Tightly’s Manufacturing workflow is designed for businesses that operate a hybrid inventory model - meaning you may buy some products directly from suppliers, but you also produce or assemble others internally.
This feature connects your Smart Replenishment recommendations directly to a production workflow, helping you answer two critical questions:
When should I produce more stock to meet demand?
Do I have the raw materials required to produce it?
Core Concepts
Before you begin, it is helpful to understand the three main building blocks of this workflow:
Manufacturable Variant: A specific product (e.g., White T-Shirt - Medium) that you produce rather than purchase.
Bill of Materials (BoM): The "recipe" for that product. It defines which raw materials are needed, how many units are produced in a single batch, and where production takes place.
Manufacturing Order (MO): The actual instruction to produce a specific quantity of stock. An MO reserves your raw materials and tracks the production timeline.
The High-Level Workflow
The Manufacturing process in Tightly follows a simple loop: Setup → Recommendation → Production → Completion.
1. Setup (One-time)
You select a product variant and create a Bill of Materials (BoM). You will define:
Raw Materials: What ingredients go into this product?
Batch Size: Do you make them 1 by 1, or in batches of 50?
Lead Time: How long does it take to prepare?
Warehouse: Where is this physically made?
2. Replenishment
Once a BoM is active, Tightly’s Smart Replenishment will start tracking demand for that product. Instead of telling you to purchase the finished good, it will recommend you Draft a Manufacturing Order.
3. Production & Allocation
When you create a Manufacturing Order (MO):
Tightly calculates exactly how many raw materials you need.
You allocate existing raw materials to the order.
If you are missing materials (Shortages), you can add them to your replenishment basket directly from the MO.
4. Completion
Once production is finished physically, you mark the order as Completed.
Important Note on Inventory: When you mark a Manufacturing Order as Completed, Tightly does not automatically increase the stock level of the finished good. You must record the finished goods into your WMS/ERP/3PL system manually. Tightly’s role is to manage the demand for production and the consumption of raw materials.
Who is this for?
Retailers with manufacturing: Brands that produce their products in-house.
Brands with central production: Businesses that manufacture in a central hub and transfer stock to satellite warehouses.
Hybrid Ecommerce Brands: Companies that assemble kits or produce goods on demand.
Next Steps ⛳
Ready to set up your first BoM? Go to How to Create a Bill of Materials (BoM) to define your first recipe.