The product tree is the most fundamental piece of data in production management. Material requirements planning, cost calculation, traceability, compliance assessment, and purchasing decisions all stem from this structure. If the product tree is incorrect, every calculation derived from it will be incorrect.
Scope
Multi-level structure: All levels, from raw materials to the final product, can be defined and automatically resolved.
Quantity and unit definition: Calculating component quantities proportionally based on the base quantity; managing unit conversions.
Waste and loss rates: Defining expected losses on a component and operation basis; calculating planned quantities accordingly.
Wood usage: The ability to define different appearances for the same product for engineering, manufacturing, cost, spare parts, and sales purposes.
Alternative trees: Defining alternative recipes for different raw materials, different facilities, or different batch sizes, and establishing selection criteria.
Validity dates: Tracking which tree is valid within which date range; enabling historical calculations to be performed using the correct tree.
Phantom assemblies: Defining and transparently planning intermediate levels that are not stored, for the purpose of organizing the structure.
Variable product trees: In configurable products, the tree is dynamically generated based on selected attributes.
Byproduct and coproduct definition: Modeling as a negative component or separate output and determining the cost allocation rule.
Engineering change management: Change approval flow, effective date, identification of affected open work orders, and rule for depleting old stock.
Where it is used: The reverse inquiry into which products a component is used in; the basis of impact analysis in case of supply or quality issues.
Tree comparison: Displaying the difference between two product trees or the changes between two versions of the same tree.
Engineering tree or production tree?
This distinction is a source of problems in most businesses. An engineering tree describes how a product is designed, grouped into functional categories. A manufacturing tree, on the other hand, shows the actual sequence and intermediate stages of product production; it is structured according to assembly sequence and work centers.
Forcing the two to become a single tree leads to one of two results: either the engineering reality is distorted, or production planning malfunctions. The correct approach is to define the two aspects separately, but to establish the transformation between them in a structured way within the system .
How is the accuracy of the product tree maintained?
Changes must only be made with an approved change order.
Discrepancies between actual consumption and prescription should be reported regularly; chronic discrepancies indicate that the prescription does not reflect reality.
When a "different actual prescription" is identified in the field, the process, not the system, should be corrected.
Product tree accuracy should be measured as an indicator; in mature businesses, this rate is kept high and regularly audited.