WIP Products
Work-in-Progress (WIP) products enable optional tracking of where work in progress physically resides between operations. They support controlled movement of WIP, including the use of transport tasks when needed. WIP products are useful when it is important to know the exact physical location of in-process material or when movements between operations must be formally managed. They provide visibility of WIP flow without affecting cost accumulation, as all WIP value remains on the shop order; i.e., a WIP product will never have any value in stock. WIP products should only be used for operations where there is a clear logistical or operational need.
Setup
A WIP product should represent the actual physical output from a specific operation for a specific main product. For example, a WIP product may represent the assembled components at operation 20 of a particular main product’s routing.
WIP products are defined as inventory parts with a dedicated part type set to WIP Product. These parts cannot be used for any other purpose in the system.
A WIP product part must have a part status that does not allow supplies or demands. A default part status for WIP products can be configured on the Site/Warehouse Management page.
WIP products are defined directly on the main part’s routing.
- The operation producing the WIP is defined as the From Operation.
- The operation consuming the WIP is defined as the To Operation.
- If the WIP product should be consumed when the shop order is received, the To Operation field should be left blank.
The work center or the resource of the operation producing a WIP product must have an outbound location defined. To automatically issue (backflush) a WIP product, the work center or the resource of the operation consuming the WIP product must have at least one inbound location defined.
When interim orders, DOP orders, or shop orders are created for that part, the associated WIP products are automatically copied to the respective order, but they can be updated to reflect order-specific requirements.
WIP products are not supported "to" or "from" an outside operation. In the case of split operations, the WIP product can only be connected to the original operation. However, all split operations will produce and consume the same WIP product as defined for the original operation.
Operational Flow
Receipt of WIP
A WIP product is automatically received to the work center’s outbound location when a completed quantity is reported for the operation defined as the From Operation. If the reported completion is reversed, the WIP receipt is also reversed, and the material is removed from the original location.
Reservation and Movement
Once received, the WIP product quantity remains reserved to the shop order WIP product line until it is issued. The only permitted action while in stock is movement of the reserved quantity between locations on the site, either via direct stock movement or a transport task.
Transport tasks to move WIP products can be created using the Move Shop Order Reservations with Transport Tasks assistant. This process can also be automated through a scheduled task.
Issue of WIP
A WIP product can be issued from stock:
- Manually, or
- Automatically (backflushed) from the work center inbound locations when:
- reporting completed or scrapped quantity on the associated To Operation, or
- if the To Operation is left blank, when the shop order is received.
If a shop order receipt is reversed, or a completion/scrap report is canceled, the WIP product can optionally be unissued according to the reversed quantities.
Example
The manufactured part BR200 – Pump Module has the following routing:
| Operation No | Operation Description | Work Center | Output |
| 10 | Machining | MACH | Machined base plate |
| 20 | Surface Treatment | TREAT | Treated base plate |
| 30 | Assembly | ASSY | Assembled pump module |
| 40 | Testing | TEST | Tested unit |
WIP products are defined as below:
| WIP Product Part | From Operation | To Operation | Reason for WIP Product | |||
| WIP-BR200-OP10 | Machined Base Plate for Pump Module | 10 | Machining | 20 | Surface Treatment | Machining and surface treatment are performed in separate physical areas requiring internal logistics to move the parts. Parts can be moved directly to the inbound location for the treatment work center. |
| WIP-BR200-OP20 | Treated base plate for Pump Module | 20 | Surface Treatment | 30 | Assembly | Treatment and assembly are performed in separate areas requiring internal logistics to move the parts. Parts cannot be moved directly to the inbound location of the assembly work center due to storage limitations and must be stored in an interim warehouse location until required by the assembly operation. |
- When the operator reports a completed quantity on operation 10 - Machining, WIP-BR200-OP10 is automatically received into the outbound location MACH-OUT defined for work center MACH.
- A transport task is created using Move Shop Order Reservations with Transport Tasks to move the WIP product directly to the inbound location TREAT-IN for work center TREAT.
- When the operator reports a completed or scrapped quantity on operation 20 - Surface Treatment, WIP-BR200-OP10 is automatically issued from location TREAT-IN.
- When the operator reports a completed quantity on operation 20 - Surface Treatment, WIP-BR200-OP20 is automatically received into the outbound location TREAT-OUT.
- A transport task is created to move the WIP product to the interim warehouse location BUFFER.
- When WIP is required for operation 30 - Assembly, another transport task is created to move the WIP product from BUFFER to the inbound location ASSY-IN for work center ASSY.
- When the operator reports a completed or scrapped quantity on 30 - Assembly, WIP-BR200-OP20 is automatically issued from location ASSY-IN.