Key Takeaways
- Multi-level bills of materials support complex product structures with variants, phantoms, and sub-assemblies
- Work center management enables accurate capacity planning and production costing
- MRP scheduling calculates material requirements and optimal production timing based on demand and lead times
- Integrated quality control triggers inspections at receiving, in-process, and finished goods stages
- Shop floor module provides tablet-optimized interfaces for operators to log progress in real time
Bills of Materials and Product Structures
Bills of Materials (BoM) define the components, quantities, and operations required to manufacture a product. Odoo supports multi-level BoMs where sub-assemblies have their own BoMs, enabling complex product structures. BoM variants handle product options (sizes, colors) without creating separate BoMs for each combination.
| BoM Type | Use Case | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Standard BoM | Manufactured products | Creates manufacturing order with components |
| Kit/Phantom BoM | Product bundles, packaging | Explodes into components at sale/delivery |
| Subcontracting BoM | Outsourced manufacturing | Sends components to subcontractor |
| Multi-level BoM | Complex assemblies | Triggers child manufacturing orders |
Use BoM effective dates to manage engineering changes. Create a new BoM version with a future start date while the current version remains active. This ensures a clean transition without disrupting in-progress production orders.
Work Centers and Capacity Planning
Work centers represent production resources: machines, assembly lines, workstations, or labor teams. Each work center defines its capacity (units per hour), operating costs (per hour or per unit), and availability schedule. Accurate work center configuration enables realistic production scheduling and cost estimation.
- Define hourly cost rates for labor and overhead allocation
- Set working hours and shift schedules per work center
- Configure capacity constraints to prevent over-scheduling
- Track OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) per work center
- Link maintenance schedules to prevent unplanned downtime
The Gantt view displays work center utilization across time, highlighting bottlenecks and idle capacity. Use this view to balance workloads, identify constraints, and plan overtime or additional shifts during peak demand periods.
MRP Scheduling and Production Planning
Odoo's MRP scheduler analyzes demand (sales orders, forecasts, reorder rules), checks available inventory and in-progress production, then generates manufacturing orders and purchase orders for missing components. The scheduler respects lead times, routing durations, and work center capacity.
- Demand analysis: aggregate requirements from sales orders, forecasts, and safety stock rules
- Inventory check: deduct available stock and scheduled receipts from gross requirements
- Net requirements: calculate quantities that need to be produced or purchased
- Order generation: create manufacturing orders and purchase orders with appropriate dates
- Capacity check: validate that work centers can handle the scheduled production load
Run the MRP scheduler daily for most manufacturers. High-volume operations may benefit from more frequent runs. Each run recalculates requirements based on the latest demand and supply data.
Integrated Quality Control
Quality control points trigger inspections at defined stages: incoming material inspection, in-process checks during manufacturing, and final quality verification on finished goods. Each quality point specifies the check type, acceptance criteria, and what happens when a check fails.
| Check Type | Method | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pass/Fail | Visual inspection | Surface finish acceptable |
| Measurement | Gauge/instrument reading | Diameter 25.0 +/- 0.1 mm |
| Quantity | Count verification | 48 units per box |
| Picture | Photo documentation | Packaging condition photo |
| Text | Free-form note | Inspector observations |
Failed quality checks can trigger automatic alerts, quarantine transfers, or production stops depending on severity. Quality data accumulates over time, enabling statistical process control and trend analysis for continuous improvement.
Shop Floor Operations and Operator Interface
The shop floor module provides a simplified, tablet-optimized interface for production operators. Workers log into their work center, see assigned operations, record time spent, log material consumption, and report quality issues without navigating the full Odoo interface.
- One-tap start/pause/finish for work order operations
- Barcode scanning for component consumption tracking
- Quality check prompts integrated into the production workflow
- Real-time production progress visible to planners and managers
- Downtime reason logging for OEE analysis
- Work instruction display with documents and images
The shop floor interface requires minimal training. Most operators become proficient within 1-2 days. Focus training on barcode scanning, quality check procedures, and downtime reporting rather than system navigation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related services from Verbsz Technologies
If this article is relevant to a project on your roadmap, these are the services our team typically delivers.