Kitting and Assembly Component Availability Checking
A kitting or assembly order gets released to the floor on the assumption that everything on the bill of materials is in stock, because checking every component individually against current inventory before release isn't something anyone has time to do line by line, especially on a kit with dozens of parts. The gap shows up mid-build: a sub-assembly is half-finished when someone discovers a fastener or a sub-component ran out three days ago, and now the line stalls, the partially built units sit as work-in-progress nobody can finish, and the missing part has to be expedited at rush pricing. The shortage was knowable before release — it just wasn't checked.
STARTING PRICE
From €299
Standard tier · Multi-step workflow with AI extraction/decisioning and 2-3 integrations.
Get a quote →Saves roughly 4-7 hrs/week for a production planning or manufacturing team.
How the automation works
We check every component on a kit or assembly's bill of materials against live, available (not just on-hand) inventory before the order releases to the floor, accounting for stock already committed to other open orders so the check reflects what's genuinely free to use. If any component is short, the kit is flagged before release with the specific missing part, the quantity short, and whether a substitute or alternate BOM revision is available, rather than a generic "can't build" message. Partial-availability kits can be flagged for partial release or held as a batch, depending on how the business wants to handle it, and a rolling shortage forecast shows which upcoming kit orders will hit the same component gap so purchasing can react before the first order stalls, not after.
Process flow
- 01
Kit order queued trigger
A kit or assembly order enters the release queue, triggering an availability check before it's sent to the production floor.
- 02
Explode the BOM integration
The bill of materials is exploded into its full component list, including sub-assemblies, so every required part is checked, not just top-level items.
- 03
Check available (not just on-hand) stock ai
Each component is checked against available inventory net of quantities already committed to other open orders, not raw on-hand quantity that overstates what's actually free.
- 04
Flag shortages with detail ai
Any component short of the required quantity is flagged with the specific part, the shortfall amount, and whether an approved substitute or alternate BOM revision is available.
- 05
Project forward shortage risk ai
Upcoming queued kit orders are checked against the same component to surface a rolling shortage forecast, so purchasing sees the problem before multiple orders stall on the same part.
- 06
Release or hold decision output
Fully available kits release automatically to the floor; short kits are held or routed for a partial-release decision, with the shortage reason attached to the hold.
Inputs
- Bill of materials per kit or assembly
- Live available inventory net of committed stock
- Open order and production queue
- Approved substitute component or BOM revision list
Outputs
- Component availability check per kit order
- Shortage flag with part, quantity and substitute options
- Rolling shortage forecast across queued orders
- Release/hold decision routed to production
Works with
Prefer a fully custom build instead of an off-the-shelf integration? We scope both options during your free consultation — most jobs like this one work fine on standard connectors, but higher-volume or non-standard systems sometimes need bespoke API work, reflected in the complex tier.
Where this goes wrong if you get it wrong
- Checking against raw on-hand inventory instead of available inventory net of commitments to other open orders will approve a kit as buildable when the components are actually already earmarked for a different order, creating a false green light that only fails once production tries to pull the parts.
- A shortage flag that just says "can't build" without naming the specific short component and quantity forces someone to manually diff the BOM against stock anyway, erasing most of the time saved — the flag needs to be specific enough to act on immediately.
- Sub-assemblies nested inside a top-level BOM get missed if the check only looks at first-level components — the BOM needs to be fully exploded down to raw components, or a shortage two levels deep in a sub-assembly goes undetected until the sub-assembly itself is being built.
- Auto-substituting an approved alternate component without flagging the substitution to whoever ordered the kit can create downstream surprises — a substitute part might meet spec but affect a customer-facing detail like color or connector type that the requester needs to know about.
Frequently asked questions
Does this check raw on-hand inventory or account for stock already committed elsewhere?
It checks available inventory net of quantities already committed to other open orders, so a kit isn't approved to build against stock that's actually earmarked for something else.
What happens when a kit is short on just one component?
The kit is flagged with the specific short part and shortfall quantity, and depending on configuration either held as a whole batch or released for partial build if that's operationally useful.
Does it handle multi-level bills of materials with sub-assemblies?
Yes — the BOM is fully exploded down to raw components so a shortage buried in a sub-assembly is caught, not just shortages in top-level parts.
Can it suggest an alternate component automatically?
Only from a pre-approved substitute or alternate BOM revision list — it flags the substitution rather than silently swapping parts that might affect spec or customer-facing details.