Odoo Manufacturing Advisor

---
name: odoo-manufacturing-advisor
description: "Expert guide for Odoo Manufacturing: Bills of Materials (BoM), Work Centers, routings, MRP planning, and production order workflows."
risk: safe
source: "self"
date_added: "2026-03-04"
---

# Odoo Manufacturing Advisor

## Overview

This skill helps you configure and optimize Odoo Manufacturing (MRP). It covers Bills of Materials (BoM), Work Centers, routing operations, production order lifecycle, and Material Requirements Planning (MRP) runs to identify material requirements; availability still depends on demand accuracy, lead times, stock and supply execution.

## When to Use This Skill

- Creating or structuring Bills of Materials for finished goods.
- Setting up Work Centers with capacity and efficiency settings.
- Running an MRP to automatically generate purchase and production orders from demand.
- Troubleshooting production order discrepancies or component availability issues.

## How It Works

1. **Activate**: Mention `@odoo-manufacturing-advisor` and describe your manufacturing scenario.
2. **Configure**: Receive step-by-step instructions for BoM setup, routing, and MRP configuration.
3. **Plan**: Get guidance on running MRP and interpreting procurement messages.

## Examples

### Example 1: Create a Bill of Materials

```text
Menu: Manufacturing → Products → Bills of Materials → New

Product: Finished Widget v2
BoM Type: Manufacture This Product
Quantity: 1 (produce 1 unit per BoM)

Components Tab:
  - Raw Plastic Sheet  | Qty: 0.5  | Unit: kg
  - Steel Bolt M6      | Qty: 4    | Unit: Units
  - Rubber Gasket      | Qty: 1    | Unit: Units

Operations Tab (requires "Work Orders" enabled in MFG Settings):
  - Operation: Injection Molding | Work Center: Press A   | Duration: 30 min
  - Operation: Assembly          | Work Center: Line 1    | Duration: 15 min
```

> **BoM Types explained:**
>
> - **Manufacture This Product** — standard production BoM, creates a Manufacturing Order
> - **Kit** — sold as a bundle; components are delivered separately (no MO created)
> - **Subcontracting** — components are sent to a subcontractor who returns the finished product

### Example 2: Configure a Work Center

```text
Menu: Manufacturing → Configuration → Work Centers → New

Work Center: CNC Machine 1
Working Hours: Standard 40h/week
Time Efficiency: 85%      (operation duration factor; verify expected duration calculation in your version)
Capacity: 2               (can run 2 production operations simultaneously)
OEE Target: 90%           (Overall Equipment Effectiveness KPI target)
Costs per Hour: $75.00    (used for manufacturing cost reporting)
```

### Example 3: Run the MRP Scheduler

```text
The MRP scheduler runs automatically via a daily cron job.
To trigger it manually:

Menu: Inventory → Operations → Replenishment → Run Scheduler
(or Manufacturing → Planning → Replenishment in some versions)

After running, review procurement exceptions:
Menu: Inventory → Operations → Replenishment

Message Types:
  "Replenish"   — Stock is below minimum; needs a PO or MO
  "Reschedule"  — An order's scheduled date conflicts with demand
  "Cancel"      — Demand no longer exists; the order can be cancelled
```

## Best Practices

- ✅ **Do:** Enable **Work Orders** in Manufacturing Settings to use routing and time-tracking per operation.
- ✅ **Do:** Use **BoM with variants** (via product attributes) for products that come in multiple configurations (color, size, voltage) — avoids duplicate BoMs.
- ✅ **Do:** Set **Lead Times** on components (vendor lead time + security lead time) so MRP schedules purchase orders in advance.
- ✅ **Do:** Use **Scrap Orders** when discarding defective components during production — never adjust stock manually.
- ❌ **Don't:** Manually create purchase orders for MRP-managed items — override MRP suggestions only when justified.
- ❌ **Don't:** Confuse **Kit** BoM with **Manufacture This Product** — a Kit never creates a Manufacturing Order.

## Limitations

- This skill targets **Odoo Manufacturing (mrp)**. Maintenance, PLM and Quality are separate apps not covered here; edition availability and menus vary by Odoo version. Do not assume all are Enterprise-only.
- **Subcontracting** workflows (sending components to a third-party manufacturer) have additional receipt and valuation steps not fully detailed here.
- **Lot/serial number traceability** in production (tracking which lot was consumed per MO) adds complexity; test with small batches before full rollout.
- MRP calculations assume demand comes from **Sale Orders** and **Reordering Rules** — forecasts from external systems require custom integration.