How Build-to-Stock and Consume-from-Stock Work Together in EDGEBIC

Build-to-stock and consume-from-stock are the two directions of a single inventory ledger, and they close one loop: a make-to-stock order completes and posts a positive receipt that raises on-hand, then a later demand nets against that stock and posts a negative issue that lowers it. EDGEBIC by User Solutions treats these not as two features but as the supply half and the demand half of the same running balance. Understanding how they hand off to each other is the difference between trusting your on-hand and second-guessing it.

This post walks the full cycle of one stocked product, receipt then issue, and shows exactly what each half writes to the ledger and when. It builds on the EDGEBIC planning guide, which covers the whole inventory and scheduling layer.

The two halves of the loop

Every stocked product has a supply side and a demand side, and the ledger records both as signed entries.

Build-to-stock is the supply half. A make-to-stock (MTS) product is one you build ahead of a specific customer order and place into finished-goods stock. When that build completes, its quantity posts as a receipt: a positive ledger entry that raises on-hand. The entry is tagged Build to Inventory so it is unmistakable in the transaction history. It posts in the same save as the completion itself, so the stock exists the instant the order is done. One job can be pushed to either side regardless of the product's usual policy, through the build-to-inventory flag on the manufacturing order.

Consume-from-stock is the demand half. When a demand exists for a product that already has stock on hand, the scheduling engine satisfies it from that stock rather than building fresh. It records the consumed quantity as an issue: a negative ledger entry tagged Schedule Transaction. This does not happen at completion; it happens at scheduling time, when the schedule commits to using the stock.

The reason the two tags differ matters. Build to Inventory is a physical event (units were produced and put away). Schedule Transaction is a planning commitment (the schedule reserved and consumed stock). Both are real ledger movements, and on-hand is always their running sum. For the mechanics of that ledger, see the inventory ledger explained.

Why the split into two moments

It would be simpler to post everything at completion, but that would hide commitments. Consider a stocked part with 200 on hand and a customer order for 80 scheduled next week. If the issue waited until the order shipped, your on-hand would read 200 all week, and a second order could be promised the same 80 units. By posting the consume issue at scheduling time, EDGEBIC drops on-hand to 120 the moment the schedule commits, so the next order sees the real remaining stock.

This is the same reason available-to-promise in EDGEBIC works forward from physical on-hand: the ledger reflects committed consumption, not just physical movement, so promises never overlap.

A worked cycle: valve body, 200 built then 80 consumed

Take a valve body set to make-to-stock, flagged stocked, unit cost $12.50, starting on-hand of 0.

Step 1, the build order schedules. MO-101 for 200 units is treated as a producer. It builds normally on the shop floor; no stock is consumed because it is the supply side. Nothing posts to the ledger yet.

Step 2, the build order completes. The planner marks MO-101 complete. One receipt posts:

On-hand is now 200, and the moving-average cost is set to $12.50.

Step 3, a customer order arrives. MO-102 needs 80 valve bodies, make-to-order (it ships straight to the customer).

Step 4, the customer order schedules. The engine seeds its run with the 200 on hand. For MO-102 it finds available (200) is at least the need (80), so it consumes 80, marks the order satisfied from stock, and creates no work-center operations. At the persist step one issue posts:

The full ledger after one cycle:

On-hand is 120, ready for the next demand. The customer order for 80 consumed no machine hours at all, because stock covered it in full.

Partial cover: when the loop does both at once

The halves are not exclusive. Suppose the same valve body has 120 on hand and a new order needs 200. On-hand covers part of the demand, so the engine builds only the shortfall of 80 and posts an issue for the 120 it consumed. The order is a partial build, not satisfied from stock, and it does occupy work-center capacity for the 80 units it actually produces. The consume-from-stock netting walkthrough traces this partial case in detail.

Yield rides on top of the build half. If the valve body has a first-pass yield below 100%, the build quantity inflates so the net good output still covers the need. A 90% yield on a 100-unit shortfall means the engine plans to start about 112 units to reliably yield 100 good ones.

Per-order override: one loop, flexible policy

The build method is a product default, but any single order can override it. A normally stocked valve body can run one direct-ship order (forced make-to-order, no receipt), and a normally custom part can run one build-ahead batch (forced build-to-stock, which posts a receipt on completion). This lets you run one loop across a mixed order book without reclassifying the product. For the classification decision itself, see when to net demand against stock versus build fresh.

Why the two halves stay in balance

The loop is designed so it can be replayed and always reconciles. Deleting or reopening an order reverses its ledger entries with inverse rows rather than deletions, so a canceled build removes its receipt and a canceled consume restores the stock. Rescheduling the same order twice does not double-post, because the consume issue is reversed before the engine re-nets. The result is that build and consume never drift apart: on-hand is always the honest sum of every receipt and every issue.

This connects directly to finite capacity. The orders that stock cannot cover become schedulable work that the engine plans against real machine load, the same way it handles any production schedule. Stock absorbs what it can; capacity handles the rest; the ledger records both. That is the loop, and it is why an inventory management approach for manufacturers that keeps supply and demand on one ledger stays trustworthy under real order churn.

Getting the loop right

Three habits keep build-to-stock and consume-from-stock working cleanly together. Flag your stocked products so both halves post; a make-to-stock product that is not flagged stocked silently skips receipts and issues. Let the engine post consume issues at scheduling time rather than adjusting on-hand by hand, so commitments show up before shipment. And read the transaction history when a balance surprises you: every receipt and issue pegs back to its order, so the answer to "why did on-hand move" is one filter away.

See the whole planning and scheduling layer in the EDGEBIC platform overview, or contact US for a demo to watch the receipt and issue post against your own part numbers.