SAP Business One is a very flexible ERP system, but you may have noticed that the Production Module is not particularly sophisticated. Among the features lacking are the availability of different departments, allocated budget and completion time, and the individual steps of a Bill of Materials for multi-level completed goods.

by Wendy Tranter

Thankfully the B1 Usability Package can be used to combat these shortfalls in the following ways. Firstly, it’s possible to create a User Defined Field on each of the Bills of Materials (BOM) for the different work area and estimated production time. We can then create a query which links the BOM and the items featured in the Production Order together and displays the relevant fields for production.  It’s then possible to put this query in a Universal Function with the SQL report type.

When we run this report we can see the various work areas, budget hours and the estimated finish time or date in the flattened form.  The SQL report allows us to sort by work area or estimated completion or delivery date.  The Production Manager can now schedule production according to this information.

It’s possible to add more details to this report if, for example, large quantities of an item are being ordered and the Production Manager needs to check its status on a daily basis.  First we can create a User Defined Field in the Sales Order at line level to record the quantity made every day, and then add a new field in the SQL Report for the same name.  We can make this field editable in the report and then, after we run the report, we can put a validation on the ‘Quantity Made’ field.

This validation will trigger a SQL update statement when the Production Manager tabs out of the field having entered the figure for the quantity made for the day. The update statement will update the UDF we created in the Sales Order lines and record the quantity made for the day. When the Production Manager runs the report again the following day he’ll be able to verify the quantity made the previous day and update the quantity made for that day.

This concept can be used for any User Defined Field in any document. In this example it serves to enhance the Production Order and enable the manager to schedule different areas of work and production lines much more easily. As such, this should greatly improve the efficiency of Production Planning and remove the requirement for other another add-on, saving the business money, time and effort.

The speed and additional useful features offered by SQL reports make queries a very attractive alternative to Crystal Reports.  Some examples of these additional features are the ability to group fields and open reports in a collapsed form, run Chart Reports, perform writing back, locked columns and so on.  All of these features can be applied to any query and the report can be assigned to run using a button, double mouse click or on a newly created tab.