Managing Materials

Forge MRP organizes materials into a three-level hierarchy: categories, types (grades), and specs. This structure keeps your material library organized and makes it easy to select the right material when building quotes or creating RFQs.

For example:

Stainless Steel          (category)
  └── 17-4PH             (type / grade)
        ├── H900          (spec)
        └── H1025         (spec)

Plastics                 (category)
  └── Delrin             (type / grade)
        └── White         (spec)

Specs are optional. If a material type doesn't need further distinction, you can leave it without any specs.

Adding a Category

  1. Go to Settings > Materials.
  2. Click Add Category.
  3. Enter the category name (e.g., "Aluminum", "Stainless Steel", "Plastics").
  4. Click Save.

The new category appears in the material tree on the left. You can now add types inside it.

Adding a Material Type

  1. In the material tree, find the category you want to add a type to.
  2. Click Add Material Type.
  3. Select the category (pre-filled if you clicked from within a category).
  4. Enter the grade name (e.g., "6061", "17-4PH", "Delrin").
  5. Click Save.

Adding a Spec

  1. Find the material type you want to add a spec to.
  2. Click Add Spec.
  3. Enter the spec name (e.g., "T6", "H900", "Natural").
  4. Click Save.

Archiving and Restoring

You can archive categories, types, and specs that you no longer use. Archiving removes them from material pickers throughout the application (quotes, RFQs, purchase orders) but never deletes data. Existing quotes, RFQs, and purchase orders that reference an archived material continue to display it correctly.

Cascade behavior: Archiving a category automatically archives all of its types and specs. Archiving a type archives all of its specs.

To archive, click the archive icon next to the item you want to remove.

Viewing and Restoring Archived Items

  1. Toggle Show Archived at the top of the material tree.
  2. Archived items appear dimmed alongside active ones.
  3. Click Restore on any archived item to make it available in pickers again.

Restoring a type or spec also restores its parent category if it was archived.

Using Materials in Quotes

When you add a material to a quote part, the material picker shows fully qualified labels in the format Category > Grade > Spec (e.g., "Stainless Steel > 17-4PH > H900"). You can search across all three levels — typing "H900" or "17-4" or "Stainless" will all find the same material.

If a material type has no specs, the picker shows just Category > Grade.

← Company ProfileEquipment Setup→