Set Up the Parent Item
Configured items are identified with a Purchase/Manufacture code of C (configured) in Item Master Maintenance. They must be further identified as either kits or assembled to order (ATO) in the Configuration field.
Kit Configuration Type
In some instances, such as packaging, assembly of a configured item involves no more than finding components and grouping them together as a final product. If the lead time to do this is a day or less, a copy of a confirmed sales order may be enough to track the packaging operation.
Define these items as configuration type kit. A kit is a set of items that are picked for shipment. No real assembly takes place. The configured item is not itself a physical entity—it only exists as a logical superset of its components. The configuration defines the content of a kit, and a shipment contains the end items that comprise the kit.
Note: The system only supports kits in discrete sales orders—not customer scheduled orders.
Kit items must be received during shipment. You cannot use final assembly orders to manage kits.
When you use Sales Order Shipments (7.9.15) or Pre-Shipper/Shipper Confirm (7.9.5) to ship a kit, you can backflush the components with the Issue Components pop-up. Set up this option in Configured Products Control.
Assemble-to-Order Configuration Type
ATO items require more significant assembly time than kits and are managed with a final assembly (FAS) work order. Use FAS orders for products that have moderate to long lead times and require picklists and routings to control component issues and operation activity. The work orders provide visibility to material requirements planning, shop floor control, and capacity requirements planning.
The ATO item is a discrete end item in itself, produced from a combination of various components. In this case, the configuration defines components or ingredients of a finished product.
You cannot backflush components of an ATO item in shipping programs. Instead, you must issue the components to the FAS work order using Work Order Component Issue (16.10). Kit and ATO items can also be processed through the scheduled order programs, using the same component issue workflow as discrete sales orders.