The Production module should be used when material of one or more grades is processed to create new material of different grades. This could be done via melting, grinding, sifting, repackaging or otherwise altering a product to change its type/value. (Production is also known in some industries as “processing” or “tolling”.)

Production uses material from one or more existing contracts as the source of a new contract with new material (of whatever types and amounts you specify). The production process ensures that the existing material is moved out of inventory while the newly generated material is brought into inventory and valued appropriately. You can adjust the input quantities and output yield at any time and CATS will dynamically update the resulting material.

The Production module can be accessed via the main menu by clicking on File and then Production.

Accessing Production from the main menu.

From this menu, you can choose to Review or Add a new production request.

See Using Production to Convert Material for a tutorial on the production process.

The production request provides an overall area to coordinate a group of individual production runs. Each individual production run will add its output to the output contract specified on the request screen (and have its costs applied to the same production invoice). This might be used to manage a repeating process that runs over a series of weeks or months.

The production item screen shows the details of a single production run. From this screen you may modify the inputs and outputs of a production run and apply any changes to the output contract. You can also create and view traffic forms for the input material.

Since production items can be adjusted at any time, there's no need to wait for your particular production process to complete. You can use estimated yields to generate an initial output and then adjust the output when the processing facility reports the actual output. Production items can be labeled as estimates or as actual and the difference between estimated and actual output can be tracked in reporting.

Production input entries represent the raw material inputs to the production process. Each entry specifies the specific grade and amount, as well as costs associated with production (if any). Input material must be allocated to existing material in inventory in order to complete the production process and generate the output contract.

Production output entries represent the expected outputs of the production process. Like the inputs, each entry specifies a specific grade and amount, as well as costs associated with production. Unlike inputs, you may also enter an optional item identifier and specify how the output is to be priced.

Output can be specified as a percentage yield or as a fixed amount. Valuations for output material are based on the value of the inputs and can be specified as a percentage, a ratio based on weight, or a fixed amount.

CATS provides a way to account for the processing fees and additional costs of production. Costs based on the weight can be applied to either the input or output material. Costs are entered as either “production costs” or “additional costs”. These costs can also be included in the value of the output material.

Production costs can be used to automatically generate a production invoice which can be used to account for and pay the processing facility or vendor.

Because it does affect traffic and inventory information, production information is available as part of most position reports (like the Traffic Report and Open Position Report).

If you want a summary of production runs, the best place to find it is in the Production Report.

The production report focuses specifically on the production item level and you can organize the report by grade, facility, and any number of other aspects to capture the fullest amount of information about your production operations.