Overview
Luminous manages co-manufactured and in-house assembly workflows through the Work Orders module, found at Inventory → Work Orders. A Production Run is a batch container that groups one or more Work Orders (each representing a single finished SKU and quantity). The workflow moves through five stages: create, plan, produce, complete, and ship/receive.
Stage 1 — Create the Production Run
- Go to Inventory → Work Orders and open the Production Runs tab.
- Click Create Run.
- Add one or more Work Orders to the run — each work order specifies a finished SKU, a planned quantity, a bill of materials (BOM), a production location, and a destination warehouse.
- Save the run before proceeding.
Tip: If you only have a single SKU to produce, you can also create a standalone Work Order from the Orders tab.
Stage 2 — Review Material Shortages and Cover Them
- Open the Shared Components table on the run to see raw material demand, on-hand stock, incoming purchase orders (POs), and any shortages.
- Allocate incoming stock from existing POs first to cover as much demand as possible.
- For any remaining shortage, click Generate Purchase Orders to create new supplier POs directly from the run.
- Once purchasing is finalized, move the run status to Planned to signal that it is approved for operations.
Stage 3 — Receive Raw Materials and Move to In Progress
- From the work order's sidebar, locate the linked purchase order(s) and click Receive. This redirects you to the Receiving Report.
- Complete the receiving report to record components into inventory.
- After components are received, click Edit on the work order, change the status to In Progress, and save. This commits the raw material inventory for production.
Stage 4 — Record Production
- Open the work order and go to the Production & Logistics Steps tab.
- On each step, click Report Production to record a partial or full batch. Repeat for more batches; over-production and scrap are supported.
- To complete many work orders at once, use Quick Complete from the Work Orders list or the Production Run list instead.
- If sub-assemblies are short, click Create Assembly Orders in the BOM section, then complete those Assembly Orders.
Stage 5 — Ship Finished Goods to the Destination Warehouse
- Open the Shipment Planning tab in the Work Orders module.
- Select the finished goods and click Create Transfer Order.
- Post the Transfer Order and push it to your 3PL, or reconcile it to an Amazon inbound shipment.
Stage 6 — Complete the Run
Set each work order to Completed, then set the Production Run to Completed. Completed and Cancelled can't be set from the list's bulk status menu — set them on the run itself.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Created, not yet approved |
| Planned | Purchasing finalized, approved for ops |
| In Progress | Materials committed, production underway |
| Completed | Production recorded and shipped |
| Cancelled | Run abandoned |
Status Lifecycle at a Glance
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Run created, not yet approved |
| Planned | Purchasing finalized, approved for ops |
| In Progress | Raw materials committed, production underway |
| Completed | All production recorded and goods shipped |
Key Things to Know
- Work Orders module must be enabled for your account. Contact your admin if you don't see it.
- Materials Planning tab gives a cross-run view of material shortages (read-only).
- Job Status tab shows progress for background bulk operations like Quick Complete.
- Cost layers for the assembled finished goods are recalculated during nightly cost layer rebuilds based on component receipt costs.
Still have questions? Contact Luminous support with your production run number and the stage where you need help.