Assembly Operations and Skills

An Assembly Operation is a thing you do to a garment: cut it, stitch it, wash it, press it, fold it, pack it. The Assembly Operation master is the catalog of these things and the data each one carries: how long it takes, what skill it requires, whether it can be outsourced.

Most factories never need to create a new Assembly Operation after install — the seeded list covers the standard apparel operations. You'll come back to this master when you add a non-standard process (a new wash treatment, a new finishing step) or when you need to update SMVs as your processes improve.

Getting there

Awesome bar: Cmd/Ctrl + K → type assembly operation → pick Assembly Operation List.

Click path: Desk → GarmentFlow → Production → Setup card → Assembly Operation.

What's on an operation

The fields:

• Operation — links to the underlying ERPNext Operation record (the standard manufacturing operation).
• Operation Name — the human-readable name as it appears in pickers across the app.
• Assembly Time (minutes) — the SMV (Standard Minute Value) for this operation. The time a competent operator should take to perform one unit. Drives capacity, cost, and the simulator.
• Skill — the operator skill this operation requires. Used to match operations to operators when assignment matters.
• Is Outsource Allowed — checkbox. If checked, this operation can be sent to an External Production Unit. If unchecked, it's in-house only.

The Assembly Time is the single most important field. Wrong SMVs mean wrong capacity, wrong cost, wrong simulator output. Most factories budget time periodically (every 6–12 months) to re-time the SMVs as the floor's process matures.

Skills

Operations require skills; operators have skills. Skills are how GarmentFlow knows which operator can run which operation.

Two ways to seed skills:

• Insert Default Skills button on Garment Manufacturing Settings — seeds the standard apparel skill list.
• Create Custom Skill button on the same Settings page — for skills unique to your factory.

Skills are then attached to operator records (in HRMS) and to Assembly Operations. When GarmentFlow suggests assignments or the simulator allocates work, skills are one of the constraints it respects.

If your factory doesn't use skill-based assignment (everyone can run everything, or assignment is purely manual), you can leave the skill field empty on operations. The rest of GarmentFlow still works; you just don't get the skill matching.

Is Outsource Allowed in practice

The checkbox is a soft signal, not a hard block. If checked, the operation appears in pickers when creating External Production Unit assignments. If unchecked, it doesn't.

You'd uncheck it for operations that genuinely can't be outsourced — maybe the operation requires proprietary equipment, or a brand contract forbids outsourcing certain steps. Most operations leave it checked.

What to do next

That closes the setup section. Once Settings, Units, and Operations are all configured, the floor has everything it needs to run.

Head back to the Setup hub, or jump forward to Production PWA for the touch-friendly interface your supervisors will use day to day.