We are a new IFS customer and are in the process of implementing IFS Cloud 22R2.
Our company does a lot of customization so we have a lot of parts that can be in all colors. In our current system, we have 1 item code and this single item has in its characteristics the color. Therefore, we can use this part in hundreds of colors, we still have only one article in our ERP.
We do not find this possibility in IFS. Although it makes sense to have 1 item code for 1 color, it will generate a lot of administrative work in our company for the creation and management of all these items.
Do you know a way to manage the colors of an item without having to create separate codes? Of course we need to be able to order and manage them in stock by color.
Thanks in advance for your support!
Regards,
Coralie
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This is possible in IFS using configurable parts. When a customer order is placed, you must then enter the color (option value) the customer want the product to have. Then system can generate the required shop/purchase orders to manufacture/purchase the part(s) in this color.
In short you need to:
Define color as a Configuration Characteristic with the different possible colors as Option Values
Define a Configuration Family and connect the color characteristic
Set the relevant parts to be Configurable on Part page
Connect the configuration family to the part on the Part (select to copy the characteristics from the family)
Set the configuration revision to Released status in Part Configuration Revision page.
Configurable manufactured parts should have the BOM defined in the Configuration Structure page. If there are components that are dependent on a characteristic value, you can add a rule to it that controls when it should be included as material on a shop order and to what quantity etc.
Now when you place a customer order line for the sales part you can define the color and other possible configuration option values. This will assign a Configuration ID to the line and is used as an identifier together with the part number throughout the manufacturing and purchase processes.
Note that IFS only supports Configure-to-Order process. I.e., when you either directly create a shop order from the customer order line, or use a DOP structure to create several levels of pegged purchase and shop orders. MRP does not handle configurable parts.
Thanks a lot Björn for your answer. The team is trying the solution.
If I understood well, the part number will be unique but have a Configuration ID. It is this ID that will allow us to purchase and manage stock for the different colors. Is this correct?
Regarding your last comment about this only being manageable via Configure-to-order, that means we can manage the purchase of these parts via the DOP. But is it also possible to do sales forecasting on these items? We have some standard colors that we buy in advance in larger quantities.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
You will have one part number for the manufactured parts that is common for all colors, then the configuration ID will tell what color that specific part has. You can view this in Configuration Specification page. You can also setup the Description of the Configuration ID to give a summary of the configuration values on the Part Configuration Description page, so you can identify easily what color it is.
You can choose to have one purchase part that is also configurable so you send the information about the color to the supplier. The part should then be supplied using DOP.
Or, you can choose to have one purchase part per color (not configurable). Part can be planned either with DOP or MRP. Then you will include all of them in the BOM (configuration structure) and assign them a Usage Factor that will tell the expected probability that this color will be selected on a configuration. If you then forecast the top item master scheduling/MRP will multiply the total demand for the component with this factor. So if you set usage factor to 30% and have a total demand of 100 PCS MRP will only consider the demand to be 30 PCS and create purchase requisitions accordingly.
Our unpainted primary item is subcontracted to be painted according to our needs.
It is currently planned to handle this requirement via a BOM article. This lead item is calling the unpainted item as well as a purchasing characteristic that corresponds to the required color. Our consultant tells us that the proposed solution cannot be used for a BOM article.
Do you know a way to meet our need based on this new input?
It is true that IFS does not support a subcontracted part to be configurable. I.e., you cannot create a Purchase type BOM for a configurable part. Would it be an option to handle the subcontracting as an outside operation on the shop order instead? I.e., you purchase the service to have the item painted as an outside operation on the shop order of the parent part.
