Production Manager / Planner
Department: Production
Level: Management / Senior operational
Primary objective: Configure the production flow, plan orders, monitor execution and costs
What this role does
The Production Manager configures the production infrastructure (products, BoM recipes, routing, work centres), creates and plans manufacturing orders, monitors execution, manages material shortages, and reports KPIs to management.
Note: The production module in CRMconnect is available and functional, but in an early stage of client deployment. If you haven't activated this module yet, contact the CRMconnect team.
Modules used
| Module | Where to find it | What you use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Production Dashboard | Production → Dashboard | Status of active MOs, reports per MO/WO |
| Manufacturing Orders | Production → Manufacturing Orders | Create, confirm, plan, track |
| BoM Recipes | Production → BoM | Finished product structure + components |
| Routing | Production → Routing | Operation sequence across work centres |
| Work Centres | Production → Work Centres | Machines, lines, teams — capacity and cost/hour |
| Work Orders | Production → Work Orders | Per-operation execution — status and actual times |
| MRP Products | Production → Products | Finished products and components catalogue |
| Purchase Requests | Acquisitions → Requests for Quotation | Missing materials → automatic RFQ |
| Production Settings | Setup → Production | Work schedules, units of measure, prefixes |
Initial configuration (one-time)
Before the first manufacturing order, configure in order:
1. Units of measure
/admin/manufacturing/setting → tab: Unit categories + Unit of measure
(e.g. kg, m², units, litres, hours)
2. Work schedules
/admin/manufacturing/setting → tab: Work schedule
→ Define shifts: Shift I (06:00–14:00), Shift II (14:00–22:00)
→ Public holidays and technical shutdowns
3. Work Centres
/admin/manufacturing/work_center_manage → Add
→ Name + Code
→ Capacity (how many orders can run in parallel)
→ Efficiency (%) — adjusts planned durations
→ Cost per hour (used in MO cost calculation)
→ Associated work schedule
4. Routing
/admin/manufacturing/routing_manage → Add
→ Operation sequence (Cutting → Welding → Painting → Quality Control)
→ Per operation: work centre + estimated duration
→ Whether the next operation can start before current one finishes
5. MRP Products
/admin/manufacturing/product_management → Add
→ Finished product: code, name, unit of measure
→ Product variants (if applicable)
6. BoM (Bill of Materials)
/admin/manufacturing/bill_of_material_manage → Add
→ Finished product + quantity produced per run
→ Components: product + quantity + unit of measure
→ Associated routing
→ Consumption mode: automatic / manual / semi-automatic
7. Code prefixes
/admin/manufacturing/setting → tab: General settings
→ MO prefix (e.g. MO-2026-), BoM prefix, Routing prefix
Manufacturing Order lifecycle
Creation
Where: /admin/manufacturing/manufacturing_order_manage → Add
Mandatory fields:
→ Product to manufacture
→ Quantity
→ BoM used (routing and components pre-filled)
→ Routing
→ Deadline (date_deadline)
→ Planned start date
→ Components warehouse (where materials are consumed from)
→ Finished product warehouse (where finished product enters)
Create from sales order: From confirmed Sales Order or from OmniSales → manual button Create Manufacturing Order. Integration is not automatic — must be manually initiated by the planner.
Statuses and transitions
Draft
↓ (verify BoM and routing, complete all fields)
Confirmed
↓ System checks material availability:
→ Materials available: reserved from warehouse (qty_reserved)
→ Insufficient materials: "Create Purchase Request" button appears on MO
Planned
↓ Work Orders created per operation from routing
↓ Operators see WOs assigned to them in /admin/manufacturing/work_order_manage
In progress
↓ Operators execute WOs, record time and consumption
Completed (Done)
↓ Finished product enters warehouse (finished_products_warehouse_id)
↓ Consumed materials deducted from stock
↓ MO cost calculated: materials + labour + work centres
Managing material shortages
On transitioning MO to Confirmed, if stock is insufficient:
→ material_availability_status field flags the shortage
→ "Create Purchase Request" button appears on MO
→ Click → purchase request automatically created in Purchase module
→ Request link visible directly on MO (purchase_request_id reference)
→ Track procurement → when stock arrives → move MO to Planned
Viewing costs per MO
Where: From open MO → Costs tab
| Cost component | How it's calculated |
|---|---|
| Material cost | Sum of consumed component values (qty_done × unit cost) |
| Labour cost | Actual hours × staff hourly rate (if configured) |
| Work centre cost | Actual hours × cost/hour configured on Work Centre |
| Total MO cost | Sum of all components |
Use: Compare actual MO cost with selling price of finished product → real production margin.
Monitoring execution — what to track daily
/admin/manufacturing/dashboard → Dashboard
Report per Manufacturing Orders:
- Filter per period (current month, last month, last 3/6/12 months)
- Number of MOs per status
- Total quantity produced
Report per Work Orders:
- Estimated duration vs. actual duration per operation
- OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) per work centre
- Quantities actually produced
Work Order list — what to check:
/admin/manufacturing/work_order_manage
→ Filter status = "Waiting for other WO" > 24h → blockage to investigate
→ Filter status = "In progress" + deadline passed → urgent intervention
→ Filter status = "Ready" without active operator → allocation needed
BoM change log
Where: From open MO → BoM Change Log tab
Any modification to components of an active MO (quantity, substituted product) is automatically recorded:
- What was changed
- By whom
- When
Useful for audit and understanding cost deviations from planning.
Management reporting
Monthly extract from dashboard:
| Indicator | Where |
|---|---|
| No. Completed MOs | Report per MO → status Completed, current month |
| No. Cancelled MOs | Report per MO → status Cancelled |
| Average execution duration | Report per WO → actual vs. estimated duration |
| OEE per work centre | Report per WO → OEE tab |
| Average cost per MO | Costs tab on completed MOs |
What the module does NOT do (known limitations)
- No REST API — manufacturing has no API endpoints. Cannot be integrated with external systems via API.
- No automatic MO creation from order — if you want an MO generated from a Sales Order or OmniSales Order, it must be created manually.
- No automatic capacity planning — system doesn't automatically reschedule if a work centre is overloaded; the planner manually decides prioritisation.
- No full MRP (Material Requirements Planning) — doesn't automatically calculate what materials need to be ordered based on the future production plan. Shortages are detected at confirmation of each individual MO.
Collaboration with other departments
| Department | How you collaborate |
|---|---|
| Sales | Receive production requirements from confirmed Sales Orders → create MO manually |
| Acquisitions | For missing materials → purchase request created from MO → Acquisitions issue RFQ |
| Warehouse | Components consumed from warehouse configured on MO; finished product also enters warehouse |
| Finance | MO costs (materials + labour) can be transmitted to accountant for production cost calculation |
Practical tips
Correct BoM = correct MO. If the BoM has an error (wrong quantity, missing component), the error replicates on all MOs using it. Validate the BoM with process engineers before first production use.
Work centre hourly cost is critical. If
costs_hour = 0, the MO cost calculation will show 0 for labour — figures will be incomplete. Configure actual cost on each work centre before relying on cost reports.
The BoM change log is the audit memory. If an MO cost more than planned, the first place to check is the BoM Change Log tab — what components were changed along the way and why.
Validate the Bill of Materials with process engineers before first production use — a BoM error in component quantity or unit replicates across every Manufacturing Order that uses it until the error is caught and corrected.
If work centre hourly cost is set to 0, all MO cost reports will show 0 for labour costs. Configure actual rates on each work centre before relying on production cost analysis for pricing decisions or profitability reporting.