When you work with complex manufacturing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can create a complete production order hierarchy directly from a sales order line. You start the configurator, choose to create a production order, and Business Central builds the top-level order and all the underlying orders automatically.
In a five-level example, the system unfolds five underlying production orders from a single action. You can accept the suggestion to create and refresh the hierarchy by pressing OK, and the full order structure is ready to work on.
Creating the hierarchy does not finish the job. You still need to open the individual orders, print them, and send them to your purchaser or vendors.
Creating a production order hierarchy from a sales order line
In the most simple scenario, you have just created a sales order line and you want to build the full hierarchy. The point here is not to configure the bill of materials all the way down the hierarchy, but simply to create the hierarchy itself.
You enter the configurator and select Create production order. This creates the top-level production order. After that, the system automatically suggests creating and refreshing the hierarchy. You can press OK to accept, and it unfolds the underlying orders. In this example, that produces five underlying orders.
What you still need to do after the hierarchy is created
Once the order hierarchy exists, you can start working on it. But the orders do not move forward on their own. You need to go into the specific orders, print them, and send them on to the relevant parties, for example your purchaser or your vendors.
Q&A
How do you create a production order hierarchy in Business Central?
After creating a sales order line, enter the configurator and select Create production order. Business Central creates the top-level production order and then suggests creating and refreshing the hierarchy. Press OK, and it unfolds the underlying orders automatically.
Does creating the hierarchy configure the bill of materials all the way down?
No. In the simple scenario, the goal is to create the hierarchy itself, not to configure the bill of materials through the full hierarchy.
What needs to happen after the production order hierarchy is created?
You need to open the individual orders, print them, and send them to the relevant parties such as your purchaser or vendors.