Sage 50

It is important to remember that Sage 50 Manufacturing is, and always has been, a separate ‘bolt-on’ addition to the core Accounts product. The effect of this is that the Accounts software makes little or no concession to the presence of Manufacturing – thus data movement is 1 way traffic, from Manufacturing to Accounts and never the other way. Unexpectedly perhaps, this has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand it means the Manufacturing product is not restricted by the capabilities (or lack of) in the Accounts product. On the other hand it means that some functionality simply cannot be present within Manufacturing because it would mean changes to the core product which simply will not happen.

Sage 200

By contrast, the Sage 200 core Accounts includes much of the data/functionality required by Manufacturing, including for example both Batch and Serial Number Traceability and 2-level stock locations (Warehouses and Bins). In addition, where extra data needs to be present for Manufacturing, the core product, notably Commercials, has been adapted to provide the additional information.

Next: The Product Information Screen (Sage 50 only)