In a nutshell, the structure of a production order consists of header, operation, and component data: The header data contains general information that applies to the entire order, such as the product and the quantity to be manufactured. Each production order always has a standard sequence of operations. Parallel sequences can be used to define operations to be processed in parallel. The component overview is based on the selected BOM and lists the assemblies and raw materials required for production. Each material component is always assigned to an operation. By default, the material components are assigned to the first manufacturing operation. However, you can also manually assign components to different operations in the routing or directly in the order if, for example, you need the components at a later point in time.
In the example, the first production operation is executed. Afterward, the order flow branches and the subsequent operations are executed in parallel. Finally, the branches converge and the last production operation is executed. To some assembly-relevant manufacturing operations, there are components assigned. However, there are also operations in the order without component assignment, for example in-process quality inspection steps or steps in which you finally assemble components which were pre-assembled in an earlier step.