Defining Materials for the Configurable Item

Note:

Install NetSuite CPQ Manufacturing to use materials from configured items in work orders. For more information, see Installing NetSuite CPQ SuiteApps. Without NetSuite CPQ Manufacturing, you can still use materials to set up components for item groups and kit/packages.

Configurable items can be made of materials or components. For example, if your configurable item is a desk, you can have the top surface and side panels as materials.

With NetSuite CPQ Configurator, you can specify materials in one of the following ways:

• Selecting an existing item in NetSuite.

• Obtaining the item number or number from the user interface with a resolve expression.

• Selecting an item creation record that provides the information to create the item automatically.

If you use a resolve expression to specify a material, you can retrieve different items depending on users' choices with a single material record. For more information, see Obtaining Answer Data with Resolve Expressions.

If, on the other hand, you specify the material through an item creation record, NetSuite CPQ Configurator automatically creates the material when users submit the configuration. For more information, see Creating Items Required by the Configuration.

A materials is added to configurations and later to work orders if its rule matches the answers that users select on the product interface. For more information, see Activating Building Blocks with Rules. You can view active materials under the Materials option in the Audit menu on the user interface.

When users click the Convert WO button on the sales order or the configured item line, NetSuite CPQ Manufacturing adds each material as a line item on the work order under the Items subtab. For more information, see Creating Work Orders for Configured Items.

When adding a material as a component to the work order, you can set line fields by selecting mapping records in the Apply Column Mappings field during the setup. In the Common Column Mappings field, you can view the mapping records automatically applied to all materials. These mapping records have the Apply to all materials box checked. For more information about mapping records, see Setting Transaction Body and Line Fields Based on Configuration Data.

Note:

Before mapping records were introduced, you could set work order line fields through the WO Column Mapping field. If you want to switch from this field to mapping records, move the field information to mapping records and clear the field. After clearing the field, it will become hidden.

To create a material:

1. In NetSuite, go to CPQ > Configurator > Product Maintenance.

2. Click Edit next to the product you want to modify.

3. On the Materials subtab, click New CPQC Material.

4. Enter a descriptive name for the material.

   This name is displayed under Materials in the Audit menu on the user interface.

5. Assign a routing step to the material to specify the task in which this material will be used.

6. (Optional) To define a date range in which the material is active and added to configurations and later to work orders:

   • In the Effective Date field, select a start date.

     Before this date, the material is inactive.

   • (Optional) In the Cancel Date field, select an end date.

     After this date, the material is inactive.

   Note:

   If you define a date range, the material must meet the date range and the conditions expressed in its rule to be active.

7. To specify the material, three options are available:

   • In the Item field, select an item from NetSuite.

     When you select this option, a series of fields is automatically completed (if the information is available on the selected item record): Image, Display Description, UOM, Average Cost, Purchase Price.

   • In the Item from Q/A field, enter a resolve expression to obtain the item name or number of the material from answers on the user interface.

     To write a resolve expression, use question and answer codes separated by the forward slash character and enclosed in curly braces. For example, {A/1}. Question and answer codes are replaced with the corresponding answer value. For more information, see Obtaining Answer Data with Resolve Expressions.

   • In the Item Creation field, select the item creation record that stores the information to create the material. The material is created if the rules of the item creation record and the material match answers that users select on the product interface. For more information, see Creating Items Required by the Configuration.

8. In the Quantity field, enter a number or a resolve expression to define how many units of this material are required by the configuration.

   The quantity value is multiplied by the multiplier. On the work order, you can view the result in the BOM Quantity column on the Items subtab. The BOM Quantity field indicates the component quantity used to build an item, assuming no loss. For more information, see Setting the Use Component Yield Preference.

9. To have more flexibility in defining the quantity, you can enter a number or a resolve expression in the Multiplier field.

   If you leave this field blank, the assumed value is 1.

10. (Optional) In the Component Yield field, enter the percentage value of the material or component that survives the manufacturing process. Leave out the percentage symbol.

    This value is displayed under the corresponding column in the work order. For more information, see Component Yield Examples.

11. (Optional) In the Units field, enter the internal ID of the type of units you use to purchase, stock, and sell this material. Examples of unit types may be length, volume, and time.

    This value is displayed in the Units column on the work order.

    To use this field, enable the multiple units of measure feature. For more information about using multiple units of measure, see Multiple Units of Measure.

12. If the material is a phantom assembly item to be built by assembling the components in the account, check the Phantom BOM box. If you check this box, the Mark sub-assemblies phantom box on the work order becomes checked. Use this option when building subassemblies of the main assembly item. For more information about phantom assemblies, see Phantom Assemblies.

13. (Optional) In the Apply Column Mappings field, select the mapping records you want to use to set line fields for the material when added as a component to the work order. For more information about mapping records, see Setting Transaction Body and Line Fields Based on Configuration Data.

14. In the Item Rule field, provide the question and answer combination that determines whether the material is added to the configuration and later to the work order.

    Enter question and answer codes separated by the forward slash character. For example, A/1. Use operators to combine multiple question and answer sets. For example, A/1&B/2. For more information, see Activating Building Blocks with Rules.

15. (Optional) To include an additional rule in the material rule, select a rule category. If the material and the category rules match the answers that users select on the interface, the material is added to the configuration and later to the work order. For more information, see Working with Rule Categories in NetSuite CPQ Configurator.

16. Click Save.

To copy or delete materials, see Working with Product Building Blocks.

Related Topics

• Creating Work Orders for Configured Items
• Defining Routing Steps to Build the Configurable Item

General Notices