Program: WIP Subcontract Operation Management

This program lets you manage the full life cycle of a subcontract operation, from dispatching job-issued material to a supplier through to receiving completed work back, returning unused material, capturing the expected receipt date and marking the operation as complete.

Exploring

Things you can do in this program include:

  • Issue material from job allocations to the supplier.

  • Dispatch material to the supplier, capturing lot, serial and quantity per stock code, warehouse, and allocation line.

  • Receive completed work back from the supplier against the job operation.

  • Return unused material from the supplier to stock.

  • Capture or update the expected receipt date for the operation.

  • Mark the operation as complete, releasing it for labor posting.

This program is accessed from the Program List of the Syspro menu:

    • Program List > Work in Progress > Job Postings

 

The subcontract stock code is a free-form, non-stocked code entered against the operation to identify the service performed by the supplier. This field is used on Purchase Orders raised for subcontract work.

The subcontract code is mandatory when operation management is enabled and must be unique within the Bill of Materials (BOM).

An operation in a Bill of Materials (BOM) that is performed by an external supplier rather than at an internal work center. Subcontract operations are added to the Bill of Materials (BOM) using the Structures and Routings (Program List > Bill of Materials > Setup) program and are identified by setting the Manage operation option to Yes.

In the context of WIP Subcontract Operations Management, a dispatch is the act of recording that job-issued material has been sent to a subcontract supplier for an outsourced operation. It is unrelated to the dispatch of sales orders from a warehouse.

A dispatch does not move stock and does not create a financial transaction. It records quantity, lot and serial information against the operation for traceability and reconciliation.

The dispatch mode is set per operation:

The act of recording completed or processed items received from the subcontractor against the job operation. The received quantity is used as the default for pieces completed when posting labor against the operation.

The act of recording stock that was dispatched to the subcontractor but not used, returning the material to inventory stock.

Overview topic

Topic: WIP Subcontract Operations Management

Starting

Must be configured in the Structures and Routings program (Program List > Bill of Materials > Setup)

  • At least one subcontract operation defined on the parent part.

  • Manage operation set to Yes on that operation.

  • Subcontract stock code entered.

  • Auto dispatch set to Yes or No.

  • Supplier defined on the operation.

  • Off-set time defined on the operation (needed for the due date default)

  • Component material linked to the subcontract operation via the Operation field under Maintain Components.

  • A confirmed job exists for the parent part.

  • Component material has been issued to the job for the subcontract operation.

You restrict operator access to activities within a program using the Operator Maintenance program.

You can restrict operator access to the fields within a program (configured using the Operator Maintenance program).

You can restrict access to the eSignature transactions within a program at operator, group, role or company level (configured using the Electronic Signature Configuration Setup program).

Electronic Signatures provide security access, transaction logging and event triggering that gives you greater control over your system changes.

Controls whether the operator can dispatch stock to a subcontract supplier.

Controls whether the operator can receive stock back from a subcontract supplier.

You can restrict operator access to programs by assigning them to groups and applying access control against the group (configured using the Operator Groups program).

You can restrict operator access to programs by assigning them to roles and applying access control against the role (configured using the Role Management program).

The following configuration must be in place before this program can be used:

At least one subcontract operation must be defined in the Structures and Routings program with the following settings:

  • Manage operations must be set to Yes.

  • Subcontract stock code must be entered.

  • Auto dispatch must be set to Yes or No depending on the required mode.

  • A supplier and off-site time must be defined against the operation.

To use inspection on receipt, configure a WIP subcontract inspection level in the Inspection Level Review program, with the source defined as the supplier and the stock code defined as the subcontract stock code from the operation.

  • Over-dispatching is not allowed. The cumulative dispatched quantity for the operation cannot exceed the quantity issued to the job for the operation.

  • Over-receipting is not allowed. The cumulative received quantity cannot exceed the supplier.

  • The Dispatch function is disabled when Auto dispatch is set to Yes against the operation.

  • Dispatch does not move stock and does not create a financial transaction. The value of the issued material remains in Work In Progress until the operation is completed and labor is posted.

  • An operation cannot be marked as complete while inspection tests for the receipt are open.

  • Labor cannot be posted against the operation through the Labor Posting program until the operation is marked as complete.

Solving

The Dispatch hyperlink is disabled when Auto dispatch is set to Yes against the operation within Structures and Routings.

Subcontract operations without Subcontract Operation Management enabled are managed entirely through the Bill of Materials and Purchase Orders modules and do not appear in this query.

Confirm that the Include complete filter is set appropriately if you are looking for a completed operation.

An operation cannot be marked as complete while an inspection test is still open against the receipt. Complete the inspection through the Inspection Test Queue program before returning to mark the operation as complete.

The Labor Posting program rejects labor postings against a managed subcontract operation until the receipt for the operation is marked as complete.

Capture the receipt in WIP Subcontract Operation Management and mark the operation as complete before posting labor.

Using

The WIP Subcontract Operation Management process is as follows:

You configure a subcontract operation for management in the Structures and Routings program (Program List > Bill of Materials > Setup). This sets the flag that includes the operation in subcontract operation management, defines the dispatch mode, and link the component materials that will be sent to the supplier.

  • Open the Structures and Routings program and select the parent part.

  • Add or change the subcontract operation.

  • At the operation form, enable Manage operation. Only operations where this flag is set to Yes are included in subcontract operation management.

  • Enter a unique Subcontract stock code.

    The Subcontract stock code is a free form entry field associated with the operation. It is used as the non-stocked code when a Purchase Order is created for subcontract work.
    Prior to Syspro 8 2026 R1 the field was called P/order stock code.

  • Set Auto dispatch:

    • Set to Yes to issue material to the supplier automatically when it is issued to the job. No further dispatch step is required.

    • Set to No to require an explicit dispatch event through the WIP Subcontract Operation Managementprogram (Program List > Work in Progress > Job Postings ) for each shipment.

  • Verify that the supplier and off-site time are defined against the operation.

  • Link the component materials that will be sent to the supplier to this operation. For each component on the Bill of Materials (BOM) that will be dispatched to the supplier as part of this operation, set the Operation to the subcontract operation number. Only materials linked to the operation in this way are visible to the dispatch and issue functions of the WIP Subcontract Operation Management program.

  • Save the operation.

The same configuration fields appear on the equivalent form within the WIP Add an Operation and WIP Job and Op Maintenance programs for changes made directly to a live job.

Before material can be dispatched, the component material linked to the subcontract operation must be issued to the job first.

The Dispatch hyperlink is disabled when Auto dispatch is enabled for the operation. Under auto dispatch, material is flagged as dispatched at point of job issue.

  • Open the WIP Subcontract Operation Management program.

  • Filter the listview by Supplier, Job or Subcontract stock code.

  • Select the subcontract operation line.

  • Select the Issue hyperlink to issue stock and the quantity being dispatched to the subcontractor.

    The Issue function on the WIP Subcontract Operation Management listview provides a scoped route into Job Issues for this purpose.

  • Select the Dispatch hyperlink. The dispatch screen displays the material issued to the job for the operation, with a line for each stock code, warehouse, allocation line, lot and serial.

  • Enter the dispatch quantity at the relevant material lines. The dispatch quantity may not exceed the quantity available for dispatch.

  • Save the dispatch.

A record is written to the WipSubManage table for the issued material and a record is written to the WipSubTrn table for the dispatch event.

Where material was dispatched to the supplier but not used in the outsourced operation, use the Return function to reinstate the material against the job allocation. A return reverses the dispatch and is processed as a negative issue against the job, restoring the lot and serial information back to inventory stock.

  • Open the WIP Subcontract Operation Management program.

  • Select the subcontract operation line.

  • Select the Return hyperlink. The return screen displays the material currently at the supplier, with a line for each stock code, warehouse, allocation line, lot and serial.

  • Enter the return quantity at the relevant material lines. The return quantity may not exceed the quantity at the supplier.

  • Save the return.

The WIP Job Specific Issues business object is called with a negative quantity to reinstate the material against the job allocation, and the WipSubManage table is updated.
The due date is consumed by production scheduling. Operations where the system date is later than the due date and the received quantity is less than the planned pieces are highlighted on the listview.
The product is not managed as stock, but rather as a normal labor transaction against the operation and that process remains as is.

Referencing

This displays data according to the selection criteria indicated. The function is enabled when you first load the program and then by selecting the Change Criteria option.

This lets you change the currently configured review criteria.

Field Description

Jobs

This lets you select a specific confirmed job or multiple jobs.

Suppliers

This lets you select a specific supplier.

Due dates

This lets you select a specific due date.

Options

 
Include complete This lets you control whether operations that have been marked as complete are displayed.

This saves the details you entered or changed.

This outputs the data to a printer destination of your choice.

Field Description

Supplier

Indicates the supplier defined against the subcontract operation.

Subcontract stock code

The non-stocked code identifying the subcontract service.

Job

Indicates the confirmed job to which the subcontract operation belongs.

Operation

Indicates the operation number within the Job's Bill of Materials (BOM)

Due date

This indicates the expected receipt date for the operation. This field is editable in order to capture the exact receipt date. Defaulted from the dispatch date plus off-site time defined against the operation within Structures and Routings

Issue

This hyperlink calls the Job Issues program. The Kit Issue screen will open, only displaying the material linked to the operation.

Dispatch

This hyperlink opens the Dispatch pane, showing the stock that has been issued to the job.

This reads from the WipJobPost and WipJobPostSer tables).

Enter the quantity to dispatch on each line. On save, a record is written to the WipSubManage table indicating which items are with the supplier.

This hyperlink will be disabled when Auto dispatch is set to Yes against the operation in Structures and Routings
Receive

This hyperlink opens the Receive pane where you enter the quantity received back from the supplier.

On save, the quantity is stored against the WipJobAllLab table and the Inspection test are created.

Inspection tests will only be required if the WIP subcontract inspection option was configured enabled within Non Conformance Severity Level

Once the inspection tests have been captured and completed, mark teh operation as complete to release it for labor posting through Labor Posting,
Return This hyperlink opens the Return pane where you enter the material that was unused and needs to be returned to stock. This will call the WIP Job Specific Issuesbusiness object to do a negative issue of the item back into stock.
Complete Indicates whether the operation has been marked as complete.

This saves the details you entered or changed.

This outputs the data to a printer destination of your choice.

This exports the data to Microsoft Excel.

This lets you refine the results displayed in the grid according to specific text that you've searched.

This lets you copy, paste, duplicate and find or replace data in the listview.

Field Description
Stock code

Indicates the stock code of the material issued to the job for this operation.
Description

Indicates the description of the stock code.
Warehouse

Indicates the warehouse from which the material was issued or returned.
Line

Indicates the line number.
Lot

Indicates the lot number for lot traceable items.
Serial

Indicates the serial number for serialized items.
Qty issued

Indicates the quantity issued to the job for this stock code, warehouse, allocation line.
Qty dispatched This indicates the quantity already dispatched.
Qty to dispatch

This lets you enter the quantity to dispatch. The value cannot exceed the quantity issued.

These will be stored in the WipSubManage table indicating which item are with the supplier.
Qty returned This lets you enter the quantity being returned unused. The value cannot exceed the Qty issued.
Qty to return This indicates the quantity currently at the supplier for this line (dispatched less received).