Comments on: QuickBooks Manufacturing Forecasts: Component Demand

By: Charlie

Charlie — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:38:31 +0000

Lots of ways to solve the problem, Mike, and if you have one that works for you, that is great! Sounds like a lot of work, though, and a lot of people don’t have the time or the knowledge to do that. Which is why a canned software solution works for some. Glad you have something you like!

By: Mike T

Mike T — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:11:57 +0000

I’ve accomplished the inventory component forecasting by downloading the list of inventory items to Excel spreadsheet. I run sales report each month on our finished goods, and log that data onto another spreadsheet that calculates our average weekly sales of all finished goods. I then link all the components of those finished goods to the average sales data. I group the components by vendor and assign the estimated lead time for each vendor. This spreadsheet can now tell me what quantity of each component is needed to fufill the expected demand (based on historical average) for finished goods. I took awhile to set up but it’s a pretty cheap and good substitute for one of the MRP systems you’re describing.

By: Alicia

Alicia — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:38:23 +0000

Thank you so much for your help Charlie. The information you have given is very helpful.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:01:21 +0000

Alicia: If you want to track the two items separately, you have to have separate items. If you don’t distiguish between the items once you have them in hand, then it is one item. QuickBooks uses average costing – if you buy the item at one cost, but manufacture it at another cost, and it is one item, the cost is all rolled up into that one item. The total COGS value is always accurate, but if you sell the combined item it is drawing on the average cost.

That is a bit rambling, hope it makes some sense.

If it is just that you want to see the same name on the invoice you give the customer, but otherwise treat them totally separately, then add a “custom field” to the item list for “User Item ID” or something like that. Put the name of the item in that field – both items can have the same value. Add that column to the printed invoice in place of the “real” item ID. Then the customer sees this ID instead of the “real” ID.

By: Alicia

Alicia — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:29:24 +0000

You’re close.
Sometimes we Buy the ‘bwidget’ from our parent company…at a higher cost, sometimes we Make the ‘mwidget’, but from the outside it should always look like the same part. So the customer is always ordering just a ‘widget’…the problem is that quickbooks only allows you to have 1 part number “widget”. Can we merge the ‘bwidget’ and ‘mwidget’ into a ‘widget’? so quantity on hand is one part number yet still distinguishing the cost of goods?

By: Charlie

Charlie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:52:33 +0000

Alicia, I’m still not sure that I understand the question/problem. However, let me try this, tell me if I’m on target or not.

You are manufacturing an item, let’s call it “Widget”. You also sometimes buy that same item, the “Widget”, but you buy and sell it under a different name, “Cog”. You really have just one item, but sometimes you call it “Widget” and sometimes you call it “Cog”. There is only one balance on hand for them both together. Is that the situation?

If so, create an inventory assembly item “Widget”. Create a group item “Cog”, and assign it a component of one “Widget”. Now you can buy or sell either a Widget or a Cog, and you can build a Widget, but the quantity on hand you have is just one balance for them all together.

By: Alicia

Alicia — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:26:25 +0000

Sorry,

It is my understanding you can not use the same item name or number. We get inventory shipped in and we also produce the same items. We need to use a different item name/ number for the assembly item. Once we build the item is there a way to tie it to the item name/ number that we mainly use?

Thank You,

Alicia

By: Charlie

Charlie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:13:02 +0000

Alicia, I’m not sure what you are trying to accomplish. If you can explain in more detail that would be helpful.

By: Alicia

Alicia — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:32:36 +0000

Hi Charlie,

Could you tell me if there is a way to tie an inventory assembly to an inventory item so once you complete a build it would show up in the inventory under the main part number?

Thank You,

Alicia