Manufacturing Module — Complete User Guide

The Manufacturing module allows you to manage recipes (bill of materials), track production orders, monitor quality, and analyse production costs — all from within Actuary POS Software.

What You'll Learn

• How to set up recipes with ingredients
• How to import recipes in bulk from a spreadsheet
• How to restore a deleted recipe
• How to create and manage production orders
• How to track production status and priorities
• How to use the Production Dashboard
• How to perform Quality Control inspections
• How to track yield and batch numbers
• How to manage production costs (ingredients, labour, overhead)
• How to add production notes and comments
• How to reverse a finalized production
• How to plan ahead with Demand Orders and the Demand Ingredient Report
• How to read the Manufacturing Report and Recipe Report
• How to configure module settings
• How to assign the right permissions to your team

Module Overview

Getting Started

How Do I Get the Manufacturing Module?

Manufacturing is an optional add-on. It is not in the Modules tab of Business Settings (that tab only controls core base-software features like POS, Sales, Stock and Reports).

To get Manufacturing enabled for your business:

1. Look in the left sidebar. If you see a Manufacturing menu, the module is already active for your account — skip to Initial Settings below.
2. If you do not see Manufacturing, the add-on is not part of your current subscription plan. Open the Contact Superadmin page from the documentation menu (or contact your system administrator) and request that the Manufacturing module be enabled.
3. After the Superadmin activates it on your subscription / business package, log out and log back in. The new menu will appear.
4. Give your team access to the relevant features in User Management → Roles (see Permissions below).

💡 About activation: Manufacturing is enabled per-business by the Superadmin via subscription packages — it is not a checkbox in your own Business Settings.

Initial Settings

Once the module is active, navigate to Manufacturing → Settings to configure how it should behave for your business:

📸 [Screenshot: Manufacturing Settings page with enhanced options]

Recipes (Bill of Materials)

A recipe defines which ingredients (raw materials) are needed to manufacture a product, including quantities and optional step-by-step instructions.

Creating a Recipe

1. Go to Manufacturing → Recipe.
2. Click Add Recipe.
3. Select the finished product you want to make.
4. Add ingredients:
   • Search for a product (raw material)
   • Set the quantity needed per unit of the finished product
   • Set the waste percentage (how much is typically lost during production)
   • Set the price (usually auto-filled from the product's purchase price)
5. Optionally add production steps — group ingredients into logical steps with names and descriptions.
6. Add recipe instructions for operators to follow.
7. Click Save.

📸 [Screenshot: Creating a new recipe with ingredients and steps]

Recipe Details

Recipe Tips

• Recipes use real-time ingredient prices — the recipe cost updates when ingredient purchase prices change.
• You can copy from recipe when creating a production to pre-fill ingredients.
• One product can have only one active recipe at a time.

Importing Recipes from a Spreadsheet

If you have many recipes to load (e.g. when first setting up the module), you can import them in bulk instead of typing each one.

1. Go to Manufacturing → Recipe.
2. Click Import Recipes (top-right area of the Recipe list).
3. Click Download Template to get the sample .xlsx / .csv file.
4. Open the template and fill in one row per ingredient:
   • Product (SKU) — the finished product
   • Ingredient (SKU) — the raw-material product
   • Quantity — quantity of the ingredient per unit of finished product
   • Waste % — expected wastage (optional)
   • Sub Unit — optional sub-unit code
   • Step / Group — optional grouping label
5. Save the file as .xlsx or .csv (UTF-8).
6. Back in the Import Recipes screen, click Browse, select your file, and click Submit.
7. The system will report how many rows imported successfully and list any rows that failed validation.

⚠️ Important: SKUs in the file must already exist in Products. Importing does not create products — it only links them as ingredients.

Restoring a Deleted Recipe

If a recipe was deleted by mistake, an admin can recover it.

1. Go to Manufacturing → Recipe.
2. Toggle the Show deleted filter (or open the deleted-recipes list).
3. Find the recipe and click Restore.
4. The recipe is reactivated and becomes available for new production orders.

Production Orders

Production orders are the core of the Manufacturing module. Each order consumes ingredients from stock and produces finished goods.

Creating a Production

1. Go to Manufacturing → Production.
2. Click Add (top-right button).
3. Fill in the header:
   • Business Location — Where the production takes place
   • Reference No. — Auto-generated or enter your own
   • Manufacturing Date — Date and time of production
   • Product — Select the product to manufacture (must have a recipe)
   • Quantity — How many units to produce
   • Sub Unit — If the product uses sub-units (e.g., dozens)
4. Fill in the Production Planning section:
   • Production Status — Planned, In Progress, Quality Check, Completed, On Hold, or Cancelled
   • Priority — Low, Normal, High, or Urgent
   • Due Date — When the production should be completed
   • Batch Number — Unique identifier for this production batch
   • Expected Quantity — Target output for yield tracking
   • Labour Cost — Direct labour costs for this production
   • Overhead Cost — Indirect costs (utilities, equipment, etc.)
   • Notes — Any special instructions or comments
5. Review the Ingredients table:
   • Ingredients are pre-filled from the recipe
   • Adjust quantities if allowed by your settings
   • Review waste quantities and costs
6. Set Waste Units, Production Cost, and Production Cost Type (Fixed, Percentage, or Per Unit).
7. Optionally attach documents (photos, reports, etc.).
8. Check the Finalize checkbox if the production is complete (this deducts ingredients from stock and adds finished goods).
9. Click Submit.

📸 [Screenshot: New production form with planning section]

⚠️ Important: Once a production is finalized, it cannot be edited. The system immediately:

• Deducts ingredient stock from the selected location
• Adds finished goods to stock
• Updates the production status to "Completed" (if no status was selected)

Editing a Production

1. Go to Manufacturing → Production.
2. Find the production in the list and click Edit (only available for non-finalized productions).
3. Update any fields including the planning section.
4. Click Submit.

Note: Finalized productions show only a View button. They cannot be edited or modified.

Production List

The production list shows all your production orders with:

Filtering Productions

Use the filters at the top of the production list:

• Business Location — Filter by specific location
• Date Range — Filter by manufacturing date range
• Finalize — Show only finalized productions
• Production Status — Filter by status (Planned, In Progress, Quality Check, Completed, On Hold, Cancelled)

📸 [Screenshot: Production list with status and priority columns]

Production Status Workflow

Every production can be tracked through a multi-stage workflow. This helps managers understand what's happening on the production floor at any time.

Status Stages

Typical Workflow

Planned → In Progress → Quality Check → Completed
                ↓                            ↑
            On Hold ──────────────────────────┘

Changing Status

From the production form:

1. Edit the production.
2. Change the Production Status dropdown.
3. Save.

Via API (internal): The system can automatically change status:

• Finalized productions are auto-set to "Completed".
• QC Passed inspections auto-advance the production from "Quality Check" to "Completed".

Every status change is logged as a Production Note for full traceability.

Production Priority

Priorities help you manage workload and urgency on the production floor.

Set the priority when creating or editing a production order. You can filter the production list by priority.

Production Dashboard

The dashboard gives you a bird's-eye view of all production activity.

Accessing the Dashboard

Navigate to Manufacturing → Dashboard from the sidebar or top navigation.

📸 [Screenshot: Manufacturing Production Dashboard]

Dashboard Sections

KPI Cards (Top Row)

💡 Tip: The Overdue card turns red when there are overdue productions to draw your attention.

Status & Priority Breakdown (Middle Left)

• Production Status Overview — Shows the count for each of the 6 statuses as colour-coded badges.
• Priority Breakdown — Shows counts for Urgent, High, Normal, and Low priorities.

Quality Control Summary (Middle Centre)

• Total Inspections — How many QC inspections have been conducted.
• Passed/Failed/Pending — Breakdown of inspection results.
• Pass Rate — Visual progress bar showing the percentage of passed inspections.

Cost Breakdown (Middle Right)

A table showing:

• Total Production Cost (sum of final_total)
• Total Labour Cost
• Total Overhead Cost

Recent Productions (Bottom)

A table of the most recent production orders with Ref No, Product, Date, Cost, Status, and Priority.

Dashboard Filters

• Location — Filter by business location
• Date Range — Select a custom date range
• Refresh — Reload the dashboard data

Quality Control (QC)

The Quality Control system lets you inspect production output before it's added to your inventory. This ensures only products that meet your standards reach customers.

Accessing Quality Control

Navigate to Manufacturing → Quality Control from the sidebar or top navigation.

Note: This feature requires the Enable Quality Control setting to be turned on in Manufacturing Settings, and the user must have the Access Quality Control permission.

Quality Inspection List

The list shows all inspections with:

You can filter by:

• Status — Pending, Passed, Failed, Conditional
• Date Range — When the inspection occurred

📸 [Screenshot: Quality Inspection list with filters]

Creating a Quality Inspection

1. Go to Manufacturing → Quality Control.
2. Click Add Quality Inspection (top-right).
3. Fill in the form:
   • Select Production (required) — Choose which production order to inspect
   • Inspection Date (required) — When the inspection is taking place
   • Status (required) — Initial status: Pending, Passed, Failed, or Conditional
   • Inspector — Select the person performing the inspection
   • Batch Number — The batch being inspected
   • Notes — Any observations or comments
4. Add QC Parameters — these are the specific checks you're performing:
   • Click Add Parameter
   • For each parameter, enter:
     • Parameter Name — What you're checking (e.g., "Weight", "Colour", "pH Level")
     • Expected Value — The target or standard (e.g., "500g ± 5g", "Clear", "6.5-7.5")
     • Actual Value — What was measured (e.g., "498g", "Clear", "7.0")
     • Result — Pass, Fail, or Pending for this specific check
   • Add as many parameters as needed
   • Click the red × button to remove a parameter row
5. Click Save.

📸 [Screenshot: Quality Inspection form with QC parameters]

QC Parameter Examples

Inspection Statuses

What Happens When QC Passes

When you set an inspection status to Passed and the production order is currently in Quality Check status, the system automatically advances the production to Completed status. This streamlines the workflow without manual intervention.

A production note is also added automatically recording the QC result.

Viewing an Inspection

Click the View button on any inspection to see the full details in a modal, including all QC parameters in a table format.

Editing an Inspection

Click Edit to update the inspection. Changes to the QC status are logged as production notes.

Deleting an Inspection

Click Delete to soft-delete an inspection. The record is kept in the database but hidden from the list.

Yield Tracking

Yield tracking compares what you expected to produce with what you actually produced, giving you a measure of efficiency.

How It Works

Setting Up Yield Tracking

1. Enable Yield Tracking in Manufacturing Settings.
2. When creating a production, enter the Expected Quantity in the Production Planning section.
3. The Actual Quantity is calculated automatically from the production quantity minus waste.

Reading Yield Efficiency

Where to See Yield Data

• Production Detail (Show) — Shows expected, actual, and efficiency percentage
• Production Dashboard — Average yield efficiency across all productions
• Yield can be updated — Via the production yield update feature

Batch Tracking

Batch numbers provide traceability for manufactured goods — essential for recalls, quality issues, or regulatory compliance.

How to Use Batch Numbers

1. Enable Batch Number Tracking in Manufacturing Settings.
2. When creating a production, enter a Batch Number in the Production Planning section.
3. The batch number is displayed in:
   • Production detail (Show modal)
   • Quality Control inspections
   • Production list (when viewing details)

💡 Tip: Enable Auto-generate Batch Numbers in settings to have the system create unique batch IDs automatically.

Batch Number Format

• If entered manually: any text/number combination you prefer (e.g., BATCH-2026-001)
• If auto-generated: system generates a unique identifier

Enhanced Cost Tracking

Beyond ingredient costs, you can now track additional production expenses.

Cost Components

Enabling Enhanced Costs

1. Go to Manufacturing → Settings.
2. Check Enable Labour & Overhead Costs.
3. Save.

The Labour Cost and Overhead Cost fields will then appear in the Production Planning section of the production form.

Viewing Cost Breakdown

• Production Detail (Show) — Full cost breakdown table with each component
• Production Dashboard — Aggregated cost summary in the Cost Breakdown widget

📸 [Screenshot: Production detail showing cost breakdown with labour and overhead]

Production Notes

Production notes create a complete activity trail for each production order. Every significant event is logged automatically, and you can add manual comments.

Automatic Notes

The system auto-creates notes when:

• Status changes — e.g., "Status changed from Planned to In Progress"
• QC inspections — e.g., "Quality inspection completed: Passed"
• Yield updates — e.g., "Yield updated: 95.5% efficiency"

Adding Manual Notes

1. View a production order.
2. In the Production Notes section, type your comment.
3. Select a Note Type:
   • Comment — General observations
   • Status Change — Status-related notes
   • Quality Check — QC-related observations
   • Cost Update — Cost-related notes
   • General — Other notes
4. Click Add Note.

Note Timeline

Notes are displayed as an activity timeline, showing:

• Author — Who added the note
• Date/Time — When it was added
• Type — Colour-coded note type badge
• Content — The note text

📸 [Screenshot: Production notes timeline]

Reverse Production

Reverse production allows you to undo a finalized production — returning finished goods to raw materials.

How It Works

1. Go to Manufacturing → Reverse Production (must be enabled in settings).
2. Click Add.
3. Select the original production order to reverse.
4. Review the quantities to be reversed.
5. Finalize the reversal.

⚠️ Important: Reverse production adds ingredient stock back and removes finished goods from stock. Use this when a production batch is rejected or when you need to undo a mistake.

Demand Orders

Demand Orders let you plan ahead. A demand order says “we need to produce this list of finished products by this date at this location.” They feed into the Demand Ingredient Report so you can see exactly which raw materials need to be purchased or pulled from stock to satisfy them.

This tab requires the Access Demand Order permission and is shown under the Demand Orders dropdown in the Manufacturing top navigation.

Creating a Demand Order

1. Go to Manufacturing → Demand Orders → Add Demand Order.
2. Fill in the Demand Order Details:
   • Business Location (required) — Where the goods will be produced.
   • Reference No. — Auto-generated if left blank.
   • Demand Date (required) — The date the demand was raised (defaults to today).
   • Required Date — When the finished goods need to be ready.
   • Status — Draft (still being prepared) or Pending (submitted for approval).
   • Priority — Low, Normal, High, or Urgent.
   • Notes — Any context (e.g. customer name, event, sales forecast).
3. In Demand Items, pick a recipe-enabled product from the Select Recipe Product dropdown. The system adds a row showing:
   • On-hand quantity at the location
   • Quantity to demand
   • Unit and recipe link
   • Estimated unit cost and line total (auto-calculated from the recipe)
   • Optional line notes
4. Repeat for each product you need to plan for.
5. The Total Estimated Cost at the bottom gives an at-a-glance budget.
6. Click Save.

📸 [Screenshot: Add Demand Order form with line items]

Demand Order Statuses

Approving a Demand Order

1. Go to Manufacturing → Demand Orders.
2. Find a row with status Pending.
3. Click the green Approve button (only visible to users with Approve Demand Order).
4. The status moves to Approved and the order is ready for production planning.

Changing Status Inline

Click the status badge in the list to change it directly (subject to permissions). Terminal statuses (Completed, Cancelled) cannot be changed back.

Editing / Deleting

• A demand order can only be edited or deleted while it is in Draft or Pending status.
• Once approved or in production, the record becomes read-only to preserve traceability.

Filtering Demand Orders

• Location — By business location
• Status — Draft / Pending / Approved / In Production / Partially Completed / Completed / Cancelled
• Date Range — By demand date
• Priority — Urgent / High / Normal / Low

Demand Ingredient Report

The Demand Ingredient Report consolidates all open demand orders and tells you exactly what raw materials you need to source to fulfil them.

Accessing the Report

Navigate to Manufacturing → Demand Orders → Demand Ingredient Report (under the same dropdown).

What It Shows

For each ingredient (raw material) it lists:

Filters

• Location — Limit to one business location
• Required Date Range — Only include demand orders whose required date falls in the range
• Status — Typically Pending + Approved (defaults are tuned to show only “still to do” demand)

How to Use It

1. After raising and approving the week's / month's demand orders, open the report.
2. Filter by your location and the relevant required-date range.
3. Use the Shortage column to create a purchase order for the missing raw materials.
4. Once stock arrives, run production orders against the demand to fulfil it.

📸 [Screenshot: Demand Ingredient Report showing shortage column]

💡 Tip: Export the report to Excel/CSV and send it directly to your purchasing team — it doubles as a procurement shopping list.

Manufacturing Report

View production data, costs, and efficiency in report format.

1. Go to Manufacturing → Report.
2. Filter by date range, location, or product.
3. View columns including:
   • Product name
   • Total production quantity
   • Input quantity
   • Wastage percentage
   • Final quantity
   • Total price

📸 [Screenshot: Manufacturing Report]

Recipe Report

The Recipe Report helps you analyse recipe usage and ingredient consumption.

1. Go to Manufacturing → Recipe Report (available from the navigation bar).
2. Filter by date range, location, or product.
3. View ingredient usage, costs, and production frequency.

This report is useful for identifying your most-produced items and tracking raw material consumption over time.

📸 [Screenshot: Recipe Report]

Bulk Update Product Prices

You can update product purchase prices in bulk based on recipe calculations:

1. Go to Manufacturing → Recipe.
2. Click the Update Product Prices button.
3. The system recalculates each product's purchase price based on the current recipe ingredient costs.
4. Review the changes and confirm.

Note: This updates the product's base purchase price to match the latest recipe cost. This is useful when ingredient prices change frequently.

📸 [Screenshot: Update Product Prices confirmation]

Permissions

The Manufacturing module has its own set of permissions that control who can access each feature.

Available Permissions

Recommended Permission Sets

Production Operator:

• Access Production
• View Own Production

Quality Inspector:

• Access Production
• Access Quality Control
• Add Quality Inspection

Production Manager:

• Access Production
• Access Recipe
• Access Quality Control
• Add Quality Inspection
• Access Manufacturing Dashboard
• Manage Production Status

Manufacturing Admin:

• All of the above
• Add Recipe
• Edit Recipe

Setting Permissions

1. Go to User Management → Roles.
2. Select or create a role.
3. Scroll to the Manufacturing section.
4. Check the desired permissions.
5. Save the role.

Troubleshooting

Tips & Best Practices

• 📌 Set up recipes first — Create all your recipes before starting production orders
• 📌 Use the status workflow — Move productions through each stage for full visibility
• 📌 Enable QC for regulated products — If you manufacture food, pharma, or regulated goods
• 📌 Track yield consistently — Always enter expected quantities to build efficiency data over time
• 📌 Use batch numbers — Even if not required by law, they help trace issues back to specific runs
• 📌 Check the dashboard regularly — It highlights overdue productions and efficiency trends
• 📌 Add notes for context — Future you will thank you when investigating production issues
• 📌 Review costs monthly — Use the dashboard cost breakdown to identify savings opportunities
• 📌 Limit permissions — Give operators only what they need; managers get the full picture
• 📌 Don't finalize too early — Once finalized, stock changes are permanent (unless you use reverse production)

Quick Reference

Navigation Paths

Keyboard Shortcuts

The Manufacturing module uses standard Actuary POS Software keyboard shortcuts. No additional shortcuts are defined.

Module Version: 4.0