Projects, batches and assembled products

Assembly work has three levels: a project is the whole job, a batch groups assembled products within a project, and an assembled product is one thing you build. Only the assembled product moves stock; changing a project or batch never moves stock on its own.

Find assembly work

1. Open Catalog in the top navigation bar, then Assembly.
2. In the sidebar, choose All Projects to see every project, or pick one from the Projects section to open it.

An open project lists its batches and the assembled products inside each one. Products that belong to the project but not to any batch appear under Unbatched.

Projects, batches and products

A project is the top level. It holds the name and description and controls whether the work can still be changed. Once a project is Complete, you cannot add batches or assembled products to it, or edit or delete its existing batches.

A batch groups work within exactly one project, for example by run, order or destination. It has a name, description and product count, but no status of its own. Its progress is determined by the products inside it.

An assembled product carries the component list, deadline, cost and optional finished product that receives stock on completion. You create it inside a project, either in a batch or without a batch, under Unbatched. Use Move to Batch on the product's row to move it to another batch in the same project or out of any batch.

Assigning a component sets it aside for that product but does not move stock. Component stock leaves when the assembled product is marked complete, not before; until then, it is still on the shelf. There is no project setting that changes this.

Project status

A project moves from Draft to In Progress, then Complete. Start moves it out of Draft, Mark Complete closes it, and Reopen on a completed project returns it to In Progress.

Project status is not calculated from the products inside it; you set each one yourself. Completing every product does not complete the project, and starting a project does not start its products.

The two levels only constrain each other at the ends. Products cannot be started or completed while their project is not In Progress. A project cannot be marked Complete while any product in it is still Draft or In Progress. Mark Complete is greyed out in that case; both Complete and Cancelled products count as finished. Nothing on the assembly screens cancels a project or a product.

Assembled product status

An assembled product uses the same status names as a project, but has its own rules. Start moves it from Draft to In Progress. Start is disabled while its project is still Draft, so start the project first.

Add and change components while the product is In Progress. Reset to Draft takes it back to Draft.

Finish the product with Mark Complete, rather than by editing a status field. Completion moves the stock. The button appears only when the product has at least one component, and completion is refused unless every component is fully assigned.

Unmark Complete on a completed product reverses the inventory movements it made and restores the consumed components. It can be refused if a component product has since been deleted, if the finished product's stock has already been used or moved so the movement cannot be reversed, if the year the product was completed in has been locked, or if its project is Complete. In the last case, reopen the project first.

Delete a batch

A batch cannot be deleted while any product in it is Complete or Cancelled, or once its project is Complete.

Permissions and plans

Assembly appears under Catalog only for people with the View Assembling Project permission. Controls to create, edit, start, complete, unmark, reopen or delete a project, batch or product appear only with the Manage Assembling Project permission. If you can open a project but see no action buttons, that is why. Costs show as a dash for anyone without the View Inventory Value permission.

Assembly is included in the Pro plan and above. On another plan, the Assembly menu item carries a lock. If your organisation has never used assembly, the page shows what it does and an invitation to upgrade.

If your organisation already has projects, templates or assembled products, for example after moving to a lower plan, they remain readable and you can still edit, complete, unmark or delete them. You cannot create a new template, project, batch or assembled product.