Mago.net Variants: manage product variants

While the possibility of storing all the bills of materials and/or all the cycles is valid, it can be useful and handy to be able to define the common part just once and then specify the particularities case by case.

Item Variants

This makes it possible not to load the inventory management when the particularities of the variants are not significant, for example when the variant only consists of a different finish or packaging.
It may be excessive to itemise several items in the inventory when the particularities of the various bills of materials are not significant, so the item with variant can be loaded to the inventory:

• with different item code from the one in the varied Bill of Materials
• with the same item code from the one in the varied Bill of Materials

The purpose of the variant is exclusively for production; for commercial purposes the product with variant is considered the same as neutral.
Where there are Variants, wherever an item code is requested in the programme, the variant that this item will be entered into will also be requested. The data and relative entry quantities are traced directly in the item master.

Explosion means where the development of a bill of materials+variant starts from the highest level object and is broken down to the lowest level object. By using this method it is possible to hierarchically (tree structure) visualise all the components that make up the actual variant. At the same time as the list of materials, it is possible to request visualisation of the operations that occur at the various levels.

The Implosion procedure is used to respond to the question “which bills of materials+variant a given item is used in and in what quantities”.
For this purpose, inversely to how the explosion works, it is possible to visualise the list of bills of materials where the searched component is used, thus obtaining information relative to the quantity of use and to the level of bill of materials it actually appears.
For both procedures, visualisation can be in summarised or detailed form.

Graphic Navigation can be used to visualise all the components of a bill of materials, also specifying a variant, representing them graphically on the screen.

Bill of Materials graphical navigation

It can be used to visualise all the variations made to the original bill of materials selected.

Costing functions of the bill of materials are available to be able to evaluate the cost of the products, considering all the associated variants, on the basis of the materials that make them up and of the work processes.

By using variants, it is possible to put into production a given item in the variant indicated, or it is possible to indicate the variant in the production plan, or again it is possible to indicate the variant in the production launch and return procedures.
The variants are perfectly integrated in the Base and Advanced production modules, insomuch as it is possible to indicate them on both the production order and in the outsourcing documents.

Variants managements is applied in the Orders, Sales and Inventory modules where it will always be possible to add a variant code next to the item code. The same thing applies to the production planning and control modules that carry over the variant requested for the product into the production orders (for materials and work processes).