01. Manufacturing Overview

Manufacturing in Qoblex lets you create production orders that turn a Bill Of Material into finished stock, or break a finished product back into its component parts. Each order records what you are producing, where, and in what quantity, and Qoblex handles the inventory side for you: reserving component stock when production starts, and moving stock on hand when production is completed.

This article explains what the Manufacturing module is, the difference between an Assembly and a Disassembly order, when to use it, and what you need to set up beforehand. After reading it you will know which production type fits your situation, which records must exist first, and what Qoblex changes automatically as an order moves through its statuses. Step-by-step instructions live in the related articles for creating orders, the production lifecycle, and lot/serial assignment.

What Manufacturing Is

You reach Manufacturing from the main navigation menu. The list shows your production orders, and the Create button opens a new production order.

A production order is built around a Finished Product that is a Bill Of Material (BOM) — a product recipe whose components become the order’s line items. When you pick the finished product, Qoblex loads its recipe and automatically generates one line item per component, with each component quantity multiplied by the Quantity To Produce.

Every production order has a Production Type, which you choose in the editor while the order is in Draft:

• Assembly — builds the finished product by consuming its component parts. Component stock goes down and finished-product stock goes up.
• Disassembly — breaks the finished product back into its component parts. Finished-product stock goes down and component stock goes up.

New orders start as Assembly. You can switch the type while the order is still in Draft.

Batch and serial tracking is supported for Assembly orders only. Disassembly orders cannot record lots or serials.

Assembly vs Disassembly

Use this to decide which type to create:

• Choose Assembly when you are producing a finished item from its parts — for example, building a gift set from individual products, or assembling a kit. On completion, Qoblex increases the finished product’s stock by the Yield Quantity and decreases each component’s stock by what was consumed.
• Choose Disassembly when you are taking a finished item apart to recover its components — for example, breaking a bulk pack down into single units. On completion, Qoblex decreases the finished product’s stock and increases each component’s stock.

Both types reserve stock at the production location when the order starts. Assembly reserves the components; Disassembly reserves the finished product being broken down.

When To Use Manufacturing

Use Manufacturing when you need Qoblex to:

• reserve component stock at a specific location while production is under way,
• track a production order through Draft, In Production, and Completed statuses,
• record wastage or unconsumed material against components,
• assign lots or serials for tracked items, and
• move inventory and record cost when production is completed.

Manufacturing is not the right tool for moving goods between locations or correcting counted stock. Use a stock transfer to move goods between locations, and a stock adjustment to correct on-hand quantities.

Before You Start

Set up these records before you create a production order:

• A Finished Product (product or variant) that is a Bill Of Material.
• The component products or variants that make up that BOM.
• Available stock at the location where production will happen.
• A Manufacturer — the supplier or contact you select on the order.
• Batch or serial records, if any component or the finished product is tracked (Assembly only).

The finished product must be a Bill Of Material. If it is not, Qoblex cannot create or import the production order.

Confirm the production Location before you start production. The location determines where Qoblex looks for component stock, where it reserves allocations, and where the finished or disassembled stock movement is posted.

Manufacturing Statuses

A production order moves through four statuses. The status controls what you can safely change:

• Draft — the order can still be edited. Review the manufacturer, location, BOM, component quantities, wastage, extra costs, notes, and tags before starting.
• In Production — production has started and component stock is reserved. You can review allocations and record unconsumed material, but the core order details are locked.
• Completed — production is finished and the inventory movement has been posted. Use a correction workflow if a completed order needs review.
• Canceled — the order was canceled and should not be used for production activity.

Canceled orders are hidden by default on the Manufacturing list.

Canceling is permanent — the confirmation reads “Are you sure you want to cancel this order? This operation cannot be undone”. An order that is already In Production cannot be canceled directly; open it for edits (return it to Draft) first.

Tabs on a Production Order

A production order has these tabs:

• Bill Of Material — the component line items, their quantities, wastage, unconsumed quantity, unit and total cost, and any Labor / Overhead cost lines.
• Allocations — the stock Qoblex has reserved for this order.
• Notes & Tags — internal notes and tags for the order.
• Related Orders — links to related sales, purchase, or production orders.
• History — the activity history for the order.

What Qoblex Does Automatically

Qoblex handles inventory for you as the order moves through its statuses:

• On Start Production, Qoblex reserves (allocates) the required stock at the production location — the components for an Assembly order, or the finished product for a Disassembly order. If stock is short, the start fails with an out-of-stock error.
• On Complete Production (Assembly), Qoblex releases the reservations, increases the finished product’s stock by the Yield Quantity, and decreases each component’s stock by what was consumed (quantity plus wastage, less any unconsumed amount).
• On Complete Production (Disassembly), Qoblex releases the reservations, decreases the finished product’s stock by the Yield Quantity, and increases each component’s stock.
• On Complete Production, Qoblex also records a manufacturing entry in the inventory ledger. This ledger posting is what flows through to your accounting integration; if you connect Xero or QuickBooks, it is mapped to the account you set for Manufacturing Cost (labor, services, machinery, and similar). See the Xero and QuickBooks manufacturing settings articles for how that account is selected.
• Starting, opening for edits, or canceling an order moves reservations only — it does not change on-hand stock.

For tracked items, complete the order only after you have confirmed the physical lots, serials, and expiry details, so the inventory history stays traceable.

Permissions

The Manufacturing menu is controlled by the Manufacturing permission. Some order details — such as inventory hover information and the Allocations tab — also depend on inventory access. If a user can open Manufacturing but cannot see stock details, allocations, or cost information, review both the Manufacturing and the inventory-related permissions.