All features

Cloudesk Manufacturing

Make it, and know what it really cost.

For workshops, food producers, furniture makers and small factories. Write down what goes into each product and the steps on each machine; run work orders that take materials out of stock and put finished goods back at their real cost; and let MRP work out what to make and what to buy from the orders you've taken.

Manufacturing on a phone

Real screenshots from the app, using a demo workspace.

How it works

Three steps, no surprises

  1. 1

    Write the recipe

    Components per run with a scrap allowance, and the steps on work centres with setup and run times. See the standard cost each before you make anything.

  2. 2

    Run work orders

    Release one and its materials are reserved; issue them out of stock (return what's left over); log the minutes on each step; record what was made and scrapped.

  3. 3

    Plan from orders

    MRP looks at confirmed sales orders, open work orders and safety stock against what's free and coming, and drafts the work orders and purchases you need — through every level of your recipes.

The tour

Every tool, up close.

  1. 01At a glance

    What's being made, and what it really cost.

    See work in production, released and late, and the value made this month. Every finished order shows its unit cost and how far materials and time were off the recipe.

    • Materials tied up in production
    • Unit cost of every finished order
    • Material and time variance, and yield
    Manufacturing home with finished orders, their unit cost and variances
  2. 02Work orders

    Plan it, release it, make it.

    Work orders carry planned dates and quantities from draft to released, in production and done. Raise them by hand or from the MRP suggestions.

    • Draft, released, in production and done
    • Planned start and finish dates
    • Export the list to a spreadsheet
    Open work orders with their dates, quantities and status
  3. 03On the floor

    Issue materials, log time, finish.

    Issue materials from stock against the order and see what's left on hand. Log minutes against each step, then finish to put the output into stock at its real cost.

    • Needed, issued and in stock per material
    • Unused material returned with a negative quantity
    • Time logged against every step
    A work order in production with materials issued and time logged against each step
  4. 04Recipes

    A recipe that knows its own cost.

    List the components with a scrap allowance and the steps at each work centre. The standard cost per piece is worked out from material prices and work-centre rates.

    • Components with scrap percentages
    • Steps with run and setup minutes
    • Standard cost: materials plus time
    A desk recipe with components, scrap and steps, and its standard cost

In detail

What you get with Cloudesk Manufacturing

Real unit costs

Output goes into stock at the materials actually issued plus the time actually spent at each work centre's hourly rate, over what was made — and the item's average cost takes it in like a purchase.

Good to know

We'd rather be upfront than surprise you later:

  • Manufacturing needs Inventory: materials and finished goods are Inventory items.
  • Finished goods with serial numbers can't be made in a work order yet; receive them with their serials instead.
  • MRP doesn't count requisitions as incoming until they become purchase orders, and doesn't schedule by date within the horizon.
  • There's no shop-floor tablet app, job-card printing or machine integration — times are entered on the work order.
  • Quality checks on output come with the Quality module (phase H).

Questions people ask

What does a work order cost?+

The materials issued (at their average cost when issued, less any returned) plus each step's time at its work centre's rate per hour. Divided over what was made, that's the unit cost the output goes into stock at.

What if we used more than the recipe says?+

Issue the extra; it's in the cost, and the material variance shows it against the recipe for what was made.

Does MRP double count orders?+

No. It looks at what's still to deliver on confirmed orders and what open work orders still need, against stock that's on hand (less quarantine) and what's already ordered or being made.

Works beautifully with

Give it a spin — it's free to start.

Next up: Cloudesk Quality →

Start free