Industrial machinery manufacturing process: from customer order to dispatch

The stages below follow one typical machine: a 100-tonne hydraulic press built to a customer's order. The base and crown are fabricated from plate and welded, stress relieved at a vendor and then machined. The cylinder is machined in-house. The power pack uses a bought-out pump, motor and valves, the electrical panel is wired by a vendor around a PLC the plant buys, and everything comes together in the assembly bay for a trial run before dispatch. A conveyor or packaging machine builder will have different operations, but the sequence of records is much the same.

For each stage, the useful question is what the stage has to record, as well as what happens in it. Those records are what tell you where the build stands, what it has cost, and what went into it.

The process at a glance

1. 1Customer orderPress specification, options, delivery date and any customer-witnessed trial run confirmed.
2. 2Engineering BOMMain assemblies, sub-assemblies, made parts and bought-out items, released to the build.
3. 3Material planningRequirements against stock and open orders, long-lead items identified.
4. 4ProcurementPlate, bar and bought-out items ordered, long-lead items first, received and checked.
5. 5Build releaseThe press and each sub-assembly become linked work orders on the planning board.
6. 6Fabrication and machiningCutting, welding, stress relieving at a vendor, then machining of frame and cylinder.
7. 7Stage checksWeld, dimensional and alignment checks before parts move to assembly.
8. 8AssemblyFrame, cylinder, power pack and panel brought together in the bay.
9. 9Testing and trial runPressure test, functional test and trial run, then release or rework.
10. 10DispatchPacked, shipped with the delivery note, and the build cost closed.

What happens at each stage, and what it records

1. Customer order

The press is quoted against a specification: tonnage, stroke, daylight, bed size, control type and options such as a light curtain or a die cushion. Once the order is confirmed, the record should hold the specification, the agreed delivery date, the price and the quoted cost, and whether the customer will attend the trial run. That quoted cost is what the build will be compared against.

2. Engineering BOM

Design breaks the press into main assemblies (frame, cylinder, power pack, electrical panel, guarding) and each of those into sub-assemblies, made parts and bought-out items. Common items such as standard guards may be made to stock; the frame for this tonnage is made to the build. The BOM revision released to the build should be fixed on it, so later changes are made deliberately and recorded. The guide to multi-level BOM management covers release in more detail.

3. Material planning

Requirements for this press are compared with stock and open purchase orders, alongside every other open build. The items that set the date are usually not the plate: the pump, the proportional valve, the PLC and the cylinder seals may take many weeks. A useful planning record lists each long-lead item, its expected date and the stage of the build it will hold up.

4. Procurement and incoming checks

Long-lead items are ordered first, sometimes before the design is fully finished. Plate and bar arrive with a mill test certificate. Bought-out items are received by lot, and major ones such as the motor and pump are recorded with the maker's serial number. Incoming checks confirm the item and its documents before it is accepted, and a failed receipt is held.

5. Build release

The press becomes a work order, with a work order under it for each sub-assembly made in-house. These are placed on the planning board by work centre: cutting, welding, machining, assembly bay. From here, everything done on the press is recorded against one of these orders, so progress and cost roll up to the build.

6. Fabrication and machining

Plate is cut and the base and crown are welded. The frame then goes to a vendor for stress relieving on a challan, comes back against it, and is machined on a large horizontal borer. The cylinder is turned, bored and honed. Operators record each operation as completed, with downtime and its reason, and the time spent.

Vendor work is part of the routing, not a side note. The record holds what was sent, when it is due back, what came back and the vendor's charge. A late return from the stress relieving vendor delays machining, and the planning board should show that against the build.

7. Stage checks

Welds are inspected on the frame before stress relieving. Machined bores, faces and the cylinder are checked against the drawing before they move to assembly. A failed check holds that sub-assembly until someone decides on rework, use as is, or scrap, with a name and a reason. Catching a bore out of tolerance here costs far less than finding it when the cylinder will not seat. Why a check at each stage costs less than one at the end is covered in reducing rejection by checking at the operation.

8. Assembly

The frame, cylinder, power pack, panel and guarding are brought together in the bay. Fitters mount and align the cylinder, pipe the hydraulics, and the panel is connected. Each assembly step is recorded as done, and the bought-out items fitted are issued to the build, so the record shows which motor and pump went into this press.

9. Testing and trial run

The hydraulic circuit is pressure tested, the press is run through its functions, and a trial run is done, often with the customer present. Results are recorded on the build with the person who recorded them. Any fault found becomes a rework step with its reason, and the test is repeated. The press is released for dispatch only when the trial run passes.

10. Dispatch

The press is packed, sometimes in parts across more than one vehicle, with spares, manuals and test records. The delivery note lists what went against the build. The invoice goes to the accounting system, and the build's cost, now complete, is compared with the quoted cost.

What to record and control at each stage

Where the process usually breaks

• Between design and purchase, when a long-lead item is not ordered until the BOM is complete, and the date slips before the build starts.
• At a design change, when a part is revised mid-build but the old revision is still being made or bought.
• In stores, when a bought-out item is borrowed from one build for another and nobody records it.
• At the vendor, when a late or short return is noticed only when the assembly bay is waiting.
• At assembly, when items are fitted without being issued to the build, so cost and traceability both have a gap.

How is one machine traced back after dispatch?

If a customer reports a pump failure a year later, the trace runs backwards: delivery note to build, build to the power pack sub-assembly, power pack to the pump issued to it and its serial number, and from there to the supplier and receipt. The same search shows the checks and test results recorded on the build. When each stage left its record, this is a lookup. When the records are in files and registers, it is a search through the archive.

How FleekERP records each stage

In FleekERP the press is a work order, with a work order for each sub-assembly linked under it. The BOM is fixed at release, and production planning puts sub-assemblies and final assembly on one board with long-lead items flagged. Stores receives and issues by lot, operators and fitters record completed operations and downtime on their phones, the stress relieving and panel wiring sit on the routing with their challans, QC records stage checks and the functional test, and progress rolls up to the build. The invoice syncs to Tally or Zoho. The industrial equipment page shows the same flow from the plant's side.

How the process differs by plant type

• Standard machines with options: a base BOM with option sub-assemblies added per order, and many sub-assemblies made to stock.
• Special purpose machines: a new design for each order, with design and purchasing overlapping and more changes during the build.
• Process equipment and heavy fabrication: fabrication and welding dominate, with stage inspection on welds and pressure parts.
• Conveyors and material handling: many repeated modules, so sub-assembly batches and site dispatch in sections matter most.