> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.arcuserp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Kits and Assemblies
> Sell one bundled product while Arcus tracks the component products that determine availability, cost, picking, fulfillment, and returns.
A kit is the product the customer buys. The components are the products
the warehouse actually pulls, consumes, costs, and restocks.
## When To Use A Kit
Use a kit when the customer should see one item, but the operation needs
to manage several physical components. Common examples are installation
bundles, pump packages, starter sets, seasonal packages, and assemblies
sold as one SKU.
* **Use a kit**: the bundle is sold as one line, but fulfillment needs multiple component products.
* **Use a physical product**: the item is a single stocked product with its own inventory.
* **Use a service**: the line is labor, fee, or non-stock work with no picking or packing.
* **Use variants**: the customer is choosing size, model, color, or another option where each choice needs its own SKU.
* **Use variant kits**: each variant has a different component recipe.
## Review Kits From The Product List
The **Kit** tab on the Products list shows kit products
together. For kits, the available quantity is based on how many complete
kits can be built from available component stock. The kit parent does
not keep its own separate stock balance.
**Available means buildable for kits**
If a kit shows a low available quantity, review the components. One short
component can limit how many kits can be sold or fulfilled.
## Create The Kit Product
1. Go to **Products**.
2. Click **Add Product**.
3. Enter the kit title and part number.
4. Set **Product Type** to **Kit**.
5. Enter the list price that customers should be charged before pricing rules.
6. Confirm tax and inventory behavior.
7. Click **Create Product**.
**Kits are not purchased directly**
Create purchase orders for the component products, not the kit parent.
Receiving component stock is what makes more kits buildable.
## Add Kit Components
Open the kit product and go to the **Components** tab. Add
every product the warehouse should pull for one complete kit. Quantity
per kit is the amount of that component required for a single kit sold.
The Components table is also the operating check for kit health. It shows each
component, the quantity required per kit, available stock, unit cost, cost
contribution, total cost, and margin context. If a component has no reliable cost,
treat the kit margin as incomplete until the component cost is corrected.
1. Click **Add Component**.
2. Search for the component product by name or SKU.
3. Select the component product.
4. If the component product has variants, select the exact variant consumed by the kit.
5. Enter **Quantity per Kit**.
6. Click **Add Component**.
**Do not add the kit as its own component**
A kit should not include itself. Keep recipes simple enough for warehouse,
purchasing, accounting, and support teams to audit later.
**Removing a component removes the recipe row**
Removing a component from the kit does not delete the component product or erase
inventory history. It changes what future kit sales require.
## How Kit Availability Works
Kit availability comes from component availability. Arcus looks at the
quantity required for each component and calculates how many full kits can
be built. The component with the lowest buildable quantity becomes the
limiting component.
Use the kit Components tab when a customer or warehouse asks why a kit
cannot be promised. The tab shows the recipe, component cost contribution,
total kit cost, sell price, and margin context in the same place operators
maintain the recipe.
* **One component is short**: the kit may be unavailable even when other components have plenty of stock.
* **Component stock is received**: the kit can become more buildable after receiving or adjustment.
* **Component stock is allocated**: open orders can reduce what is available to build future kits.
* **Serialized components**: fulfillment still needs the required serial number for each serialized unit.
* **Variant components**: the chosen variant is what must be available, not just the variant parent.
* **Limited by**: the shortest component determines how many complete kits can be sold or fulfilled.
**Troubleshoot from the shortest component**
When a kit looks unavailable, find the component with the lowest buildable quantity
first. Fixing a different component will not increase kit availability.
## Sell And Fulfill A Kit
Add the kit parent to an order like any other product. The customer-facing
line is the kit. Behind the scenes, fulfillment works from the components
needed to satisfy the ordered kit quantity.
* **Order entry**: the line price comes from the kit parent, pricing rules, and any allowed manual edits.
* **Picking**: the warehouse pulls the component products in the required quantities.
* **Packing**: package the physical components that are leaving, including any serialized component requirements.
* **Inventory**: component stock is what moves when the kit is fulfilled.
* **Returns**: restocking follows the component items that come back, not just the kit label.
**The kit parent is not the stock bucket**
If a support case asks where the quantity went, review component inventory
transactions. The kit parent represents the sellable bundle.
## Understand Kit Cost And Margin
Kit cost is based on the components and their quantities. The Components
tab shows each component unit cost, contribution, percent of kit cost,
total kit cost, sell price, and margin. This helps the team catch a kit
that prices correctly for the customer but has an unhealthy cost basis.
* **Component cost changes**: receiving or cost updates can make kit cost stale until the rollup refreshes.
* **Rebuild Kit Cost**: use when Arcus shows that component costs changed since the last rollup.
* **Manual cost override**: if someone pinned the kit cost, clear the override before expecting automatic component rollup.
* **Sell price is separate**: rebuilding kit cost does not change what customers are charged.
A kit can have healthy availability and unhealthy margin. Review cost after
vendor price changes, component substitutions, recipe edits, or large quotes.
If the cost looks stale, rebuild the kit cost only after confirming the
component costs are correct.
**Review margin after component changes**
When a vendor cost changes, check important kits before quoting large
orders. The kit can still sell at the old price even though the component
cost moved.
## Variant Kits
Use variant kits when the recipe changes by option. For example, a small,
medium, and large bundle might use different components or different
quantities. The variant parent groups the choices; the variant carries the
exact component recipe that should be fulfilled.
1. Open the variant parent product.
2. Open the **Variants** tab.
3. Open the variant editor for the exact variant.
4. Use the variant **Components** setup when that variant requires its own recipe.
5. Review availability and fulfillment behavior on the variant, not only the parent.
Variant kit recipes live on the child variant. The parent organizes the options,
but fulfillment should consume the components attached to the exact variant
the customer bought.
On a variant kit, the Components tab shows how many of that exact child variant can
be built from available components and which component is limiting the build. Use that
child-level view before promising availability for a specific size, model, or option.
## Common Blocks
* **Kit shows low availability**: identify the shortest component and review on-hand, allocated, incoming, and bin availability.
* **Kit cannot be added to a purchase order**: purchase the component products instead.
* **Component search misses an item**: confirm the component product is active and belongs to the current entity.
* **Component requires a variant**: select the exact active child variant consumed by the kit.
* **Wrong component quantity**: correct Quantity per Kit before the kit is used on new orders.
* **Quantity per kit will not save**: enter a quantity greater than zero.
* **Kit margin is incomplete**: review component costs and any missing-cost warnings before quoting.
* **Margin looks wrong**: review component cost, quantity per kit, list price, pricing rules, and whether a kit cost override is active.
* **Fulfillment is blocked**: check component stock, serialized component requirements, package setup, and order holds.
* **Variant kit behaves wrong**: confirm the correct variant recipe is attached to the variant being sold.
## Related Articles
Create physical products, services, and product records.
Understand product type conversion rules, FIFO layers, product value, and Recost repair behavior.
Generate variants, manage child SKUs, use the variant editor, and set variant kit behavior.
Configure quantity breaks, customer pricing, and multiplier rules.
Track stock, locations, reorder points, and inventory movement history.
Build a sales order, add customers, set addresses, and add products.