Flow Manufacturing supports fixed component usage for quantity calculations. You can define a fixed usage on a bill of material. For these components, the total quantity required remains the same without regard to the build quantity, and consumption quantity does not vary with the assembly quantity produced. This feature is used when a quantity of a component is used for manufacturing setup, production startup, or during the course of the manufacturing process.

Enable this feature in the Bills of Material window by setting the Basis field to Lot. For lot type basis, component usage is fixed per lot. See: Creating a Bill of Material

The fixed component usage feature is not available for components of:

• Phantom assemblies

• Option items, and sub-models on an option class or models.

  It is available for mandatory (included) components on an option class or model.

Fixed component usage requirements affect kanban planning, replenishment, sequencing, and feeder line synchronization calculations:

• Kanban Planning

  The kanban engine explosion process considers the item basis type for component calculations. Component usage is calculated by multiplying the higher level component demand by the quantity per assembly, planning percent, and yield.

  For basis type of lot, the fixed order quantity of the parent assembly is used to estimate the lot size:

  • If the parent assembly is a phantom, the next prior level assembly, that is not a phantom, is used to get the fixed order quantity.

  • The minimum order quantity is used if the fixed order quantity is not defined. If minimum order quantity is not defined, maximum order quantity is used.

  • If the minimum and maximum order quantity have not been defined, the fixed order quantity is assumed to be 1.

• Feeder Line Synchronization

  For the basis type item, the feeder subassembly requirement is calculated by multiplying the parent schedule quantity by the component usage. For the basis type of lot, the component usage is not multiplied by the parent schedule quantity - the component usage quantity is assumed to be the required quantity.

• Outbound Broadcast Sequencing

  For the basis type item, the component requirement is calculated by multiplying the flow schedule quantity by the component usage. For the basis type of lot, the component usage is not multiplied by the parent schedule quantity - the component usage quantity is assumed to be the required quantity.

• Flow Sequencing

  Item basis type determines the calculation of component requirements using the Component Availability constraint.