Internal Work Orders in Luminous
Work Orders support two production modes:
| Type | When to use |
|---|---|
| External (Co-Manufacturer) | Production happens at an outside co-man facility (existing behavior) |
| Internal (In-House Production) | Production happens in your own warehouse or facility |
Creating an Internal Work Order
- Go to Inventory → Work Orders and click Create Work Order.
- In the Product Information section, locate the Work Order Type radio button.
- Select Internal (In-House Production).
- Complete the rest of the form:
- Select SKU — search for the finished-good SKU (must have a BOM).
- Production Location — only your company-owned warehouses appear here; 3PL locations are excluded automatically.
- Destination Warehouse — same filtering applies; only internally-managed warehouses are shown.
- Planned Quantity, Expected Completion Date, Completion Trigger, and any custom fields work identically to external work orders.
- Note: the Co-Manufacturer (Vendor) field is hidden for Internal work orders — no vendor is required or recorded.
- Click Save.
Type is locked after Draft. Once you move the Work Order to Planned or beyond, the type (Internal/External) cannot be changed. Decide which mode you need before planning.
Assigning BOM supply methods
After saving, open the work order and assign a Supply Method to each BOM component:
| Supply Method | When to use |
|---|---|
| On Hand | Component is already in stock at the production location |
| Purchase Order | Component needs to be ordered from a supplier |
| Vendor / Co-Man Supplied | Vendor provides the component (less common for fully internal runs) |
| Assembly Order | Component must be assembled before the main production step |
Bulk-assignment shortcuts ("Set All to Brand Supplied" etc.) are available and work the same as on external orders.
How Internal Work Orders differ from External
| Behavior | External (Co-Man) | Internal (In-House) |
|---|---|---|
| Co-Manufacturer field | Shown and optional | Hidden; always blank |
| Production Location options | All locations (including 3PL) | Company-owned warehouses only |
| Destination Warehouse options | All locations (including 3PL) | Company-owned warehouses only |
| Manufacturing Service Fee | Captured per unit | Not applicable (no vendor) |
| BOM, steps, Assembly Orders | ✅ | ✅ |
| Shipment Planning / Transfer Orders | ✅ | ✅ |
| Production Runs | ✅ | ✅ |
| Stock commitment on Start | ✅ | ✅ |
Frequently asked questions
Can I mix Internal and External Work Orders in the same Production Run?
Yes. A Production Run can contain work orders of different types. Each order tracks its own type, warehouse scope, and vendor (or lack thereof) independently.
I selected Internal but I can't find my production warehouse in the dropdown.
The dropdown filters to warehouses whose warehouse group is marked as company-owned (not externally managed). If your facility is missing, ask your Luminous admin to check the warehouse group's Externally Managed setting under Manage → Locations → Warehouse Groups.
Can I change an Internal Work Order to External later?
Only while the order is in Draft status. Once it is Planned or beyond, the type is locked to prevent inconsistent inventory commitments.
Does the type appear on PDF exports?
Work Order PDF exports reflect the configured template. The type field is available as a data attribute; contact your Luminous admin to add it to a custom export template if needed.