Products Menu
The manufacturing module offers a centralized space to manage and monitor products and their variations. We can see the available products and the product catalog from the Products menu, with their name, Price, and Quantity available, in a Kanban view, as shown in the screenshot below.
We can also add new products to the product dashboard using the ‘New’ button. When developing a product, you need to include General Information, Attributes, and Variants, as well as details about the Purchase, Sales, Inventory, and Accounting.
In the Inventory tab, there is a field for mentioning the Routes, where you can specify multiple routes and the typical number of days required to deliver the product. For products manufactured internally by the company, the appropriate routes can also be assigned.
The product's Weight, Volume, Origin of Goods, and HS Code options can be configured using the LOGISTICS feature. After configuring the product details, save the data. The form also contains various smart buttons to track and manage various product data and inventory options, including Pricelists, On Hand Units, Forecasted Units, Bill of Materials, Documents, Reordering Rules, Putaway Rules, and Storage Capacities, etc.
If the product requires restocking, the ‘Replenish’ button option can be selected. To update the quantity of the product, press the ‘Update Quantity’ button. Also, you can print labels for the product using the ‘Print Labels’ option after connecting to an external device.
Product Variants
Odoo's product variants streamline inventory, pricing, and sales processes by grouping similar items under a single product template while tracking each variant individually. This feature can be managed in the Odoo manufacturing module under the Product Variant option, which displays a dashboard of all possible product variants created earlier in a Kanban view as shown below.
Creating a new product variant is similar as the configuration of a new product that we have discussed in the above section.
Bills of Materials
Odoo's Bills of Materials (BoM) is a tool used in the Manufacturing module to define components, ingredients, and parts needed for a finished product. It serves as a detailed production blueprint, outlining materials, quantities, and optional operations. Key features include component management, enabling multi-level or nested BoMs, and linking components to sub-assemblies.
We can manage these from the ‘Bill of Materials’ menu. On the BoM page, you will find a list of existing bills of materials with details like Product name, Reference, BoM Type, and Company name.
The list view can be transformed into a Kanban view. Then, the advanced search bar allows you to get customized results through filters, grouping, and favorite features. To create a new BoM, use the "New" button provided at the top of the page. This will display the new BoM creation form, as shown in the screenshot below.
On the BoM creation page, you can enter details like the product name, product variant (selectable from a drop-down menu), quantity, reference, and BoM type (such as manufacturing, kit, or subcontracting). Additionally, you can specify the company name.
Components Tab: Next, add components using the "Add a line" option under the Components tab. You can also specify the quantity and unit of measurement for each component of the product.
Operations Tab: In the Operations tab, you can add information such as operation type, work center, duration computation, and duration using the "Add a line" option. This leads to a new page, as shown below.
You can define operations, work centers, duration, and variations here. The duration can be manually set or calculated based on monitored items. Additionally, you can specify the company's name and default duration. Under the worksheet tab, you can upload a worksheet in PDF, Google Slide, or text format. Finally, click the "Save & Close" icon, or if you want to add more, use the "Save & New" option. These operation details will be displayed inside the Operations tab.
Once you activate the work orders and by-products options from the settings, tabs for operations and By-products will appear, and you can then add by-products by clicking the "Add a line" option under the by-product tab, as illustrated in the screenshot below.
Here, you can specify the by-products according to items, quantity, units of measurement, and production method.
Miscellaneous Tab: After that, move to the Miscellaneous tab, where you can set "Manufacturing Readiness," which defines whether all components must be available before starting or if only the initial components are needed. This setting helps decide when production can begin. Below, you will find the "Flexible Consumption" setting, where you can determine if the consumption of materials can vary from what is specified in the BoM. It can be set to either prohibit variations or allow them with a warning.
● Routing: Procurement creates manufacturing orders using a BoM matching a product's "manufacturing" route. Here we will set up the operation type “My Company: Manufacturing” produce the item with route manufacturing as defined in the operation type.
● Manufacturing Lead Time: Average production time accumulated for Product manufacturing.
● Days to prepare Manufacturing Order: Production orders must be created and verified in advance for semi-finished goods or material replenishment.
If you wish to set dependencies between operations that affect work order statuses upon confirmation and planning, enable the "Operation Dependencies" feature. If no specific parameters are set, Odoo will assume that all operations can start concurrently. To use the Operation Dependencies feature, users must first enable the "Work Order Dependencies" options from the settings window. Once all the information is entered, you can save the BoM by clicking the "Save" icon.
After saving the details, a comprehensive assessment of every operation pertaining to this BoM product will be available via the "Operations Performance" smart button. The whole overview of this BoM product, including its operations, by-products, lead time, and other details, will then be shown by clicking the "BoM Overview" smart button.
Lot/Serial Numbers
Odoo 18's manufacturing module features Lot/Serial Numbers, a powerful tool for product traceability and quality control. It assigns unique identifiers to products or batches, enabling precise tracking throughout the production process. This feature is particularly useful for industries requiring strict regulatory compliance, ensuring accountability and simplifying recalls.
The “Lot/Serial Numbers” window of the “Products” menu will show all the previously configured Serial and Lot numbers based on various work center locations, products, and created dates, as you can see from the screenshot below.
It's also simple to generate fresh Lot/Serial numbers with this window. Once a new creation window has opened, edit the details, including the Lot/Serial Number, to meet your needs or the policies of your business. The product, internal reference number, and price should then be mentioned.
In the "Description" tab box, we can also include a description of the product. Editing the other field data is limited to the Manufacturing module's enterprise edition.
After completing the editing and saving the details. We can check the location of this product and its traceability report from the “Location” and “Traceability” smart buttons, respectively. The pending and completed tasks or work orders associated with this specific product will be displayed when you click the "To Do" smart button. The action menu placed on the upper left side of the configuration form helps us print the lot/serial number, delete it, or duplicate it. Additionally, the “Add properties” option can be used to add extra form fields according to the requirements.