Order networks
An order network connects a finished-product order with the production orders needed to manufacture its components. Each order keeps its own operations, quantities and status. Purchased components remain material requirements; BoM explosion does not purchase them or book inventory.
Choose the right depth
| Explosion mode | Result |
|---|---|
| None | Main order only |
| Single level | Main order and make-component orders from the first BoM level |
| Multiple levels | Recursively resolved make-component orders |
For example, 10 finished kits may need 10 manufactured housings and 20 purchased screws. If each housing needs a manufactured insert, single-level explosion creates the housing orders but does not recursively create insert orders; multiple-level explosion follows that further make requirement. Required quantities follow the resolved BoM values and configured factors. Review the preview rather than assuming every component has a one-to-one quantity.
Preview before creation
You need order-creation access, an accessible material and appropriate published BoM/routing definitions. For configurable materials, enter the custom-field parameters that select the variant.
- Start order creation and choose the finished material and quantity.
- Enable Explode BoM and select the required depth.
- Select Preview network. Inspect the main order, child order tree, make/buy decisions, quantities, steps and any available overrides.
- Resolve blocking issues and review warnings. Change the input or overrides and preview again when necessary.
- Confirm the reviewed creation. Open the saved main order and check its component relationships.
The preview is a proposal. Orders exist only after creation succeeds. Safety limits protect against cycles, excessive depth and very large generated networks; a rejected preview is not a partially usable order network. Reduce scope or ask the master-data owner to fix recursive BoM references.
Navigate and plan
Open the network view or parent/child links in order details to move between the root and component orders. Nexus offers a second way to inspect actual saved relationships. A shared material alone does not prove that two orders depend on each other.
Plan work in the Scheduler. Backward scheduling considers component readiness before parent work starts. Later manual propagation depends on configured Scheduler relationships and policies; a parent-child link alone is not a promise that every edit cascades automatically.
Each order must meet its own lifecycle requirements. Child completion does not mean the finished product was completed, and component output does not count as finished customer demand.
Changes and recovery
Published BoM and routing snapshots record the manufacturing definition used for creation. Editing a reusable definition does not silently rebuild an existing network. Review existing orders explicitly when an engineering change affects them.
If input changes after preview, recalculate before confirming. If creation returns an uncertain result, search for the main order and inspect its network before making a replacement. For a missing node, verify permissions and scope as well as the saved relationships. Use support for inconsistent saved networks instead of manually constructing duplicate components.