Materials

Material control starts with an item and its unit. Inventory balances show on-hand and reserved quantities by item, location and lot. An issue records which material lot was used for a work order, how much was issued and when. The Production Operator can follow that issue back to the job that consumed it.

A Draft issue has not yet completed posting. The material workflow posts the issue against matching item-and-lot inventory and reduces on-hand stock once. A reversal restores the posted quantity once. Keep the issue record available after a correction so the planner can distinguish active consumption from a reversed posting.

• Item setup. Use material items with an agreed unit and recognizable item code. Keep the active setting current. Compare the material selected for a print build with the item used on its issue before submitting the posting.
• Lot selection. Check the physical lot against the balance and issue record. The work-order link explains which production job receives the material. The quantity should use the item’s agreed unit throughout the posting.
• Posting and correction. Submit the Draft issue through the material workflow. Confirm that it becomes Posted and that stock changes once. If the posting must be undone, reverse it through the same controlled process and check the restored balance.

Agree how material lots are named and which storage locations appear in opening balances. Reconcile those balances with the material physically present before the first live issue. Set a clear procedure for choosing the correct balance when the same item and lot appear in more than one storage location.

Choose who requests reversals and how the operator explains the correction to the planner. Test the workflow with the shop’s unit conventions, including fractional material quantities. Keep material posting separate from recording production output: the material action owns the stock change, and the operator interval owns the good and scrap evidence.

A work order needs 0.8 kilograms from a material lot whose on-hand balance is 5 kilograms. The operator checks the item unit and physical lot, creates the issue and submits it for posting. The balance becomes 4.2 kilograms. Replaying that same posting should leave the balance at 4.2 kilograms.

Now reverse the posted issue as a rehearsal of a correction. The balance returns to 5 kilograms, and repeating the reversal must leave it there. Open the issue alongside its work order so a second operator can explain why stock was restored. Before moving to live use, repeat the case using the shop’s actual item and lot names and confirm that the selected balance is unambiguous.

• Material issue inbox — Draft material issues waiting for their item, lot, quantity and work order to be checked.
• Posted material issues — Posted consumption with the stock-applied indicator available for reconciliation.

Rehearse material posting and reversal. Follow replenishment work in supplier purchasing.