Manufacturing Order Management Odoo 18

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.

Understanding Access Rights

Two access levels control manufacturing permissions:

Checking User Access:

1. Go to Settings → Users & Companies → Users
2. View user list showing access levels
3. Check permissions per user

Why Unlock Manufacturing Orders?

Scenario Example

Creating Manufacturing Order

1. Go to Manufacturing → Operations → Manufacturing Orders
2. Click New
3. Configure:
   • Product: Coffee Powder (100 units)
   • Bill of Materials: Select BoM
   • Components: 100kg Coffee Beans (auto-populated)
4. Click Confirm
5. MO locks to preserve data integrity

The Locking Problem

Without unlock feature:

1. User (Marc) opens confirmed MO
2. Tries to change component quantity (100kg → 120kg)
3. System prevents edit—fields locked
4. Must request administrator intervention
5. Administrator cancels MO, creates new MO with correct quantities
6. New MO confirmation triggers new stock reservations
7. Production delayed 2+ hours

Enabling Unlock Feature

1. Login as Administrator
2. Go to Manufacturing → Configuration → Settings
3. Enable Unlock Manufacturing Orders
4. Save configuration

Effect: Regular users can now modify confirmed MO material quantities without admin approval.

Using Unlock Feature

After enabling:

1. Login as User (Marc)
2. Open confirmed manufacturing order
3. Click on component quantity field
4. Modify quantity (100kg → 120kg)
5. System accepts change
6. Click Save
7. Change logged in modification history
8. Production continues without delay

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.