The quick answer
Go to Transactions > Manufacturing > Unbuild Assemblies. Choose the Assembly and the Location the order ships from. Quantity Built shows the most you can unbuild there. Type a number in Quantity to Unbuild, check the Components subtab, and save. The assembly quantity drops and every component on the bill of materials comes back into stock at that location. The unbuild doesn't edit the sales order, but the new stock lets NetSuite commit the line. Reopen the order and check that it now shows Committed instead of Back Ordered.
The example is a small outdoor gear company. Sales order SO4817 asks for 6 CG-12 Cork Grips as spare parts, and Boise Warehouse has none loose. It does have 14 finished TP-200 Trekking Pole Pairs, and each pair contains 2 grips. Unbuilding 3 pairs frees up the 6 grips. The screenshots use sample data, and the person, company and customer names are fictional.
Only do this when someone really is going to take those finished units apart. If the grips should be bought or moved from another warehouse, a purchase order or transfer order is the honest record.
Before you start
You need the Assembly Items feature, an assembly item with a bill of materials, and finished units of that assembly at the location you're unbuilding from. Your role needs permission to enter assembly unbuilds, and the date has to fall in an open posting period. The walkthrough happens to use an Administrator role in a OneWorld account, which is why Subsidiary appears on the form. The items don't use bins, lots, serial numbers or inventory statuses, so no Inventory Detail is entered. If yours do, expect to fill in Inventory Detail for the assembly coming out and for the components going back.
Menu placement can change with your role and enabled features. You can also start an unbuild from a saved Assembly Build with its Unbuild button.
01. Find the back-ordered line
Open sales order SO4817 for Cascade Ridge Outfitters. It ships from Boise Warehouse and its status is Pending Fulfillment. On the Items subtab, the headlamp and snow basket lines are committed. The CG-12 Cork Grip line shows Quantity 6, Committed 0, Back Ordered 6 and On Hand 0. Boise has no loose grips to commit.
02. Open a new assembly unbuild
Go to Transactions > Manufacturing > Unbuild Assemblies. A new Assembly Unbuild opens with Reference # To Be Generated. The List and Search options next to it are for finding unbuilds you've already saved.
03. Choose the assembly, location and quantity
In Assembly, choose TP-200 Trekking Pole Pair. In Location, choose Boise Warehouse, the location the sales order ships from. Quantity Built fills in with 14. That's how many finished pole pairs at Boise NetSuite will let you unbuild, so it's the upper limit for the next field.
Type 3 in Quantity to Unbuild. Each pair holds 2 grips, so 3 pairs covers the 6 on the order. Projected Value changes to 174.60, NetSuite's estimate of what the returned components are worth.
The Components subtab fills from the bill of materials. Each component gets its per-pair quantity times 3: 6 CS-30 Carbon Pole Shafts, 6 CG-12 Cork Grips, 6 TT-04 Carbide Tips and 6 SB-05 Snow Baskets. Quantity On Hand is what Boise has of each right now, and CG-12 shows 0. Every component on the bill of materials comes back, not just the grips, so the shafts, tips and baskets go up too.
You can change a component quantity before you save, for example if a grip gets damaged coming off the pole. Revisions, component yield and units of measure can also change the defaults.
04. Save the unbuild
Click Save. NetSuite shows "Transaction successfully Saved" and opens Assembly Unbuild ASSYU41: TP-200 Trekking Pole Pair, Quantity to Unbuild 3, Location Boise Warehouse.
The saved Components subtab lists the 6 of each component that went back into Boise's stock. The 3 pole pairs came out of it.
On the accounting side, the unbuild debits component inventory and credits the assembly's inventory account. If the two values differ, the difference goes to the unbuild variance account set up on the assembly item. The recording doesn't open GL Impact, so check it on your own unbuild to see the actual accounts.
05. Recheck the sales order
Open Recent Records and click SO4817 Cascade Ridge Outfitters. The CG-12 Cork Grip line now shows Committed 6, Back Ordered 0 and On Hand 6. The grips from the unbuild are committed to the order, and the headlamp and snow basket lines are still committed, so the whole order can be fulfilled. SB-05's On Hand also went from 22 to 28 because the unbuild returned 6 baskets.
Check the result
- The component line on the sales order shows Committed equal to its quantity and Back Ordered 0.
- The other components on the bill of materials went up at the same location by Quantity to Unbuild times their BOM quantity.
- The assembly's quantity on hand at that location should drop by Quantity to Unbuild, here from 14 to 11 if nothing else moved. The recording doesn't open the assembly item, so check it yourself.
If the line still shows Back Ordered, the unbuild probably did its job and commitment didn't run. Check the line's commit setting, whether other orders for the same component got the stock first, and the location and inventory status of the returned units. Then run your account's commitment process, such as Commit Orders, or Reallocate Items if you use supply allocation.
Common questions
What does Quantity Built mean on an Assembly Unbuild?
It's how many finished units of that assembly NetSuite will let you unbuild at the location you picked. Boise had 14 trekking pole pairs, so Quantity Built showed 14. Quantity to Unbuild is how many you actually take apart, here 3.
Does an assembly unbuild return all of the components?
Yes, every component on the bill of materials, in proportion. Each pole pair holds 2 of each part, so unbuilding 3 pairs returned 6 shafts, 6 grips, 6 tips and 6 baskets, even though the order only needed the grips. You can edit component quantities before saving if some parts don't survive the teardown.
What is Projected Value on an Assembly Unbuild?
NetSuite's estimate of what the returned components are worth, here 174.60 for 3 pairs. It's calculated from component costs for that date. The actual posting can differ with your costing method, so check GL Impact on the saved unbuild.
Does an assembly unbuild automatically commit inventory to sales orders?
Not by itself. The unbuild puts the components into stock at that location. Whether they get committed to a waiting order depends on the line's commit setting and how your account runs commitment. In this example, reopening SO4817 showed the grips committed, but don't count on that in every account.
Why is my sales order line still back ordered after I unbuilt stock?
Check the location first. The components land where you unbuilt them, and the order line has to ship from there. Then check whether another order with higher priority took the stock, the line's commit setting and the inventory status of the new units. If all of that looks right, run Commit Orders, or Reallocate Items if you use supply allocation.
What is the GL impact of an assembly unbuild in NetSuite?
Roughly the reverse of a build. Assembly inventory is credited and component inventory is debited. If the assembly's cost and the components' value don't match, the difference posts to the unbuild variance account on the assembly item. The recording doesn't open GL Impact, so look at your own saved unbuild for the real accounts and amounts.
What is the difference between an assembly build and an assembly unbuild?
A build consumes components and adds finished assemblies. An unbuild removes finished assemblies and puts the components back. You'd use an unbuild when you physically take finished units apart, like to cover a component shortage.
Why not just use an inventory adjustment?
You could add 6 grips and remove 3 pole pairs with adjustments, but nothing would tie the two together and the values would be up to you. The unbuild records the teardown as one transaction, uses the bill of materials for quantities and moves the cost from the assembly to its components. Keep adjustments for count corrections.