Add Item Components to a Finished Good

What are Item Components?

Item components, often raw materials and/or packaging items, are the materials that make up a Finished Good in TraceGains. For example, a fruit smoothie mixture prepared for a distributor may consist of: a fruit puree blend (Raw Material component) and citric acid (Raw Material component) and a large plastic bulk bag (Packaging item component). 

Why Add Item Components to a Finished Good?

Adding and associating Item Components is a crucial step that ensures the data tables (and resulting document packets) factors in information from every item included in the Finished Good.

Use Cases/Prerequisites:

Because many types of users and partners use a combination of Supplier Management Enterprise and the Finished Goods Add-On, from suppliers to buyer/distributors to co-manufacturers, it can be difficult to pinpoint one all-encompassing use case. However, the following use case is common and represents a best practice:

I use Supplier Management Enterprise from TraceGains and manage my relationship with suppliers on the Suppliers tab. I also work with co-manufacturing partners on TraceGains using the Finished Goods Add-On. We collaborate on the manufacturing of some of my finished goods. My partners directly source some raw materials/packaging that goes into my finished good. Because they do their own sourcing, my partners manage the relationship with those suppliers.

To differentiate between these colleagues, when I create a new Partner Item via the Partners Tab > Create New Partner Item, I use the following naming convention: “Partner Name – Partner Supplier Name”. I find that this helps me tie all the layers together between these distinct supply chains.

How to Add Item Components to a Finished Good

Once the prerequisite steps are completed, work through the following steps to add all necessary item components to a Finished Good.

Step 1: Navigate to the Items tab.

Step 2: Select the Finished Good subtab.

Step 3: Click the gear icon in the associated row to edit the record.

Step 4: Select the Associations section.

Step 5: Select the Items Components tab.

Step 6: Click ‘Add Items’ to make associations.

Step 7: Use the resulting menu to add as many items as necessary.

Step 8: Click ‘Add Selected’ when satisfied.

Step 9: Select the X icon of any item component to unlink it from the Finished Good record.

Link Item Components to Partner Records

As a final step before sharing documents, use the Partners subtab to link item components to the appropriate partner(s).

Step 1: Select the Partners subtab.

Step 2: Select 'Add Items Components'.

Step 3: Check the boxes connected to the appropriate Supplier Items.

Step 4: When satisfied with your selection, click 'Add Selected.' Your selection will be saved automatically.

Step 5: Repeat the process in the Partners subtab until all item components and partners are associated.

Next Steps:

Now that all necessary facets of your Finished Good are linked/associated together, from suppliers to partners to item components, you are ready to share documents. Read this article for instructions on how to share document packets with the correct recipients.