Recipe & production
A recipe tells Complaia what one unit of a product is made of. It lists the components, such as materials, parts and semi-finished products, and how much of each is needed. It can also list other products, for example a spare part that you also sell on its own. You build the recipe as a tree on the Recipe step of the product form.
Where to find it: Catalog → Products → Product list, open a product, click Edit, then the Recipe step. On a new product (Catalog → Products → New product / set) it is the step before Variants.
When you'll use it
- You set up a product you manufacture, so that production knows what goes into it.
- You change a quantity, or replace one material with another.
- You check how many units you could make from the stock you have.
- You want to know why the Recipe step is missing from a product.
Key concepts
- Recipe — what one unit of the product is made of. Some screens call it the BOM, which stands for bill of materials. A recipe is optional: a manufactured product can be saved without one.
- Only manufactured simple products have one. A Non-manufactured product has no Recipe step. A Product set has Set contents instead, which is a list of products sold together. See Product types & structure.
- Two kinds of item. On the first level of the recipe you can add a Component or a Product. Deeper levels belong to components and can hold only components. See A product in a recipe.
- Levels. The first level is the product's own list. A component can have a recipe of its own, for example a semi-finished product made from other components. The tree shows those deeper levels too.
- A component has one recipe, used everywhere. The deeper levels belong to the component, not to your product. If the same component is used in ten products, they all share its recipe. So when you change a deeper level, Complaia asks whether the change is for this product only or for every place the component is used.
- Produced in-house or Purchased. Every component card in the tree has one of these two tags, taken from the component's Origin. A component Produced in-house gets its own production order when the product is made. A Purchased component is not broken down further in production.
- The recipe says what, not where. Neither the product form nor the component form has a field for where something is made. Production orders are assigned to workstations in Planning.
- Item role — a short note on what an item does in the recipe, for example
housing. - Required item — a tick box on each first-level item. An item without the tick is marked as optional on production order screens.
- Nothing is saved at once. Every change on the tree is saved when you save the product.
A product in a recipe
A product can be an item in the recipe of another product. Use this for parts that you also sell or stock as products.
- When you add an item to the first level, the window asks for the Item type: Component or Product.
- The list of products offers only active simple products that ship in one parcel. It does not offer sets, products with variants, or the product you are editing.
- On the tree, such an item is marked Product in the recipe. You cannot add items below it. To change what it is made of, open its own product card.
- In production, the order takes this product from the warehouse. If there is not enough and the product is manufactured, a sub-order is created for what is missing.
Why only one parcel: the recipe uses the product in pieces, while the warehouse keeps a multi-parcel product as separate labelled boxes. For the same reason, a product that is already in another product's recipe cannot get a second parcel. If you need several multi-parcel products sold together, make a set instead.
The screen
The Recipe step is a canvas with the product at the top and its items underneath, joined by lines.
- Until you start, the canvas is covered by a note, The recipe is optional, with a Start building the recipe button.
- Add an item adds an item to the first level.
- New component opens the new-component form in a new browser tab. Use it when the component does not exist yet. Your unsaved product stays open in the first tab.
- Each card shows the item's photo, name, code, quantity and unit. Point at a card to show its buttons: add a component below (the plus), Change quantity (the pencil) and Delete (the bin).
- The toolbar has a search box, Rotate the tree, Auto-arrange and Fullscreen.
- A legend names the kinds of card: Root, Product and Component.
A card can carry a badge:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| in n places | The component is used in other recipes as well. |
| unsaved recipe | You changed this component's own recipe in this form. The change is saved together with the product. |
| new copy | When you save, a copy of the component is created and used only in this recipe. |
| loop | The branch leads back to a component that is already above it. |
| A warning that the component does not exist or has been archived | The component was deleted or deactivated. |
On the Product card, the Recipe tab shows the same tree, read-only. Under the tree, a notice tells you how many units your current stock is enough for. See See how many units you can make.
📷 Screenshot to add: the Recipe step with a two-level tree and the item window open.
Common tasks
Build a recipe
- Open the product, click Edit and go to the Recipe step.
- Click Start building the recipe, then Add an item.
- In the window, choose the Item type: Component or Product.
- Choose the component or the product from the list.
- Type the quantity: how much of it goes into one unit of the product.
- Click Add.
- Repeat for every item.
- Click Save in the bar at the bottom. Nothing in the recipe is saved until you do.
Change a quantity, a role, or whether an item is required
- On the Recipe step, point at the item's card and click Change quantity (the pencil).
- Change the quantity, type an Item role, or untick Required item.
- Click Save in the window, then Save in the bar at the bottom.
Remove an item
- Point at the item's card and click Delete (the bin).
- Click Save in the bar at the bottom.
Change what a component itself is made of
When you add a component inside another component, or change a component on a deeper level, you change that component's own recipe, not only your product.
- On the Recipe step, do one of these:
- to add a component inside another component, point at that component's card and click the plus;
- to change a component on a deeper level, point at its card and click Change quantity.
- In the window, decide how far the change reaches. A tick box controls this: change the recipe of that component everywhere it is used. When you edit an item, the tick box appears once you change its quantity or role.
- Leave it unticked (the default) to keep the original component as it is. When you save, Complaia creates a copy of the component with your change and uses the copy in this recipe only. Type a name for the copy in the field that appears. A copy is a separate component with its own code and stock, so it cannot be mixed up with the original.
- Tick it to apply the change to the component itself, and so to every product and component that uses it. Complaia asks you to confirm.
- Click Add, or Save if you are changing a quantity. A panel beside the window reminds you that the change is not saved right away. It is saved when you save the product.
- Click Save in the bar at the bottom. Complaia first shows the full list of these changes, before and after, and asks you to confirm. If copies will be created, the window says so.
To review or undo these changes before you save, click the Changed recipes: n counter in the toolbar. In the list:
- Undo returns one recipe to its saved version, or drops a planned copy;
- Undo all drops every pending change.
If you add a component whose recipe you already changed in this form, Complaia asks whether to add it with the new composition or with the saved one.
Move a component to another branch
- Drag the component's card onto another card.
A place where the card cannot go explains why. For example, a component cannot be moved into a component it already contains, and nothing can be added below a product in the recipe.
See how many units you can make
- Open the product from the Product list.
- Click the Recipe tab.
- Read the notice under the tree, for example Current stock is enough for 12 pcs.
The number is worked out from the whole recipe, including components produced in-house and optional items. Complaia counts the stock in warehouses minus reservations for other orders. When something is missing, the notice lists what and how much. The notice has a button that opens the components warehouse.
The notice is shown only for a manufactured product with a recipe, when the Production module is on. You need permission to see production orders, components or the warehouse.
When it doesn't work
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| There is no Recipe step. | The product's Origin is Non-manufactured, or it is a Product set. | On Basics, choose Manufactured. For a set, give the recipe to each product inside it. |
| There is no Item type choice. | You are adding an item below a component. Deeper levels hold only components. | Add the product on the first level instead. |
| The product you need is not in the list. | It ships in several parcels, it is a set, it has variants, it is inactive, or it is the product you are editing. | Choose a variant, or a single-parcel product. To sell several products together, make a set. |
| A multi-parcel product in the recipe | The recipe contains a product with more than one parcel. The notice lists the products. | Choose a product with one parcel, or save this product as a set. |
| The product is in recipes of other products, when you add a second parcel | The product is used in another product's recipe, so it must stay in one parcel. The notice lists the recipes. | Remove it from those recipes first, or turn those products into sets. |
| Loop in the recipe | The component you chose already contains the one you are adding it to. | Choose a different component. A component cannot contain itself, directly or through further levels. |
| No permission for components | The change affects a component's own recipe, and your role may not edit components. | Ask for the Components (materials): Edit permission, or make the change on the first level only. |
| The field for the copy's name is empty, and Add or Save is unavailable. | A copy is a new component and needs a name. | Type a name, or tick the box to change the component everywhere instead. |
| Could not create a copy of "…". Saving was stopped, please try again. | The copy could not be created; nothing was saved. | Click Save again. |
| A component in the recipe is marked as missing or archived. | The component was deleted or deactivated. | Remove it from the recipe, or replace it with an active one. |
| The notice says stock is missing components that this product is made from. | At least one item has too little available stock. The notice lists them. | Receive the missing components. See Components. |
| Production will not raise an order for the product. | It is Non-manufactured, or it is a product with variants. | Set Origin to Manufactured, or raise the order for a variant. See Production orders. |
Permissions
| To do this | You need |
|---|---|
| See a product's recipe on its card | Products: View |
| Build or change the recipe of a new product | Products: Create |
| Change the recipe of an existing product | Products: Edit |
| Change a component's own recipe everywhere, from inside a product | Components (materials): Edit as well |
| Create a copy of a component for one recipe | Components (materials): Edit and Components (materials): Create as well |
Related
- Components — what recipes are built from, and their own recipes
- Product types & structure — simple or set, manufactured or resale
- The product record — the rest of the product form
- Production orders — where the recipe is used
- Glossary — recipe, component