Getting Started

How Does Controlata Work?

Core Concepts In Controlata, there are two fundamental concepts: - Materials (raw materials) — what you use to make your products - Products (finished goods) — what you manufacture from your materials Everything stored in your inventory is categorized as either materials or products. There are three main operations involving materials and products: - Purchase — receiving materials from suppliers into your inventory - Production — the process of converting materials into products - Sale — selling your products to customers Process Flow The diagram below shows the relationship between these concepts. Example Let's say you make apple pies: - Your materials are flour, eggs, apples, etc. - Your products are apple pies - Your production is the baking process - Your purchases are buying flour, eggs, apples, etc. - Your sales are when you sell the pies More Advanced Workflows The workflow described above represents the simplest scenario. Controlata can actually support more complex workflows, such as: - Purchases can include not only materials but also finished products - Products can be used as components in the production of other products - You can create multiple storage locations for materials and products You can read about all the system's features in other knowledge base articles.

Materials vs. Products

To help you categorize items correctly, follow these guidelines: If you sell it, it's a product Materials cannot be added to sales orders, so anything you sell to customers should be set up as products. It doesn't matter whether you manufacture the product yourself or purchase it from suppliers—the system works with both approaches. If you manufacture it, it's also a product Materials cannot be manufactured from other materials. Therefore, everything you produce should be set up as products. This applies whether you sell these items or use them as subassemblies in the production of other products. Read more about subassemblies in this article. In all other cases, it's a material The main difference between materials and products is that materials cannot be added to customer sales orders and cannot be manufactured. Therefore, add as materials everything you purchase from suppliers and use in production.