Odoo for end-to-end manufacturing process automation
January 16, 2024
Odoo Manufacturing: key capabilities
Odoo MRP
Odoo's MRP application helps manufacturing companies define and plan raw materials and resources needed to produce merchandise. By properly mapping out your resources, you can ensure demand-driven productivity, prevent fluctuations due to stockouts, as well as cut inventory carrying costs by minimizing excess inventory and product waste.
With the Odoo MRP app, you can:
- Create Bills of Materials (BOMs) for each product you manufacture, BOMs for multiple variants of the same product, and multi-level BOMs that specify the number of components needed, routing information, and manufacturing steps.
- Plan inventory for your subcontractors and oversee billing activities and the quality of goods manufactured.
- Set productivity goals (capacity, OEE, time before/after prod, cost per hour, time efficiency, lead-time) for each of the work centers.
- Monitor work center performance (OEE, lost time, load, performance).
- Create accurate demand forecasts for manufactured products and their components and create a Master Production Schedule, Make to Order rules, and Make to Stock rules on their basis.
- Calculate the safety stock target for a product and the minimum and maximum quantities to be replenished.
- Monitor scrap products/components, including the date and time of the order and the quantity of scrap.
Odoo PLM
Odoo Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) helps manufacturing teams effectively manage changes in engineering processes and streamline product change approvals by establishing a centralized document repository and constructive communication between multiple departments.
With Odoo PLM, you can:
- Consolidate all product data (BOMs, tech specification, engineering documents, engineering change order (ECO) revisions, drawings, worksheets, quality documents, manuals, etc.) for organization, management, and analysis.
- Create ECOs and set up custom Kanban workflows for their submission, review, and validation.
- Track engineering changes and different product versions with their respective documentation.
- Enable real-time communication between users with varying roles and permissions right in the proposal ticket's log note section. This can ensure efficient ECO management and shorten a product’s time to market.
Odoo Maintenance
Odoo Maintenance helps monitor overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and gain a more granular understanding of low OEE and its common causes. The software tracks all upkeep and maintenance activities and helps ensure they are performed on time and budget. Besides, Odoo Maintenance sets plans for repair activities based on equipment performance in real-time and facilitates preventive maintenance to avoid sudden equipment downtimes resulting in costly repairs and production disruptions.
With the Odoo Maintenance app, you can:
- Store all equipment information (the category, vendor, model, serial number, cost, the location where the equipment is used, etc.) in a central data hub.
- Analyze maintenance requests and calculate the Expected Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), Estimated Next Failure, Latest Failure, and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) based on them.
- Track individual pieces of equipment and the respective maintenance data (warranty expiration date, preventive maintenance frequency, maintenance duration, MTBF, Latest Failure, MTTR, the technician responsible for servicing, etc.).
- Organize maintenance requests and track their progress with Kanban and calendar views.
- Trigger maintenance requests automatically based on KPIs and directly from the control center panel.
Odoo Quality Checks & Control
Manufacturers use Odoo Quality to audit the production process from start to finish and maintain the high quality of produced goods. For this, the Odoo Quality application offers a user-friendly interface for employees to report quality defects from the production floor or a warehouse. The quality alert then appears in the Overview dashboard for a dedicated team to confirm, explore the root causes, and suggest corrective and preventive actions.
With the Odoo Quality app, you can:
- Define quality control points that automatically trigger quality checks at specific inventory operations (receiving or final delivery) or production operations.
- Manually create quality alerts.
- Track and analyze quality alerts (type of quality issue, product and product variant, finished product lot number, work center where the quality issue originated, and the team responsible for managing the quality alert).
- Facilitates various production quality controls, including the production part approval process (PPAP), statistical process control (SPC), and process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA).
- Categorize quality alerts by addressee (design, supplier, production) and requestor (customer, main line, subline), assign priority to quality alerts.
- Filter alerts by user-defined tags, data assigned, date closed, quality team, root cause, etc.
- Route products to dedicated quality zones for advanced checks.
Automate key business processes with Odoo Manufacturing
More Odoo capabilities for the manufacturing sector
Odoo Inventory
Odoo Inventory functions as an inventory application and a warehouse management system to help manufacturing teams track stock moves and optimize inventory levels on the go, automate replenishment activities, inventory valuation, and meet the demand without overstocking.
With the Odoo Inventory application, you can:
- Track inventory from the supplier to the customer with the double inventory capability.
- Achieve complete traceability of all operations - picking, delivery, quality control, etc.
- Structure your warehouse using hierarchical locations (zones, rows, shelves) to define the product's exact position within your warehouse.
- Configure push/pull rules to automatically generate transfers across receiving docks, quality control areas, storage locations, picking and packing areas, and shipping docks.
- Configure advanced routes, including drop-shipping and cross-docks.
- Define replenishment rules between multiple warehouses.
- Gain complete visibility into scrap, their costs, reasons, and volumes.
- Find inventory by scanning a barcode or filtering by customer, product, supplier, etc.
- Let your customers track their order status and invoices with an easy-to-navigate customer portal.
- Automatically trigger requests for quotation to negotiate prices with suppliers based on future needs.
- Use multiple units of measurements, packages, and packaging as well as various product costing methods.
- Forecast product availability based on confirmed sales orders, purchase orders, and manufacturing orders.
Odoo Purchase
The module helps procurement specialists track product prices and availability with various suppliers and opt for the most profitable offer. Beyond that, the app provides detailed insights into suppliers' performance, helping manufacturers to partner with the most reliable providers.
With the Odoo Purchase app, you can:
- Assess your suppliers' performance and analyze your contracts' profitability based on delivery delays, negotiated discounts, quantities purchased, etc.
- Launch purchase tenders to choose the best offer and sign blanket order agreements to buy goods at a negotiated price and on a recurring basis during a specific time period.
- Set up rules to automatically send RQS for multiple products simultaneously based on the current stock level, minimum quantities per location or supplier, sales, or other parameters.
- Monitor the status of your quotes and orders, their amount, and the expected delivery date.
- Monitor stock and determine quantity and locations for each batch of received items.
- Define barcodes and add supplier references to differentiate similar products easily.
Odoo IoT
The Odoo IoT Box allows manufacturers to integrate smart devices into manufacturing processes and then connect them to a single Odoo database for seamless data transmission. A small device provided on subscription, the IoT Box serves as a bridge that connects smart hardware via HDMI, USB, Bluetooth, or WiFi to the dedicated IoT App, which then transfers data to the Odoo database.
This way, operators can orchestrate IoT devices from a unified Odoo control panel in real-time from anywhere, be it their workstation, the shop floor, or the field. By default, the Odoo IoT Box is compatible with USB cameras, webcams, HID devices, printers, weighing scales, and measurement tools. The vendor offers to develop a custom driver for unsupported devices for an additional fee.Â
Odoo Manufacturing pricing
Odoo comes in two versions - Odoo Community, which is open-source, and Odoo Enterprise, which is licensed. Odoo Community is a good option to get acquainted with the platform; however it has limited functionality across various modules. Besides that, Odoo Community doesn't come with unlimited functional support, version upgrades, and hosting. Here are the pricing details for Odoo Enterprise:
One App Free
Standard
Custom
Subscription details
One App Free
Standard
Custom
- One* Odoo app (including Odoo Studio) with an unlimited number of users
- Support and maintenanceÂ
- Hosting on Odoo Online
- All Odoo apps
- Support and maintenance
- Hosting on Odoo Online
- All Odoo appsÂ
- Support and maintenanceÂ
- Hosting on Odoo Online/ Odoo.sh*/On-premises,Â
- Odoo Studio for Odoo customization
- External API to query, retrieve or update data stored in Odoo with external systems
Licensing fee
One App Free
Standard
Custom
Free
- from $24.90 per user per month (yearly subscription)
- from $31.10 per user per month (monthly subscription)Â
- 15-day free trial
- from $37.40 per user per month (yearly subscription)
- from $46.80 per user per month (monthly subscription)
- 15-day free trial
* If you choose an app that depends on other apps, you get these apps for free too. For example, when selecting the eCommerce app, you get Website and Invoicing for free too.
** The cost for Odoo.sh hosting is not included in the license fee
How to upgrade the Odoo Manufacturing application
Customize the platform
To cover any niche business requirements, Odoo has several built-in customization tools (Odoo Studio, the Website Builder, and the Report Designer), allowing business users with no coding experience to tailor the software to their needs. Moreover, manufacturers can create and integrate custom modules to extend Odoo’s functionality.
Build integrations
To enable an uninterrupted data flow and management of all business processes, you should integrate the Odoo platform into your software environment. Odoo can be connected with all corporate applications, legacy software, and third-party apps from your customers and partners through various options, including APIs, pre-built connectors, and custom code-enabled integration.
Benefits of using Odoo for manufacturing
Optimized production
due to effective management of inventory across multiple locations, accurate demand forecasting, and master production scheduling.
High product quality
due to end-to-end production process monitoring, detection of production defects in real-time, and timely corrective and preventive actions.
Improved OEE
due to IoT-enabled equipment monitoring and analysis and corrective and preventive equipment maintenance automation.
Informed decision-making
due to increased visibility into business processes enabled by real-time reporting and open communication channels for collaboration between departments.
Enhanced efficiency
due to minimized manual data entries and automated business processes, such as inventory tracking, invoicing, payment processing, and defect recognition.
Cost savings
due to decreased costs spent on administrative tasks, minimized cases of production delays and defective goods, and overall business process visibility to identify areas where you can drive cost savings.
Odoo services we offer
Consultancy
Our experts analyze your business needs and requirements and conceptualize your Odoo-based solution. After that, we outline the required functional modules and integration scope and develop a detailed implementation strategy.
Implementation
Our team offers full-cycle Odoo implementation services, from business needs analysis and Odoo configuration/customization to platform integration with the current IT environment, user onboarding, and post-launch support.
Support & evolution
Itransition helps companies maintain the smooth performance and relevancy of the Odoo-based solution through a continuous monitoring of the platform’s performance, timely issues detection and resolution, delivery of new features, and more.
Customer spotlight
90%
manual work reduction
Automated warehouse management with Odoo
A US-based repair and maintenance enterprise specializing in industrial automation systems turned to Itransition for ERP system implementation and business process automation. To help the customer automate their multiple business processes, including work order management, inventory management, and quoting, and unify disparate software, we developed a centralized Odoo-based ERP system and paired it with some custom add-ons. The delivered system allows employees to find any item in storage effortlessly and enables flexible on-demand procurement. We also optimized the customer's purchase order approval workflow, which halved the approval time.
Driving automation with Odoo Manufacturing
The manufacturing industry is evolving rapidly, becoming smarter and more efficient, and many new technological advancements lie ahead. Amid these disruptions, companies need a solid but lean system that can support all essential processes and serve as a foothold for innovation at the same time.
A leading provider of ERP software for manufacturing, Odoo offers the solution for forward-minded manufacturers. Easy to tailor to unique manufacturing needs, the system can centralize and streamline procurement, equipment, product, and human resources management and cater to more advanced tasks such as proactive workforce planning and IoT device integration.
Looking for a trustworthy technology partner for your ERP project?
FAQs
How much does Odoo implementation cost?
The cost of implementing an Odoo-based ERP solution varies in accordance with multiple factors, such as the number of functional modules/apps, customization scope, the number of users, integration scope, and approach. Besides licensing fees and infrastructure, you must factor in system customization, implementation, support, and maintenance costs. You can contact our consultants for a ballpark estimate.
Does Odoo offer any user support?
Yes, Odoo offers online documentation, video tutorials, training sessions, and workshops to support its users. Additionally, you can hire a dedicated customer success consultant for an extra fee. For more complex support, you should turn to a certified Odoo partner who can guide your company through the whole Odoo implementation/modernization process.
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