Customer situation: Currently when we have an order for a kit, we create a Work Order in Work Order Plus with one operation called "kitting," which pulls components from inventory and adds them to the parent item. Then the salesman uses the parent item in COP. We are looking for a method that a.) does not involve production (does not involve creating a WO) and b.) enables the salesman to quickly determine if all components in the kit are in stock.

I have been reading about the Kit feature in Elliott. It sounds like it was created for companies who did not need the more complicated BOMP but I am wondering if it will work for us? Can you use Kit and BOMP? Will Kit allow us to get rid of the step requiring us to create a BOMP simply to remove all the items from stock? How is inventory affected by using Kit? Will the parent item still be a stocked and controlled item? It looks like the salesman can easily see if kits are available with the Kit Gross Requirement Report? 

Solution: Generally speaking, there 2 kit items that can be defined in Elliott.

1. Legacy kit item – This uses the manufacturing item concept to define a kit item from the BM module and change the kit item to a non-stock/purchase item. No work order is needed. The system will deduct components at the time the invoice is posted.
2. New kit item – This was developed from the IM module (kit file and reports), non-stock/purchase item. It allows the user to change components during sales order entry (called the Super Kit feature). No work order is needed. The system will deduct components at the time the invoice is posted. 

I recommend using the new kit (IM) item, which is simple and provides for more flexibility. Please see the comparison below.