Manufacturing Order Management Odoo 18
By Braincuber Team
Published on December 28, 2025
Production managers confirming manufacturing orders can't adjust materials mid-production: Mitchell created MO for 100 units Coffee Powder using 100kg Coffee Beans based on BoM, floor supervisor Marc discovers supplier batch quality different requiring 120kg Beans not 100kg, but MO locked after confirmation preventing material adjustment—forcing production halt while waiting for administrator to cancel/recreate entire order wasting 2+ hours when only component quantity needs changing.
Odoo 18 Manufacturing Order Management provides production flexibility with Unlock Manufacturing Orders feature enabling material quantity adjustments post-confirmation, role-based access (Administrator vs User permissions), controlled editing preventing unauthorized changes, maintained traceability logging all modifications, error correction without order recreation, support for make-to-order customization, and real-time material variability handling—eliminating production delays from locked orders while preserving data integrity and audit compliance.
MO Management: Unlock confirmed orders, Adjust material quantities, Role-based access, Modification logging, Error correction, Custom order support, Traceability maintenance
Understanding Access Rights
Two access levels control manufacturing permissions:
Administrator
- Configure manufacturing module
- Manage Bills of Materials
- Set up routings
- Modify confirmed orders
- Complete system control
User
- Create manufacturing orders
- Process daily operations
- View MO details
- Cannot modify system settings
- Shop floor/production worker role
Checking User Access:
- Go to Settings → Users & Companies → Users
- View user list showing access levels
- Check permissions per user
Why Unlock Manufacturing Orders?
- Production Flexibility: Adjust materials for unexpected circumstances/real-time demands
- Error Correction: Fix BoM/MO mistakes without starting over
- Material Variability: Handle raw material size/quality/usability variations
- Reduced Downtime: Avoid cancel/recreate cycle for minor adjustments
- Accurate Inventory: Stock levels match actual consumption for better planning
- Improved Traceability: Log all post-confirmation changes for audits/compliance
- Customization Support: Essential for make-to-order products not matching standard specs
- Cost Control: Track actual material usage, reduce unreported expenses
Scenario Example
Situation:
- Administrator (Mitchell): Creates MO for 100 units Coffee Powder
- BoM Specifies: 100kg Coffee Beans required
- MO Status: Confirmed and locked
- Floor Supervisor (Marc - User role): Discovers supplier batch quality change requires 120kg Beans
- Problem: Marc cannot edit locked MO due to User permissions
- Traditional Solution: Request admin cancel/recreate order (2+ hour delay)
- Odoo 18 Solution: Enable Unlock feature, Marc adjusts materials directly
Creating Manufacturing Order
- Go to Manufacturing → Operations → Manufacturing Orders
- Click New
- Configure:
- Product: Coffee Powder (100 units)
- Bill of Materials: Select BoM
- Components: 100kg Coffee Beans (auto-populated)
- Click Confirm
- MO locks to preserve data integrity
The Locking Problem
Without unlock feature:
- User (Marc) opens confirmed MO
- Tries to change component quantity (100kg → 120kg)
- System prevents edit—fields locked
- Must request administrator intervention
- Administrator cancels MO, creates new MO with correct quantities
- New MO confirmation triggers new stock reservations
- Production delayed 2+ hours
Enabling Unlock Feature
- Login as Administrator
- Go to Manufacturing → Configuration → Settings
- Enable Unlock Manufacturing Orders
- Save configuration
Effect: Regular users can now modify confirmed MO material quantities without admin approval.
Using Unlock Feature
After enabling:
- Login as User (Marc)
- Open confirmed manufacturing order
- Click on component quantity field
- Modify quantity (100kg → 120kg)
- System accepts change
- Click Save
- Change logged in modification history
- Production continues without delay
Result: Floor supervisor adjusts materials in real-time. No admin intervention needed. Production continues immediately. Total delay: 2 minutes not 2 hours.
Best Practices
Enable Only After Training: Don't enable Unlock feature immediately for all users. Train production team on when adjustments appropriate vs when BoM needs permanent correction. Prevents BoM accuracy degradation from repeated MO tweaks masking underlying BoM errors.
Review Unlock History Regularly: Weekly review which MOs unlocked, what changed, by whom. Patterns emerge—if same component always adjusted up 20%, update BoM permanently instead of relying on manual unlocks every order.
Combine with Approval Workflow: High-value products or large quantity changes? Add approval step before unlock takes effect. User requests unlock → supervisor approves → change applies. Balances flexibility with control.
Traceability & Compliance
All modifications logged:
- Who: User making change
- When: Timestamp of modification
- What: Original vs new quantity
- Why: Optional note field for explanation
Audit trail maintained for:
- ISO compliance audits
- Cost variance analysis
- Quality investigations
- Process improvement reviews
Conclusion
Odoo 18 Manufacturing Order Management balances control and flexibility through Unlock Manufacturing Orders feature enabling post-confirmation material adjustments, role-based permissions, complete modification logging, and maintained traceability. Eliminate production delays from locked orders while preserving data integrity and audit compliance.
