How to Build to Order With Auto-Assemblies in Unleashed

Before you start

• Assemblies and bills of materials are part of Unleashed's Production & Manufacturing module. Unleashed's pricing pages list it as free on Unleashed Pro and an optional module on Unleashed Core: £49 a month in the UK, A$69 in Australia, NZ$69 in New Zealand and US$69 in the US, excluding applicable taxes (checked 23 October 2026).
• The product needs a bill of materials. Can Auto Assemble is a setting on the BOM.
• Auto-assembly suits standard products built to order, such as bundles, gift baskets and multi-packs. For a multi-pack, the pack is the assembled product and the single unit is its component.
• Auto-assembly happens only on Sales Orders. It doesn't run from Warehouse Transfers, Stock Adjustments or Purchase Orders.
• It applies only to the product on the Sales Order. Components that are themselves assembled need Sub-Assemblies created by hand.

To set up the BOM, see How to create a bill of materials. For how allocation affects orders, see How stock allocation works on sales orders.

Step 1: Turn on Can Auto Assemble

1. 1Open the assembled product's Bill of Materials.
2. 2In the BOM header, turn on Can Auto Assemble.
3. 3For batch-tracked or serialized components, also tick Auto Assign Oldest Batch/Serial if you want the oldest stock assigned automatically. Otherwise, each Assembly needs numbers assigned by hand.
4. 4Save the BOM. Sales Orders for the product that are allocated from now on are checked for stock.

Step 2: Let the Sales Order create the Assembly

1. 1Add the product to a Sales Order as usual.
2. 2If the order quantity is more than the warehouse has available, Unleashed creates a Parked Assembly. Its Assembled Quantity is the order quantity minus the available stock.
3. 3An orange exclamation point icon appears next to the line's Quantity. Click it to open the Assembly, which links back to the Sales Order.
4. 4While the Assembly is Parked, changing the order quantity replaces it with a new Parked Assembly for the new quantity.
5. 5You can raise the Assembled Quantity in the Assembly, but not below what the order needs.
6. 6Adjust components on the Assembly if needed before it is completed.

Step 3: Assign batch and serial numbers

1. 1Open the Auto-Assembly.
2. 2For batch-tracked or serialized components, use the Batch or Serial columns in Assembly Lines, or the action cog in those headers to assign the oldest numbers in bulk.
3. 3If the finished product is batch-tracked or serialized, add the new numbers in the Batch/Serial Numbers tab. On completion, they are allocated to the Sales Order line.

Step 4: Complete the Assembly with the order

1. 1When the order is ready to ship, select Complete on the Sales Order. Unleashed completes the linked Parked Assembly, updates stock and completes the order in one step.
2. 2If only some lines are ready, tick those lines in the Sales Order's Order Lines, hover over the action cog and select Complete Assembly. The order's status stays the same.
3. 3You can also complete the Assembly itself or from View Assemblies. Unleashed advises against this before dispatch, because the finished stock goes back to general inventory and can be allocated to other orders.
4. 4When the Assembly is complete, the orange icon on the order line turns into a green tick.

Step 5: Ship part of an order when components are short

1. 1On the Sales Order, use the Allocate button so items aren't locked by allocation.
2. 2From the Order drop-down, select Create Shipment and pick only the lines in stock or already assembled.
3. 3For a part-built line, split it: Line 1 for the quantity you can assemble and ship now, Line 2 for the rest on backorder.
4. 4Ship Line 1 first. When components arrive, complete the assembly for the remaining quantity and ship Line 2.

For more on orders that wait for stock, see How to manage backorders.

If something doesn't look right

• No Assembly appeared on the order: deallocate and reallocate the Sales Order to trigger it, and check Can Auto Assemble is on in the BOM.
• The Assembly is Parked and won't complete: there isn't enough component stock in the source warehouse.
• The Auto-Assembly is complete but the order still can't complete: the assembled stock may have shipped on another order. Unleashed won't create a second auto-assembly, so create a manual Assembly for the quantity.
• You can't delete the Auto-Assembly from its own page: remove it by deleting the Sales Order, removing the product from the order, or deallocating the order.
• The order quantity can't be edited: its auto-assembly has already been completed.
• The product's allocated quantity looks low: while an auto-assembly is open, its components are allocated instead of the finished product.

Where Unleashed leaves the work to you

• Component stock has to be on hand in the right warehouse when the order is due, or the order waits.
• Sub-Assemblies for components you make are never created automatically. Someone creates and completes them.
• Batch and serial numbers for the finished product have to be entered by hand on each Auto-Assembly.
• Completing auto-assemblies early, before dispatch, can release stock to other orders. Unleashed recommends finishing them with the Sales Order.
• Split-line partial shipments have to be set up by hand on the order.

Where Logistify fits

Auto-assemblies start from sales orders, and the Sales Order Service enters customer orders that arrive by email, PDF, Excel, EDI, WhatsApp, SMS, voicemail or paper into Unleashed as sales orders. From there, auto-assembly works the same as for any other sales order in Unleashed. Logistify doesn't allocate stock, create, change or complete assemblies, or assign batch or serial numbers. It replies to the buyer with the quantity available per line, a date for any shortfall, and asks whether to ship part now. See how it works with Unleashed in Excel, PDF and email purchase orders into Unleashed.