Below is an in‐depth, user-friendly help article designed to guide normal users and customers through the process of adding a product. This guide explains each section of the product entry process and how it contributes to an accurate and efficient setup—all based on the underlying logic of our system.
How to Add a Product: A Step-by-Step Guide
Adding a product in our system isn’t just about entering a name and code—it’s about capturing every detail that ensures your product is managed accurately from inventory through to pricing and production planning. This guide will walk you through each section of the Add Product form and explain what you need to do.
1. Basic Product Details
Product Name and Code
• What to Do:
• Enter a clear, descriptive name for your product.
• Provide a unique code. If you don’t have a specific code, a reference number is automatically generated for you.
• Why It Matters:
These details are essential for identifying your product in your inventory. A unique code and descriptive name help you and your team quickly locate and reference the product later on.
Product Category
• What to Do:
• Select a product category from the dropdown menu.
• If you cannot find the appropriate category, you can add a new one by navigating to “Products & Inventory → Add Product Category.”
• Why It Matters:
Categorizing your products helps with organization, reporting, and pricing. It makes it easier to manage large inventories and ensures that related products are grouped together for analysis and reordering.
Unit of Measurement
• What to Do:
• Choose the unit that best represents how your product is measured (for example, Kg, L, pieces, etc.).
• If the unit you need isn’t available, go to “Settings → Add Unit” to create it.
• Why It Matters:
The unit selected here determines how quantities are recorded and impacts cost calculations. It ensures consistency in how your inventory is tracked and how production costs are calculated.
Stock Method
• What to Do:
• Choose a stock method from the options provided. Your choices include:
• None: No detailed inventory tracking is applied.
• FIFO (First In, First Out): The oldest stock is used first.
• Batch Control: Products are tracked by specific batches, which requires additional details like Batch No and Expiry Days.
• FEFO (First Expired, First Out): Items are managed based on their expiry dates, also triggering the need for extra fields.
• Why It Matters:
The stock method you select affects both the data you need to provide and how the product is managed in your inventory system. For example, choosing Batch Control or FEFO will reveal additional fields for batch numbers and expiry details, ensuring that items with specific production dates or shelf lives are tracked accurately. This choice ultimately influences inventory rotations, cost management, and even how you set the final sale price.
2. Production and Costing Details
Once the basic product information is entered, the form guides you through additional sections to capture cost and production details. These sections help you build a complete picture of your product’s production costs and scheduling.
Raw Material Consumption Cost (BoM)
• What to Do:
• Select each raw material used in producing the product from the dropdown menu.
• For each raw material, enter the unit price and the quantity consumed.
• The system automatically calculates the total cost for each raw material.
• You can add multiple raw materials as needed.
• Why It Matters:
This section, known as the Bill of Materials (BoM), ensures that every expense related to raw materials is captured. It directly influences your overall production cost and helps in setting an accurate sale price. It also provides insight into which raw materials contribute most to the cost, allowing you to optimize production processes.
Non Inventory Cost
• What to Do:
• Select a non-inventory item if applicable—these represent additional production-related expenses such as consumables, outsourced services, or other miscellaneous items.
• Enter the cost associated with each selected non-inventory item.
• You can add multiple entries, and the system will automatically total these costs.
• Why It Matters:
Non inventory costs are essential because they capture additional expenses that are not tracked in your main inventory system. Including these costs ensures that every expense contributing to the finished product is accounted for. This comprehensive cost capture enables you to set accurate sale prices, monitor overall production expenses, and maintain better control over your finances.
Total Production Cost and Profit Margin
• What to Do:
• Review the calculated total cost, which combines raw material and non-inventory costs.
• Enter your desired profit margin as a percentage.
• The system uses this profit margin to calculate the final sale price for the product.
• Why It Matters:
Accurately capturing all production costs and applying a profit margin is vital for ensuring that your final sale price is both competitive and profitable. This process helps you avoid underpricing products and ensures you cover all costs while achieving your desired profit.
Tax Information
• What to Do:
• Review the pre-populated tax fields, which are based on your company’s tax settings.
• Adjust tax percentages if necessary.
• Why It Matters:
Tax details affect the overall cost and sale price calculations. Ensuring these numbers are correct is important for financial accuracy and regulatory compliance. All tax-related expenses will be incorporated into your final cost analysis.
3. Production Scheduling and Stages
Manufacture Stages
• What to Do:
• Define the different stages your product goes through during production.
• For each stage, specify the required time in months, days, hours, and minutes.
• Use the drag-and-drop functionality (if available) to reorder the stages as needed.
• Why It Matters:
Breaking down the production process into stages allows you to plan and schedule your production accurately. It provides insight into where time is spent during production and helps in identifying potential bottlenecks. By detailing each stage, you ensure that production is managed efficiently and that each phase contributes to the overall quality and cost-effectiveness of the finished product.
Production Scheduling
• What to Do:
• Optionally, you can schedule specific tasks within each production stage by setting start and complete dates.
• This scheduling is handled through a dedicated modal, where you can add, update, or delete production tasks.
• Why It Matters:
Effective scheduling ensures that your production process stays on track. It helps in coordinating different stages and tasks, ensuring timely completion of production runs, and providing clear timelines for resource planning.
4. Finalizing the Product Entry
Review and Submission
• What to Do:
• Once all the required fields are filled in—from basic product details to production costs and scheduling—review the entire form.
• If everything is correct, click the submit button to add the product.
• If you need to make changes or add missing information (like extra units, categories, or production details), you can navigate back to the respective settings sections.
• Why It Matters:
Submitting a complete and accurate product entry ensures that your product is fully integrated into your inventory and production management systems. This accuracy is key to proper cost tracking, pricing, and efficient production planning.
Conclusion
Adding a product on BatchEdge is a comprehensive process that goes beyond simply naming your product. By entering detailed information—such as the product’s category, unit, stock method, raw material consumption, non-inventory costs, profit margins, tax details, and production stages—you create a complete picture of your product’s production and cost structure. This not only ensures accurate pricing and inventory management but also provides you with valuable insights into production efficiency and cost control.
With each section designed to capture specific details, you have full control over how your product is built and managed within the system. Whether you’re a production manager or a customer overseeing product entries, this thorough process is key to achieving consistent quality, accurate pricing, and effective inventory management.
Feel free to refer back to this guide whenever you need a refresher on the product entry process. Happy producing!