Production Batches are similar to Production Orders except they are not driven by manufacturer.  Production Batches are essentially a production project (standard or by sales orders).  Orders to manufacturers, service providers, and material suppliers can be created from here.

On the Production Batches list, you can see these elements:

Use Production Batches to manage your product's raw material and manufacturing services orders.  

To create a Production Batch,

In the example above, we selected 5 Sales Orders with a number of products, our Production Batch only created two line items (Figure 2) because those Sales Orders contained only those two products.   The quantities for all 5 Sales Orders were combined.

At the top of the screen (Figure 3), you can specify a Project Name for your Batch. This text will appear on your Production Batch listing later and help you identify the purpose of the batch.  

Also, feel free to use the drop down menu from the cogwheel to Apply a blanket discount or Edit the quantities on your Production Batch.  When you are done, click the "Next" button to move forward with your batch.

The second section on the screen shown in Figure 3 has 3 tabs:

These tabs are not clickable.  You will move between these tabs by using the "Next" and "Previous" buttons.  The remainder of this document will discuss each tab. The first tab, "products" were created for you automatically if you selected "By Sales Order".  If you did not select "By Sales Order", you would click the "plus sign" to add them as shown in Figure 4.

For the Products listed on your Production Batch (Figure 2), you must have already specified your product's raw materials and manufacturing services (Figure 5) within your products.  As an example, for the product B0016 that we are including in our Production Batch (Figure 2), we have configured those raw materials and services previously under the B0016 Product.  We specified "Sewing" as a Service "Common" to all variations as well as "Soft Silk" and "Sound of Joy 2" raw materials.  And, we have added our Raw Materials (raw silk and zipper materials) to the color variations.  These are illustrated in Figure 5.  

If your Raw Materials and Services for your products were setup correctly under "Manufacturing" for your product, when you click the "Next" Button from the Products tab, you will be taken directly to the Materials/Services for this Production Batch; see Figure 6.  If you did not have materials defined, you will be taken directly to the 3rd tab labeled PO.  See next section of this document for instructions on the PO tab.

On the Materials/Services screen of your production batch, you can modify your quantities, suppliers and even change the fee for your services from a unit price to a "flat fee" as desired. 

Once you have validated your Materials/Services (Figure 6) and click "Next" button on the Materials/Services tab or if you did not have Materials/Services defined, you will be taken to the PO tab where you can create Production or Purchase Orders for each supplier (Figure 7).

As shown in Figure 7, all materials and services will be grouped by Supplier and Manufacturer with "Create Purchase Order" or "Create Production Order" next to each.  Click on the "Show More" link to the right of the product details of what will be ordered from each vendor.  

Note the "Not Assigned Products/Materials" section (Bottom of Figure 6) of your order.  For those items, re-validate you have raw materials, services or vendors/suppliers defined correctly.   

If the Vendor (Supplier) is the same for some materials and services, they will be added together in the same Purchase order.  Specifically, if the Service has the same Vendor (Supplier) it will be included in the Order with the materials.  If the Supplier is different, there will be a separate Order for the Services.

Once you have validated all information is correct, click "Create Purchase Order" or "Create Production Order".  As you create the Purchase or Production Order for each line item, you will be taken directly to the Purchase or Production Order Order.  From there, you can make changes or click "Confirm Order".  And, you have a quick path back to your Production Batch using the link in the bottom of the header section so that you can continue creating orders for your line items:

After Confirming your Purchase Orders and/or Production Orders using the Confirm button on the top right as illustrated in Figure 8, you can select Purchase Orders or Production Orders from your main, left vertical menu to see all the Purchase Orders and Production Orders associated with your Production Batch Order as demonstrated in Figure 9:

Click on the "Number" to see the Purchase Order and from within the Purchase Order, you can easily navigate to your Production Batch.

As you receive Products from your Production manufacturers, you will need to Create Deliveries.  And, for your supplies or services on Purchase Orders, you will still need to mark those as "Complete".  And both must be "Checked In" so that your inventory is adjusted accordingly.  Once this is done, you are ready to move on to the "Next Steps" of creating your Production Batch Material Pick Tickets.