In this article
Talk to our experts- Kitting
- Kitting is the practice of grouping separate parts or products into one kit that is handled as a single unit. In manufacturing, a kit is a specific collection of components and subassemblies that together support one or more assembly operations. In selling, kitting packages related products to be sold together as one item.
Also called: kit building
How it works
In manufacturing, kitting is a way of feeding parts to an assembly line. A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report on kit building describes two approaches, continuous supply versus kitting:
- Continuous supply: a quantity of each part that may be needed is stored at the assembly station. When several versions of a product are being assembled (mixed-model assembly), the station may need a wider variety of parts, and parts storage and delivery are duplicated at each station.
- Kitting: parts are delivered to the assembly station in kits that contain the exact parts needed to complete one assembled object. In mixed-model assembly, the contents of a kit can change from product to product. Kitting also lets one delivery system feed several assembly stations.
NIST notes that in industrial assembly, kitting is often performed before final assembly, and it names two of the techniques used to build kits:
- Batch kitting: the kit box stays at a single kitting workstation until it is filled.
- Zone kitting: the kit moves while it is being filled and passes through one or more zones before it is complete.
In selling, the same idea turns separate products into one offer. Shopify calls a set of two or more related products sold together a bundle, and lists among the benefits a higher average order value, curation for customers and clearing out old inventory.
Why manufacturers use kitting
NIST says manufacturers use kitting for the cost savings it can provide, citing earlier research, including:
- Saved manufacturing or assembly space
- Less walking and searching time for assembly workers
- More line flexibility and balance
Example
A water treatment distributor sells a filter starter kit: 2 replacement cartridges and 1 filter housing. It has 23 cartridges and 9 housings in stock. Following the bundle inventory method Shopify documents, it divides each component's stock by the quantity the kit needs and takes the lowest result:
- Cartridges: 23 / 2 = 11.5, rounded down to 11
- Housings: 9 / 1 = 9
The distributor can sell 9 complete kits. Those use 18 cartridges and 9 housings, so a tenth kit would need 1 more housing.
On Shopify
On Shopify, a kit sold as one item is a product bundle, and creating bundles requires a bundles app installed on your store. Shopify describes Shopify Bundles as a free first-party bundles app for creating fixed product bundles and multipacks from the Shopify admin.
- Limits: fixed bundles take up to 30 components, with up to 2,000 units per component.
- Inventory: bundle availability comes from the inventory of each product in it, and the product with the lowest inventory level decides how many bundles can be sold. In Shopify Bundles, bundles track inventory by overall stock, not by location.
- Orders: in Shopify Bundles, SKUs are listed for the individual items in an order, not for the bundle SKU. Where each line item is handled separately, such as split fulfillments and returns, the bundle's items show as separate line items.
- Draft orders: Shopify notes that draft orders might default to an older checkout version that doesn't support bundles.
How Uncap helps
Uncap's guide to bills of materials on Shopify draws the line: for a single-level BOM, a kitting or bundling app is often enough, while a true multi-level BOM tied to buyer-facing configuration, schematic-based selection and ERP-synced component data needs the storefront's own product and configuration logic. In Uncap Diagrams, pins convert into a bill of materials (BOM), so a full diagram selection becomes one order.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What is material kitting?
In manufacturing, kitting is a way of feeding materials to assembly: instead of storing a supply of every part at each station, parts arrive in kits that contain the exact parts needed to complete one assembled object.
What are the benefits of kitting?
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) says manufacturers use kitting for cost savings, including saved manufacturing or assembly space, less walking and searching time for assembly workers, and more line flexibility and balance.
What is the kitting process?
In batch kitting, the kit box stays at one kitting workstation until it is filled; in zone kitting, the kit moves through one or more zones while it is filled. In the batch kitting test methods the National Institute of Standards and Technology proposes, a robot places an empty kit on the work table, places the component parts in it, then moves the completed kit to the storage area for full kits.
