How to Configure Manufacturing in Odoo 18: Setup Guide

Manufacturing in Odoo 18

Odoo 18 Manufacturing provides comprehensive production management with bills of materials, work centers, routing operations, work orders, and integration with inventory and sales. This guide covers the essential setup steps for getting your manufacturing system operational.

Step 1: Install Manufacturing

Navigate to Apps and install Manufacturing (technical name: mrp). This installs the core MRP module with BOM management and manufacturing orders.

Step 2: Configure Manufacturing Settings

Go to Manufacturing > Configuration > Settings:

• Work Orders — Enable to use routing operations and work center management
• Byproducts — Enable to track secondary outputs from manufacturing
• Subcontracting — Enable to manage outsourced manufacturing (requires mrp_subcontracting)
• Planning — Enable for the Master Production Schedule and planning features

Step 3: Create Work Centers

Navigate to Manufacturing > Configuration > Work Centers:

• Create a work center for each machine or workstation
• Set operating hours via resource calendars
• Configure setup time, cleanup time, and cost per hour
• Set default capacity and per-product capacity overrides
• Define alternative work centers for load balancing

Step 4: Create Bills of Materials

Go to Manufacturing > Configuration > Bills of Materials:

• Select the finished product and set the BOM type (Manufacture or Kit)
• Add component lines with required quantities
• Add routing operations in the Operations tab (if Work Orders are enabled)
• Set the consumption policy: Flexible, Warning, or Strict
• Configure manufacturing lead time

Step 5: Create Manufacturing Orders

Navigate to Manufacturing > Operations > Manufacturing Orders:

• Select the product and BOM
• Set the quantity and scheduled date
• Confirm the MO to reserve components
• Process work orders at each operation step
• Mark as done to produce finished goods

Step 6: Configure Automated MO Creation

For automatic manufacturing order creation:

• Set the Manufacture route on products
• Create reorder rules with the Manufacture route under Inventory > Operations > Replenishment
• Install sale_mrp for automatic MO creation from confirmed sales orders

Step 7: Set Up Reporting

Manufacturing reports are available under Manufacturing > Reporting:

• Production Analysis — Track output by product, work center, and period
• Work Center Load — View scheduled vs. available capacity
• Cost Analysis — Compare planned vs. actual production costs

Key Differences from Odoo 19

• Core MRP functionality is the same across v18 and v19
• Odoo 19 may include UI refinements for work order processing
• The product catalog mixin for adding components was introduced in recent versions
• BOMs, work centers, and manufacturing orders work identically