticked and the relevant warehouse has Enable Bin Management ticked.

Process overview

The standard make-to-order flow moves from sales demand into planning, production control, material movement, operation recording, stock completion, delivery, and invoicing.

Make-to-order manufacturing workflow

Stage	Main record	What should happen	Why it matters
Confirm demand	Sales Order	The customer order is submitted and the finished item is linked to a BOM.	The sales order creates the demand that production needs to satisfy.
Plan production	Production Plan	NexWave pulls eligible sales order demand and prepares the items to manufacture.	The production plan groups demand and controls which work orders will be created.
Release work	Work Order	NexWave creates one or more work orders with raw materials, warehouses, and operations.	The work order is the production control record for quantities, warehouses, operations, and status.
Move materials	Stock Entry	Raw materials move from stores into the work-in-progress warehouse and, where used, into the correct target bins.	This reserves materials for production and gives the team stock visibility before finished goods are made.
Record operations	Job Card	Operators record work against each operation, including completed quantity and time.	Job cards support operational progress and labour costing where used.
Finish production	Stock Entry	Raw materials are consumed from work in progress and the finished item is received into finished goods.	This completes the stock movement from raw materials to saleable finished goods.
Deliver and invoice	Sales Order, Delivery Note, Sales Invoice	The manufactured stock is delivered and invoiced through the normal sales flow.	Manufacturing completion does not deliver or invoice the customer by itself.

Where the WIP material transfer fits

The Material Transfer for Manufacture stock entry is the hand-off between stores and production. It moves raw materials from the Source Warehouse to the WIP Warehouse before the finished item is received.

Keep this step enabled when:

raw materials physically leave stores before the finished goods are made;
operators need visibility of what has already been issued to production;
production may run over more than one day or workstation;
partial production, scrap, or process loss needs to be reviewed before closing the work order;
stock reporting needs to distinguish available stores stock from materials already committed to production.

Only skip the WIP transfer if your approved manufacturing process intentionally consumes raw materials at the final manufacture step and the team understands the stock visibility and costing trade-offs. If you are unsure, keep the WIP transfer in the workflow because it gives clearer control over stock that has left stores but has not yet become finished goods.

When the Source Warehouse and WIP Warehouse are the same bin-enabled warehouse, the transfer must use a Source Warehouse Bin and a different Target Warehouse Bin. This records the physical move into the production location without changing the warehouse total.

Step 1: Confirm the Sales Order

Create or open the Sales Order for the customer request. In the Items table, confirm the finished item, Delivery Date, Quantity, Warehouse, and BOM No.

Use the finished-goods warehouse on the sales order line. This is the warehouse that should hold the completed product before delivery.

Sales Order header with delivery date and company fields

Submit the Sales Order when the commercial details are correct. If the item is not already in stock, do not try to force delivery. Create production demand instead.

Step 2: Create the Production Plan

Go to Manufacturing > Production Plan and create a new plan. Set Get Items From to Sales Order, then use Get Sales Orders to pull the submitted demand.

After selecting the relevant sales order rows, click Get Finished Goods for Manufacture. NexWave adds the finished item, planned quantity, BOM No, and FG Warehouse to the production plan.

Production Plan with finished goods ready for manufacture

Review the planned quantity before submitting. If the same item appears on several sales orders and you want one combined production run, use the consolidation option before generating work orders.

Step 3: Create and review Work Orders

Submit the Production Plan, then use Create > Work Order. Open the generated Work Order and review the key sections before submitting it:

Item To Manufacture: the item being manufactured.
Qty To Manufacture: the quantity being produced.
BOM No: the active bill of materials used for raw materials and operations.
Source Warehouse, WIP Warehouse, and FG Warehouse: the stock locations used during the run.
Operations: the production steps, workstation, and planned time.
Transfer Material Against: how material transfers are tied back to the work order.

Work Order operations and planned production details

Submit the Work Order only after the material and warehouse setup is correct. Changing the flow later is harder once material has moved or job-card time has been recorded.

Step 4: Transfer materials to work in progress

From the submitted Work Order, use Start or the material transfer action to create a Stock Entry with Stock Entry Type set to Material Transfer for Manufacture.

The stock entry should move raw materials from the source warehouse to the work-in-progress warehouse. Check the Items table before submitting:

Source Warehouse should be the raw material warehouse.
Target Warehouse should be the work-in-progress warehouse.
Item Code and Qty should match the materials required for the planned quantity.
Serial or batch selections should be complete where applicable.

Material transfer from stores to work in progress

For an item and source warehouse that use bins:

Open the item row and select Allocate Bin / Batch.
Review the Required, Selected, and Remaining quantities. The quantities are shown in the stock UOM.
Select the eligible Storage or Picking bins and, where applicable, the Batch or Serial No. NexWave can split the source line when the quantity comes from more than one bin or batch.
Select Apply Allocation. If you select Apply as partial allocation, NexWave reduces the quantity in the current transfer entry to the quantity you selected. Create a later transfer entry for the remaining work order requirement.
Review Source Warehouse Bin on every generated source row.
Review Target Warehouse Bin for the work-in-progress receipt. NexWave can apply a configured receipt bin or putaway rule. Select the target manually when no valid automatic target is available.

You can save a draft before every required bin is selected. You cannot submit it until each bin-managed source row has a valid source bin and every required receipt has a target bin. If the source and target warehouse are the same, both bins are required and they must be different.

If you change a draft row after allocating it, reopen Allocate Bin / Batch and review the allocation before you save or submit the document.

If Receive to No Bin is available, use it only when the work-in-progress stock is intentionally waiting for a later putaway and the warehouse does not require a bin on receipt.

Submit the material transfer when the rows are correct. The work order should now show production as in progress, with related stock entries and job cards available from Connections.

Step 5: Complete Job Cards

Complete the operation records before you finish the stock movement. Choose individual completion when work is only partly complete, needs detailed review, includes process loss or scrap, or has sub-operations. Use bulk completion only when every remaining draft Job Card is ready to be recorded at its full Qty To Manufacture.

Complete cards individually

Complete cards in operation sequence. Open each Job Card for the work order operation. Review Operation, Workstation, Qty To Manufacture, and Time Logs. Record the actual work, including From Time, To Time, and Completed Qty. Check Total Completed Qty and Total Time in Mins before you submit.

Job Card with completed quantity and time logs

If Sub Operations are present, complete and submit that card separately. If your site uses Clock In Clock Out, stop active job tracking in that app before submitting the card. Closing a time log on the Job Card does not replace stopping the clock app entry.

Submit the job card after the operation is complete. If your site uses actual labour costing, the job-card time and workstation rate feed the labour side of manufacturing cost. Record missing actual time before submission.

Complete all remaining cards from the Work Order

This action is available when your NexWave site has the bulk completion feature. The Work Order must be submitted and have status In Process. You need permission to edit the work order and to edit and submit each affected Job Card.

Before you use it, review all draft cards linked to the work order. Confirm that all their remaining quantities have physically been completed, their time records are correct, and any required material transfers and quality checks are complete. Complete cards in operation sequence. Submit cards with Sub Operations individually, including any earlier operations needed to unlock them. Then use bulk completion for the remaining eligible cards. If operators use Clock In Clock Out, ask them to stop all active job tracking for these cards through that app.

Open the Work Order and save any pending changes.
Select Actions > Complete All Job Cards.
Read the confirmation. The action applies to all draft cards for this work order, in operation sequence. It does not let you select a subset. Submitted and cancelled cards are excluded.
Select Yes only after the quantity and time checks are complete. Select No to return without completing the cards.
Wait for the completion message. Open the linked cards and confirm that they are submitted, their status is Completed, and their Total Completed Qty agrees with Qty To Manufacture. Check Time Logs and Total Time in Mins as well.

Complete All Job Cards in the Work Order Actions menu

Confirmation explaining quantity completion and time logs

NexWave ends open Job Card time logs and adds the remaining quantity to the time log with the latest end time. If a card has no time logs, it creates a zero-minute log. This records quantity completion without inventing labour time. It does not fill in missing actual hours. Check labour time and cost before you continue.

If any card fails a permission or submission check, none of the cards in that attempt are completed. Read the message, correct the affected card or active clock entry, then review the cards again before retrying. If the message reports zero cards completed, check whether all cards are already submitted or cancelled.

Completing Job Cards does not receive finished goods into stock. Continue with Finish and the Manufacture stock entry in Step 6.

Do not cancel a work order just because a job card was entered incorrectly. First check whether the job card can be amended, cancelled, or corrected without breaking the material movement history.

Step 6: Finish the Work Order

When the required operations are complete, return to the Work Order and use Finish. NexWave creates a Stock Entry with Stock Entry Type set to Manufacture.

Review the Manufacture stock entry before submitting:

Raw material rows should consume stock from the work-in-progress warehouse.
The finished item row should receive stock into the finished-goods warehouse.
Finished Good Quantity should match what was actually produced.
Any process loss or scrap should be reviewed before submission.

Manufacture Stock Entry moving finished goods into stock

For bin-managed manufacturing stock:

Use Allocate Bin / Batch on each raw material row that consumes stock from work in progress.
Confirm that each raw material row uses the correct Source Warehouse Bin, Batch, Serial No, and stock quantity.
Review Target Warehouse Bin on the finished item and scrap rows. NexWave can use a valid receipt bin or putaway rule, but a warehouse with Require Bin on Receipt cannot accept the row without a target bin.
Save the draft, then review all split rows before submission. Confirm that the total raw material and finished-good quantities still match the production result.

The allocator excludes stock that is not eligible for the issue, such as stock held in a blocked bin, committed to an active Pick List, or already allocated elsewhere in the current draft. An item that uses bins cannot be both serialised and batch-controlled. Correct the Item setup before using this workflow.

Submit the Manufacture stock entry to complete the stock movement. The finished goods are now available for delivery from the finished-goods warehouse and, where applicable, the selected receipt bin.

After submission, correct linked stock records through the standard Cancel and Amend actions. Cancel later dependent records first. When cancellation succeeds, NexWave reverses the bin ledger movement and restores the bin identity for serialised stock.

Step 7: Confirm completion and continue the sales flow

After the manufacture stock entry is submitted, check:

The Work Order status is Completed.
The Production Plan shows the produced quantity.
The finished item has available stock in the finished-goods warehouse.
For bin-managed finished goods, the stock is in the expected warehouse bin.
The Sales Order can now proceed to delivery.

Completed Work Order after production is finished

From the Sales Order, create the Delivery Note and Sales Invoice using your normal sales process. The manufacturing run produces the finished item; the sales documents still control delivery, customer invoicing, and customer payment.

Review checks before closing the run

Use this checklist before treating the production run as complete:

Sales Order is still linked to the demand that triggered production.
Production Plan and Work Order quantities agree with the customer order or approved production quantity.
All required material transfer and manufacture Stock Entries are submitted.
Raw material stock has moved out of stores and into the expected work-in-progress warehouse.
For bin-managed stock, each submitted source and receipt row has the expected warehouse-bin identity.
The Manufacture stock entry consumes from work in progress and receives into finished goods.
The total quantity across split bin or batch rows agrees with the required material or finished-good quantity.
Job cards are submitted for the operations that were actually completed. Their completed quantities and recorded time agree with the production result.
If bulk completion created zero-minute logs, the team has reviewed the effect on labour cost before closing the run.
Finished goods are in the correct warehouse and, where used, the correct bin.
Delivery and invoicing have been completed, or the reason for holding them is known.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
The sales order does not appear in the Production Plan	Check that the sales order is submitted, the item has a BOM No, the quantity is still to be produced, and the selected company matches the production plan.
Get Finished Goods for Manufacture does not add the item	Check that the item has an active BOM, the sales order quantity is valid, and the finished-goods warehouse is set.
The Work Order has the wrong warehouse	Review the Source Warehouse, WIP Warehouse, and FG Warehouse before submitting the work order. Cancel and recreate early if the work order has not yet moved stock.
Allocate Bin / Batch is not available	Confirm the document is a draft, the item has Use Bins ticked, the source warehouse has Enable Bin Management ticked, and both Item Code and Source Warehouse are set on the row.
The allocator shows no eligible stock	Check the physical bin balance, Batch or Serial No, bin type, and expiry date. Also check active Pick Lists and other allocations in the current draft.
The material transfer says a source bin is required	Use Allocate Bin / Batch on the affected row. If the stock has no bin, put it away before attempting the transfer. Do not turn off Use Bins to bypass the check.
The material transfer says a target bin is required	Select Target Warehouse Bin, or configure a valid default receipt bin or putaway rule. Receive to No Bin is not available when Require Bin on Receipt is ticked.
A same-warehouse material transfer cannot be submitted	Confirm Source Warehouse Bin and Target Warehouse Bin are both selected and are different.
Material transfer cannot be submitted	Check raw material stock, serial or batch selections, whether the source warehouse is correct, and whether the target warehouse is the intended work-in-progress warehouse.
Materials were not moved to work in progress	Check whether the work order was set up to transfer materials before manufacture. If production has not started, correct the work order flow before creating more stock entries.
The final manufacture entry tries to consume from the wrong warehouse or bin	Check the WIP Warehouse on the work order and the source warehouse and Source Warehouse Bin on each raw material row.
The finished item or scrap cannot be received	Review Target Warehouse Bin on each receipt row. If Require Bin on Receipt is ticked, select a valid target bin before submission.
Job cards are missing	Check the Operations section on the BOM and Work Order. Job cards are created from operations, so a BOM without operations will not produce operation-level job cards.
Complete All Job Cards is not available	Check that the work order is submitted and In Process, that you can edit it and submit Job Cards, and that the feature is installed on your site. Use individual completion for partial work.
Bulk completion is blocked	Read the affected card and message. Check active clock app entries, Sub Operations, required fields, overlapping times, quality checks and quantities. Complete cards with sub-operations individually, after any required earlier operations. No cards from the failed attempt are completed.
Bulk completion records zero labour time	Cards without time logs receive a zero-minute log. The action does not estimate actual hours. Record actual time before completion when labour costing is required.
Job Cards are completed but Manufactured Qty is still zero	Job Card completion updates operation progress. Review and submit the Manufacture stock entry to receive finished goods.
Labour cost does not appear as expected	Confirm the relevant job cards are submitted and that workstation rates are set. If gross profit reporting is enabled, use the recalculation action after correcting time or rates.
Finished goods are still not available	Check that the final Manufacture stock entry was submitted and that the finished item row targets the finished-goods warehouse and, where used, the correct bin.
The order is manufactured but not invoiced	Manufacturing completion does not invoice the customer. Return to the Sales Order and create the Delivery Note and Sales Invoice through the standard sales workflow.