Odoo BOM and Production Planning: Routing, MRP and Work Orders Guide

Most guides stop at "Odoo has MRP". This one walks the actual setup order, from the first bill of materials to a planned work order, the way we configure it on our Odoo ERP for manufacturing projects.

It is written for production managers, planners and owners evaluating or tuning Odoo Manufacturing. If your project is already in trouble, read our guide on why Odoo implementations fail in manufacturing first.

What does the Odoo manufacturing workflow look like from BOM to finished goods?

The Odoo manufacturing workflow runs in seven steps, and each step depends on the data from the one before it. Skip a step and planning numbers stop making sense.

1. Product setup: set the product as goods with tracked inventory, add the Manufacture route and choose lot or serial tracking if needed.
2. Bill of materials: add components, quantities and the units one BOM produces.
3. Routing: add operations on the BOM, each linked to a work center.
4. Replenishment: choose reordering rules, Replenish on Order (MTO) or the master production schedule.
5. Manufacturing order: created by a rule, a sales order or a planner, then confirmed.
6. Work orders: planned on work center capacity and processed operation by operation.
7. Close and cost: produce, record scrap or by-products, and post the real cost to stock.

How do you set up an Odoo bill of materials?

An Odoo bill of materials is the blueprint of a product: its components, their quantities and, if work orders are on, its operations. Odoo only creates manufacturing orders for products that have one.

Go to Manufacturing, then Products, then Bills of Materials. Pick the product, set the quantity one BOM produces and set the BOM type to Manufacture this product. Odoo's bill of materials documentation covers each field.

The Miscellaneous tab is where planning really starts. These fields drive dates and order sizes:

• Manufacturing Lead Time: the days needed to make the product.
• Days to prepare: how many days ahead manufacturing orders are created, so components and sub-assemblies can be replenished.
• Batch Size: when demand exceeds the batch size, Odoo splits it into several manufacturing orders.
• Manufacturing Readiness: wait for all components, or start once first-operation components are in stock.
• Reference: separates two BOMs for the same product, such as a standard build and an alternate part build.

BOM type	What it does	Typical use
Manufacture this product	Creates manufacturing orders and work orders	Assembled or processed goods
Kit	Groups components sold or shipped as one item	Bundles and spare part sets
Subcontracting	A vendor builds the product from your components	Outsourced machining or finishing

Multi-level products use sub-assemblies, each with its own BOM. Check the BOM Overview, which shows the full tree with times and costs, before you trust any planned date.

How does routing work in Odoo: operations and work centers?

In Odoo, routing is not a separate record: it is the list of operations on the BOM, each assigned to a work center. Turn on the Work Orders setting first, or the Operations tab does not appear.

Each operation has a work center and a duration method: Fixed for a default duration, or Computed to estimate from the last few tracked work orders. Cost can follow actual or theoretical time.

Work centers carry the capacity that planning uses. Odoo's work center documentation lists these fields:

Work center field	What it controls	Planning effect
Working Hours	Weekly schedule; default 40 hours, 8 AM to 4 PM, Monday to Friday	Slots available for work orders
Time Efficiency	Speed multiplier as a percentage	50% doubles planned duration
Setup and Cleanup Time	Time before and after each work order	Added to every slot
Cost per hour	Operating cost of the work center	Feeds MO cost
Product Capacities	Units per cycle for a product	Batches on one machine

If one operation must finish before another starts, enable Custom Work Order Dependencies and the Operation Dependencies option on the BOM. Then set Blocked By on each operation, as Odoo's work order dependencies guide shows.

Which replenishment method should drive Odoo MRP planning?

Odoo MRP planning has three engines: reordering rules for stock items, Replenish on Order (MTO) for order-driven items, and the master production schedule for long-horizon or seasonal items. Most plants use a mix, chosen product by product.

Method	What triggers production	Creates MOs automatically?	Best for
Reordering rules (min and max)	Forecast stock drops below the minimum	Yes, with the Manufacture route and a BOM	Fast movers, components, spares
Replenish on Order (MTO)	A confirmed sales order	Yes, linked to the sales order	Custom or configured products
Master production schedule	A planner's forecast per period	No, it suggests quantities only	Seasonal or long lead time products

Per Odoo's reordering rules documentation, a rule on a product with the Manufacture route creates a manufacturing order, and only products with a BOM qualify.

With Replenish on Order (MTO), the order links back to its sales order. Odoo warns that a cancelled MTO order is not regenerated, so adjust it instead of cancelling.

Routes trip up many teams. In one Odoo forum thread, a manufactured product created no manufacturing order from its reordering rule; the accepted fix was adding the Manufacture route and setting min and max levels correctly.

How does the Odoo master production schedule work?

The Odoo master production schedule is a grid of future periods where planners enter forecast demand and Odoo suggests how much to make or buy. It never creates orders on its own.

Enable it in Manufacturing settings, then pick a time range (yearly, monthly, weekly or daily) and the number of periods. Each product row shows stock, demand, suggested replenishment and forecasted stock.

Forecasted stock equals starting stock, minus forecasted and indirect demand, plus replenishment. Suggestions follow your safety stock target, and Order creates the purchase or manufacturing orders.

Odoo's master production schedule documentation gives one firm rule: do not put reordering rules on products managed in the MPS, or you get wrong forecasts and extra orders. The MPS is part of Odoo Enterprise, not Community.

How are work orders planned and run in Odoo?

Odoo work orders are planned when you click Plan on a confirmed manufacturing order, which books slots on each work center's calendar. Planners then adjust the schedule in the Gantt view.

In Odoo 20, Plan schedules orders as soon as possible from now, and several orders planned together queue in list order. That uses free capacity at once, but it also means the list order is your priority, so sort before you plan.

Odoo 20 also adds a work order Kanban by work center and a planning view by employee, and completed work orders stay visible in the Gantt.

Sub-assemblies need care. On the Odoo forum, a planner asked how to schedule child work orders before the parent order; the reply was to plan bottleneck work centers first, not always the child order.

For long runs, Odoo 20's continuous production lets the next operation start as soon as part of the quantity is recorded on the previous one. If 20 of 100 units finish cutting, those 20 can move to assembly while cutting continues.

One, two or three-step manufacturing: which warehouse flow fits?

Odoo sets the number of manufacturing steps per warehouse, and the right choice depends on how far components travel to the line. Change it under Inventory, Configuration, Warehouses.

Setting	Transfers created	Fits when
Manufacture (1 step)	None; stock updates on the MO	Components sit at the line
Pick components then manufacture (2 steps)	Pick components transfer, then MO	A store issues parts to production
Pick, manufacture, then store (3 steps)	Pick, MO, store finished products	Finished goods go to a separate area

The three-step manufacturing guide shows the pick and store transfers. For locations, putaway and barcode, see our Odoo warehouse management guide.

What changed in Odoo 20 manufacturing for BOM and planning?

Odoo 20 makes BOM maintenance faster and planning more flexible, and it removes one control some plants relied on. Our Odoo 20 manufacturing release notes cover all 24 changes; these are the ones planners feel.

Area	Odoo 19	Odoo 20
BOM comparison	Open each BOM one by one	Compare BoMs pivot, one column per BOM
Overhead cost	No BOM extra cost field	Extra Cost per unit on the BOM
Consumption control	Allowed, warning or Blocked per BOM	Setting removed; warning only, always confirmable
Procurement MOs	Always confirmed	Auto Confirm Production can create drafts
Planning	Planned from scheduled date	Planned as soon as possible by default
Line flow	Next operation waits for full quantity	Continuous production on partial quantities

The removal matters most: if you used Blocked consumption to stop over-issue, plan your own control before upgrading from Odoo 19.

On the floor, one Produce button replaces Produce and Produce All. For costing effects, read our Odoo 20 inventory valuation guide.

Odoo BOM production planning by industry

The same Odoo manufacturing workflow fits most industries, but the setting that matters most changes from sector to sector. This table shows where we usually start.

Industry	Pain or cost driver	Odoo approach	How iVentureTeam helps
Food and beverage	Expiry, recalls, by-products	Lots, expiry dates, by-product cost share	Set traceability and FEFO rules
Plastics and packaging	Machine changeovers, scrap	Work center setup time, scrap on MO	Model capacity per machine
Furniture and metal	Multi-level assemblies	Sub-assembly BOMs, dependencies	Map routings and BOM levels
Electronics	Component substitutions	BOM references, Used In replacement	Clean BOM data before go-live
Make to order equipment	Long custom builds	MTO route, project link on BOM	Link sales, MO and delivery
Seasonal consumer goods	Demand peaks	Master production schedule	Set forecast and safety stock

Food producers have extra rules on lots and expiry; our Odoo food manufacturing guide covers them. For a wider view of ERP choice, see ERP for manufacturing.

What Odoo MRP planning mistakes should you avoid?

Most Odoo MRP planning problems come from data, not from the software. We see these five on almost every rescue or review.

• Wrong routes: a manufactured product without the Manufacture route never gets an MO from its rule.
• Mixed engines: reordering rules on MPS products double the demand.
• Default hours: every work center left on the 40-hour default, so plans ignore shifts and overtime.
• Missing lead times: no manufacturing lead time or days to prepare, so components arrive late.
• Unsorted planning: planning many orders at once in Odoo 20 without sorting priority first.

How iVentureTeam helps with Odoo BOM production planning

iVentureTeam sets up Odoo BOMs, routings and planning rules around how your plant actually runs, then proves them on real orders. We have delivered 150+ ERP projects across 35+ countries with 40+ Odoo specialists over 13+ years.

• Process mapping: products, BOM levels, routings, work centers and shifts captured before any setup.
• Configuration: BOMs, operations, routes and replenishment set up through our Odoo implementation services.
• Custom logic: pricing, approvals or shop floor steps Odoo lacks, built with our Odoo customization services.
• Testing: sample orders run through planning, work orders and costing before go-live.
• Budget: a first estimate from our Odoo implementation cost calculator.

Odoo BOM production planning case study: Chetan Plastics

A plastics-printing manufacturer in Ahmedabad moved five departments off a shared Excel file onto one customized Odoo system. The phased rollout took 16 weeks.

Chetan Plastics ran sales, purchase, inventory, manufacturing and CRM from spreadsheets. Block-based print pricing was calculated by hand, and nothing linked a CRM job to its sales order, purchase order or delivery paperwork.

We connected Sales, CRM, Purchase, Inventory, Manufacturing, Repair and Invoicing. The block calculator moved into order lines, secondary units of measure were enforced per product, and TSC printers now produce 100x75mm barcode labels automatically.

Data now moves from sales to manufacturing, inventory and accounting without re-entry, with two-step validation on sales and purchase confirmations. Read the Chetan Plastics Odoo manufacturing case study.

The bottom line on Odoo BOM production planning

Odoo plans production well once BOMs, routings, work centers and replenishment rules carry real data, and Odoo 20 makes that easier to maintain. The software rarely fails first; the setup does.

Start with clean BOMs and honest work center hours, choose one replenishment engine per product, and test planning on real orders.

Ready to plan production properly in Odoo?

Bring one product, its BOM and its routing, and we will show you how it plans in Odoo. Walk through your BOM and routing with an Odoo manufacturing consultant, call +91-90235-15208, or email business@iventureteam.com.