I am writing to express my significant frustration with the current state of the Manufacturing/Routing module in ERPNext.
My manufacturing facility operates entirely on a piece-rate model, where labor costs are determined by completed units rather than time-based hourly rates. The current architecture of the Manufacturing module is hard-coded to rely on time-based calculations (Hour Rate and Time in Mins), which fundamentally conflicts with a piece-rate business model.
Because the system forces this time-based logic, it creates constant conflicts with cost calculations, causing the system to automatically reset my operational costs to zero and preventing accurate costing within the BOM Operations table. I am currently forced to resort to complex, unstable workarounds just to achieve basic cost tracking that should be natively supported by any professional ERP.
Why does ERPNext not provide a native āPiece Rateā option for operations? Relying on workstation capacity/time planning at the expense of costing flexibility ignores a massive sector of global manufacturing. Please clarify if there is a plan to support piece-rate costing natively, or if the system is intentionally designed to exclude this manufacturing standard."
I suggest you raise a github feature request and hopefully it will be addressed in their project roadmap. As the manufacturing module matures I am sure it will reach world-class enterprise standards one day - especially with constructive feedback like yours.
I also suggest you contact @Nisarg5900 as he is looking for gaps to address in the BOM doctype
@Hasnain24 Have you considered, creating a Service Item for the piece rate cost and add that to your BOM.
For example piece rate price of assembling Item A is ā¹20, then create a new item called āAssembling Charge Item Aā do not tick on āMaintain Stockā and keep it as a service item.
As you are not tracking hourly charges at all and just want your BOM cost to update as per your piece-rate work, this should probably solve your problem.