Subcontracting

Open Manufacturing → Subcontracting.

Use subcontracting when a supplier performs part or all of the production work. You send the required materials, and the supplier returns the finished or semi-finished goods. ERPX records both movements so the stock balance and production plan remain correct.

Material sent to a vendor remains your stock. ERPX moves it to a warehouse that represents the vendor’s premises. The material remains in your stock valuation until a subcontracting receipt consumes it and records the returned item.

The supplier warehouse serves the same purpose as the work-in-progress (WIP) warehouse in an in-house work order: it holds your material while production is under way. See Core Concepts.

The flow

Subcontracting BOM

Choose Manufacturing → Subcontracting → Subcontracting BOM.

The subcontracting BOM lists the material sent to the supplier and the item the supplier is expected to return.

Field	What it means
Item to Produce	What the vendor delivers back
BOM	The recipe defining the materials to supply
Supplier	The vendor this arrangement is with

Saving a subcontracting BOM creates a matching BOM flagged Is Subcontracting BOM. That BOM is read-only in the BOM screen. Edit it here instead, so the two cannot drift apart.

Subcontracting Order

Choose Manufacturing → Subcontracting → Subcontracting Order.

Subcontracting order status, from raised to closed

Both the transfer and the receipt can be partial, and each has its own status. An order sitting in Partial Material Transferred is waiting on you; one in Partially Received is waiting on the vendor. The two outstanding-work reports use this distinction.

Field	What it means
Supplier	The vendor performing the work
Supplier Warehouse	Where transferred material is held. Still your stock
Item	What the vendor will produce
Quantity	How many
Posting Date	The date the order is booked on
Expected Delivery Date	The date used by the outstanding-work reports
Status	See the track above

Working an order

Create the order

Manufacturing → Subcontracting → Subcontracting Order → New. Choose the vendor, the item, and the quantity.

Approve

Approving opens the transfer action. Nothing has moved yet.

Transfer materials

Creates the stock entry that moves raw material into the supplier warehouse. Transfer everything and the order becomes Material Transferred. Transfer some and it becomes Partial Material Transferred.

Receive

Create a Subcontracting Receipt against the order, either from the receipt screen or with Make Receipt on the order itself.

Close

Once received in full the order reaches Completed and can be Closed.

Subcontracting Receipt

Choose Manufacturing → Subcontracting → Subcontracting Receipt.

When a receipt is approved, ERPX consumes the raw material in the supplier warehouse and receives the returned item into your warehouse.

Status	Meaning
Draft	Being prepared. Nothing posted
Completed	Goods received, raw material consumed
Return	A return of received goods
Return Issued	The return has been issued to the vendor
Cancelled	Withdrawn
Closed	Archived

An order can have several receipts. For example, if a supplier delivers 1,000 pieces in four batches, record four receipts against the same order. The order remains Partially Received until the full quantity has arrived.

Check the quantities before submitting. Approving a receipt consumes the material the vendor was sent, and the consumption is calculated from the subcontracting BOM. A receipt entered for the wrong quantity therefore writes off the wrong amount of raw material, not just the wrong finished total.

Tracking outstanding work

Use these reports under Manufacturing → Reports to find incomplete transfers and receipts:

Report	Answers
Materials To Be Transferred	Materials that still need to be sent for approved orders
Items To Be Received	Goods that vendors still need to return after receiving material
Subcontracting Order Summary	Status, ageing, and bottlenecks across every order

Review Items To Be Received regularly. The listed material is outside your premises but remains on your balance sheet. Follow up on old entries to identify delayed, missing, or unrecorded deliveries.

Subcontracting Capability

Vendors can be recorded as capable of specific operations, so the right job worker is offered when an operation is outsourced instead of being chosen from the full supplier list.

Common validations and troubleshooting

Message / behaviour	Why	Fix
Transfer action unavailable	The order is still Draft	Approve it
BOM form is read-only	It is a subcontracting BOM	Edit it under Subcontracting → Subcontracting BOM
Order stuck at Partial Material Transferred	Only part of the material has been sent	Transfer the remainder, or reduce the order
Order stuck at Partially Received	The vendor has delivered some of the quantity	Create more receipts as deliveries arrive
Supplier warehouse stock keeps growing	Material transferred against orders that were never received	Check Items To Be Received
Cannot cancel the order	Receipts exist against it	Cancel or return the receipts first

Tips

Give every vendor their own supplier warehouse. A shared one makes it impossible to tell whose material is whose.
Reconcile the supplier warehouse periodically against what the vendor says they hold. Any difference is loss you are still carrying.
Transfer in the quantities you actually ship. Partial transfers are supported and keep the outstanding reports meaningful.
Enter realistic expected delivery dates so Items To Be Received can show which deliveries are late.

Core Concepts: why transferred stock is still yours
Bill of Materials: the recipe behind a subcontracting BOM
Production Plan: including outsourced sub-assemblies in demand
Work Orders: the in-house equivalent
Reports: tracking outstanding orders