productionorder

A production order is a formal instruction within manufacturing systems that authorizes the production of a defined quantity of a product. It serves to plan, execute, and monitor the use of materials, labor, and machine time, and provides a record of incurred costs and produced output. Production orders connect the planning level with shop floor activities and help ensure that manufacturing is carried out in a controlled, auditable way.

A production order typically includes key data such as the order number, material or product to be produced, planned quantity, plant or site, dates, and the current status. It links to the bill of materials and the routing or operations required to complete the product, and may specify required materials, work centers, and sequencing of steps. The order is often created from a planned order or directly, and then released to authorize material reservations and shop floor execution.

The lifecycle generally includes creation or conversion, release, material staging or reservations, production execution with operation confirmations, and completion with goods receipt and cost settlement. During execution, actual resources and quantities are tracked, allowing comparison with planned values and the calculation of variances. Some systems support backflushing of components and automatic posting of costs once the order is closed.

Types of production orders reflect manufacturing approaches, including discrete orders for individual lots, process orders for continuous or batch processes, and repetitive orders used in high-volume, consistent production. Production orders are central to governance in ERP and manufacturing execution contexts, where they integrate with bills of materials, routing, inventory management, and cost accounting to provide end-to-end traceability of production activities.