Overview
The purpose of the ETO module is to produce a Manufacturing Estimation, which is the estimated cost to produce an item. It is significantly easier to produce an estimate using ETO than it is using the Manufacturing Bill of Materials (BOM) and Routing because ETO does not require all of the setup needed by Manufacturing. Also, it prevents cluttering the live database with items, BOMs and Routings that will never be used if the estimate is not accepted.
The flowchart below provides a high-level overview of how ETO fits into GP.
The process might start with a Sales Quote, where a non-inventory item (an item that does not exist in the Item Master) has been used on the Quote to provide your customer with an estimate on an item you do not yet produce.
The Sales Line is linked to the new Manufacturing Estimate (ME) directly from Sales Transaction Entry. The new estimate could be based on:
- A ballpark estimate.
- A revision to an existing item, using the existing BOM and Routing as starting points for the new estimate
- A detailed product and process design
Ballpark Estimate
A ballpark estimate is created using existing items from GP, new “ME” items which exist only in the ETO module, or “generic” ME Items that are placeholders for large assemblies to be fleshed out later.
The ETO module supports using “non-inventory” items on the ME, which are items that do not exist in the Item Master. New part numbers can be made-up on the fly, and assigned an estimated cost, perhaps based on a quote from a Vendor.
To further accelerate the process, pre-defined ME Items can be created that contain the few settings needed by the ETO module. If your company builds custom motorcycles, there might be a generic, placeholder item for “ENGINE”, which is assigned a ballpark cost. The cost can be updated as needed, and the item replaced later with a “real” item once a specific engine has been selected.
Revision to Existing Item
A new ME can be built using an existing ME, or GP Manufacturing BOM, as a starting point. If your company build custom motorcycles, perhaps there is a common design that is often used as a starting point, then various components are swapped out of that design based on customer requirements.
Starting with an existing BOM can save a huge amount of time because the entire, detailed BOM structure is pulled in from GP Manufacturing, along with the routing. Since the entire BOM structure is captured (the top-level, and all sub-assemblies), the ME can tweak any level of the BOM.
Detailed Product Design
This is an ME built from the ground up by creating a detailed routing, and a BOM using all of the components needed in the final assembly. The items used on the BOM can be either GP Inventory items, or “new” ME items.