Slots categorise the products that will be used for creating the parent product.
Candidates are alternate products that may satisfy the requirement for a BoM Slot. For example, “Standard Egg Powder” may be the default candidate for a slot, but it may also be permitted to use “Free Range Egg Powder”. This would be configured as two candidates belonging to the Egg Powder slot. Whether you use one or the other may depend on what’s in stock. The default quantity required is recorded against a BoM slot, but where the quantity would vary according to the candidate used, this may be specified against the individual candidates.
Note that the candidates used in a BoM are themselves configured as products in MESTEC. For example, the milk that’s used to bake a cake is configured as a product as well as the cake that’s baked.
The Slots & Candidates section is part of the BoM Manager screen.
The screen is accessed from the Products and the Recipes pages. From the Products page, the Bill of Material button is a menu item that appears when you select a product. From the Recipes page, the BoM Manager button is a menu item that appears when you select a recipe. Both paths display the BoM Manager screen for the selected product/recipe.
This section of the BoM Manager screen displays the slots and candidates of a specific BoM version.
Create a Build Slot Type
To create slots and candidates, you require a BoM and a Build Slot Type. A Slot Type lets you group slots. This is typically used to group materials that are consumed/recorded in the same part of the process. For example, Raw Materials might be consumed at the first operation in a workflow, whilst Packaging Materials are consumed at the end of manufacture in the last operation of a workflow.
To create a Build Slot Type:
Navigate to the Build Slot Types screen from the MESTEC menu and click New.
Provide a name and description and click Save.
Create a BoM Slot
BoM Slots outline a requirement that needs to be fulfilled for the parent product to be completed. When you create a new slot, you also create a default candidate. 
- Navigate to the Products page, select that product and click the Bill of Materials button to open the BoM Manager screen. You can also access BoM Manager from the Recipes page.
- Select the BoM from the BoM & BoM Version list that you want to create the BoM slot for.
- Click Add Slot.
- Complete the BoM Slot input screen.
BoM Slot input screen
The following properties can be defined for the BoM Slot screen:
Blue fields in the form are required and are flagged with an asterisk (*) in this document.
Slot Description*: The slot description.
Build Slot Type*: The slot type that this slot belongs to.
Default Qty*: The expected quantity of the slot item.
Active: Specifies if the BoM slot is active. Values: Yes, No. Default: Yes.
Required: Specifies if the BoM slot is required or if you can proceed without the item. Values: Yes, No. Default: No. For example, you may have a cake decoration that is part of the BoM but will not prevent a cake from being completed if it is out of stock. In this case, Required is set to No.
Instructions: You can provide extra information in this field.
Product Search: Products searched here will refine the Default Candidate drop down list.
Default Candidate*: The default candidate of that slot. For example, for the slot called "Egg Powder", you may have “Standard egg powder” as one candidate and "Free range egg powder” as another. The default may be set to "Standard egg powder”. A candidate can be set to default at any time.
Max Quantity: The maximum quantity allowed. For example, if 500 ml of milk is the expected quantity, an acceptable maximum quantity may be 510 ml.
Min Quantity*: The minimum quantity allowed. For example, if 500 ml of milk is the expected quantity, an acceptable minimum quantity may be 490 ml.
Note that the BoM Slot Edit screen displays only up to the instructions field (see image above), as this applies to the slot only and not the default candidate.
Add a candidate
A BoM slot can have several candidates. When you create a slot, you also create the first (default) candidate for that slot. Additional candidates can be added, and you can change which candidate is the default.
- Navigate to the Products page, select that product and click the Bill of Materials button to open the BoM Manager screen. You can also access BoM Manager from the Recipes page.
- Select the BoM from the BoM & BoM Version list.
- Select the slot for which you will create another candidate.
- Click the Add Candidate menu item.
- Complete the Add Candidate input screen.
Add Candidate input screen
The following properties can be defined for the Add Candidate input screen:
Blue fields in the form are required and are flagged with an asterisk (*) in this document.
Child Qty*: The expected quantity for this candidate.
Active: Specifies if the BoM slot is active. Values: Yes, No. Default: Yes.
Product Search: Products searched here will refine the Candidate drop down list.
Candidate*: The candidate selected from the list of products.
Max Quantity: The maximum quantity allowed. For example, if 500 ml of milk is the expected quantity, an acceptable maximum quantity may be 510 ml.
Min Quantity*: The minimum quantity allowed. For example, if 500 ml of milk is the expected quantity, an acceptable minimum quantity may be 490 ml.
Version: Specify a version for this candidate.
Properties
The Properties function allows you to provide additional information related to the BoM slot.
To add Property information to a BoM slot, you have to set up Property Definitions first.
Edit Property information
Navigate to the BoM Manager page, select the slot and click the Properties button.
Select the property you want to provide information for and click Edit.
Add the information requested.
Link Slot
You can link a selected slot to a slot from another BoM.
- Navigate to the BoM Manager page, select the slot and click the Link Slot button to display the Link Slot popup.
- Complete the Link Slot input screen.
Link Slot input screen
The following properties can be defined for the Link Slot input screen:
Blue fields in the form are required and are flagged with an asterisk (*) in this document.
From
BoM*: The BoM from which you will copy the slot.
BoM Version*: The BoM version you want to copy.
Slot*: The slot that will be copied.
Slot Key: The key of the slot you want to copy.
To
BoM: The BoM the slot will be copied to.
BoM Version: The BoM version that the slot will be copied to.
Slot: The slot name.
Slot Key*: The slot key.
