Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1547450
NOVEMBER 2026 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 13 customer's BOM and MES or machine integrations keyed to those numbers. Inventory is purchased and stocked by MPN; purchasing selects approved options against combined demand. The approved list follows the work order, so the warehouse can substitute an approved part in real time when a shortage occurs. The receipt of the alternate used is recorded against the job, preserving part and lot traceability. Engineering reviews only new substitutions. "We used the system like a hidden internal part number," says Matt Miers, general manager at S&Y Industries. "We still get our manufacturer part number, but we can keep track of: Customer A says you can use parts A and B; Customer B says you can use parts B and C, but don't ever use A. With all these orders coming in, we need to know which demand we can consolidate, how to get the best pricing, and when to get the parts in here. The management tool also supports IPNs through a modeling tool listing each IPN's approved MPNs. Although MPN inventory offers purchasing advan- tages, changing a part numbering scheme is a moun- tainous task. Staff who have worked from internal numbers for years share a common language around them, a valid reason to preserve continuity. Material Planning: Reserving Material and Protecting Commitments Buying per job multiplies minimum-order overages and leaves material needed elsewhere stranded, hurting profit and cash. Before S&Y Industries switched systems, Miers recalls, "We were ordering work order to work order. It was a nightmare." ERP should consolidate and time-phase demand to production. MRP nets each component's combined demand against on-hand inventory, open POs, and lead times, using work order start dates as material need dates. Purchasing sees one requirement per component, driven by the orders. Moving a job on the production schedule updates its material need date, subsequently rippling through to purchasing's MRP and shortage reports. Two practices make consolidation work: • Attrition: Include expected scrap and SMT attrition so an apparently sufficient purchase does not leave the last kit short. • Pre-allocation: Reserve inventory in a bin or on a PO for a customer or order. It remains visible on hand but can be allocated and picked only for that customer's orders or the designated job, protecting customer, PO, or program com- mitments while sharing other inventory. Consigned material follows the same approach: Receive it into a bin pre-allocated to a customer or job, often at no cost. Flag customer-supplied components on the BOM or order so MRP shows them to buyers. This prevents overbuying and prompts communication with the customer when supplies run low. Reliable dates are essential. "If a date is not acknowledged, it means it's not a good date," says Betsy Cunnane, strategic initiatives manager at Solutions Manufacturing. "The date is mean- ingless until the vendor confirms." When a vendor pushes a delivery date, how quickly can planners identify work orders at risk and those covered by inventory purchased for other jobs? When a customer cancels a PO, how quickly can buyers identify supplier POs to cancel? This is critical risk management. Family Kitting: Pick Together, Account Separately Family kitting reduces handling and SMT change- overs when several assemblies share components. Handling shared material once for a combined run saves work otherwise repeated for every job. Each job still needs separate allocations, trace- ability, and costs, which often pushes family kitting into a spreadsheet outside ERP. Cetec ERP handles family kitting with batch orders and batch bin moves: 1. Schedule the family together: A family kit as- sumes the jobs start together. Give work or- ders a common start date so their demand falls in one need window, producing a com- bined purchasing requirement. 2. Create the batch: On the Release Build Or- ders screen, create a "batch," release it to ma- terial staging, and print travelers in one step.