Manufacturing module (recipes and production)

The Manufacturing module lets you turn raw materials into finished products inside SmartPOS Hub. You write a recipe (bill of materials) once, plan production orders, and when a batch is completed the ingredients leave stock and the finished goods arrive with their real cost. It is for bakeries, central kitchens, food and drink makers, garment and furniture workshops, and anyone who produces what they sell.

How to turn it on

1. 1Plan: Your plan must include Manufacturing (Settings › Package Subscription). If not, see plans or contact support.
2. 2Switch: Settings › Business Settings › Modules › Industry modules › Manufacturing, then click Update settings.
3. 3Permission: Manufacturing permissions in User Management › Roles (Admins have all).

Mobile app: SmartPOS Business app › Production (orders and recipes; start, complete or cancel orders).

What you get

Menu item	What it is for
Dashboard	Planned, in progress, overdue, completed today, completed and value produced in 30 days, charts, Open orders, Material shortages, top produced products
Production orders	Plan, run and complete batches. “Stock moves only when a batch is completed.”
Recipes	What goes into each product, how much one batch yields and what it costs, with margin against the selling price
Reports	Production, material consumption, wastage, recipe costing, planned vs actual, cost per unit trend, materials needed
Settings	Numbering & lots, costing, production rules, stages and waste reasons

/manufacturing

Production at a glance: open orders, output, shortages and cost.

Before you start

• Add your raw materials and your finished product as normal products (finished products can be variable, each variation gets its own recipe). See Add products.
• Buy or enter opening stock of the raw materials so costs and availability are real.
• If your goods expire, switch on product expiry in Settings › Business Settings so batches get an expiry date.

First-time setup

1. Switch the module on in Settings › Business Settings › Modules (Manufacturing) and click Update settings.
2. Open Manufacturing › Settings and check each tab:
   • Numbering & lots: production order prefix and digits (for example MFG-2026/0001) and Give each completed batch a lot number automatically.
   • Costing: the Material cost method, Default margin for suggested prices, Include material waste in the product cost, and default extra costs.
   • Production rules: Allow production with insufficient stock, Track production stages (routing), Production orders need approval before they start, and completion notifications.
   • Stages and Waste reasons: your reusable steps (mixing, baking…) and reasons staff pick when recording waste.
3. Go to Manufacturing › Recipes and click Add recipe, or Import prebuilt to start from a template.
4. In the recipe, pick the finished product, the batch output, each ingredient with its quantity (any unit of the product) and Waste %, optional by-products, Extra costs (labour, electricity, packaging, overhead; fixed per batch, per unit or % of material) and stages. Save.
5. Check the Unit cost and Margin on the recipe list. Use a new version when the recipe changes, so old batches keep their history.

/manufacturing/recipes

Everyday use

1. Click New production. Pick the recipe, location, quantity, planned and due dates and the staff member it is Assigned to. The order starts as Planned.
2. If approval is switched on, an approver clicks Approve.
3. Click Start production when work begins (status In progress). With stages on, update each stage as it is done.
4. When the batch is finished, click Complete production. Enter what was actually used and produced (planned quantities are filled in), any wastage with its reason, rejected output, the lot number and expiry, and adjust extra costs if needed.
5. Click Complete and update stock. Ingredients leave stock, the finished product arrives at its batch cost, and the order shows Completed.

/manufacturing/production

Filter by status, location, product, staff and date; tick Only overdue to see late orders.

What happens next: the stock report and product stock history show the batch as “Manufactured” and the ingredients as “Used in production”. When you sell the product, its cost of goods sold is the real production cost. With Accounting & Bookkeeping set up, each completed order also gets its own journal entry.

Settings explained

Setting	What it does
Material cost method	How estimates are priced: Last purchase price, Average cost of stock on hand, Stock lots in the business’s FIFO / LIFO order, or Default purchase price of the product. Completed batches always use the actual cost.
Default margin for suggested prices	Used to suggest a selling price from the cost
Include material waste in the product cost	On: waste makes the finished product dearer. Off: waste is shown as a separate loss
Update the product’s default purchase price with the latest batch cost	Keeps the product’s cost field current
Allow production with insufficient stock	Lets you complete even when the system shows less stock than needed
Track production stages (routing)	Shows stage progress on each order
Production orders need approval before they start	Approvers are users whose role has “Approve production orders”
Notify when production is completed	In-app notification to the creator and any users you add

Permissions

Permission (as on the Roles page)	Lets the user
Open the Manufacturing dashboard	See the dashboard
See production costs and margins	See costs and prices (without it, quantities only)
View recipes / Add recipes / Edit recipes and versions / Delete recipes	Work with recipes
View all production orders	See every order
View own production orders (assigned to or created by the user)	See only their own orders
Add production orders / Edit and start production orders	Plan and start batches
Approve production orders	Approve (these users are the approvers)
Update production stages	Tick off stages
Complete production (posts stock)	Complete batches
Cancel production orders / Delete production orders	Cancel or remove orders
View manufacturing reports	Open reports
Manage manufacturing settings	Settings, stages, waste reasons

The prebuilt roles Production Manager and Production Worker are available under the roles import (see Prebuilt).

In the SmartPOS Business app

The Production screen has Orders and Recipes tabs, counters for in progress, planned, overdue and 30-day yield, and a search by order number, product or lot. Open an order to see its materials with stock on hand, then Start, Complete (enter good and rejected output and the lot) or cancel it.

Production in the SmartPOS Business app.

Tips and mistakes to avoid

• Each order makes one main product. To produce different products, create separate orders.
• Enter the actual quantities when completing; the planned ones are only a starting point.
• Reopening is only possible while none of the batch has moved, so check before you sell from it.
• Labour and electricity you enter as extra costs are part of the product cost. If you also record those bills as expenses, tell your accountant so they are not counted twice.

Related pages

Expiry and batchesLots and expiry dates on stock.

Stock reportsManufactured stock in the stock report.

Purchase ordersOrder raw materials you are short of.

Accounting & BookkeepingProduction journals in your books.