Chapter 3 Managing Work Orders

Work orders belong to the Odoo Enterprise manufacturing feature set. Community Edition users can skip this chapter unless their implementation uses a custom work order flow.

In manufacturing, production is not always completed in one operation. Sometimes only part of the finished product is produced first, while the remaining quantity must continue later. Odoo handles this through the concept of backorders.

Managing Backorders

A backorder is a follow-up document created when an operation cannot be completed in full.

This concept is not unique to manufacturing. It also appears in inventory receipts and deliveries. For example, if a company purchases 100 apples and the vendor delivers only 50, the receipt can validate 50 first and create a backorder for the remaining 50. When the vendor delivers the rest later, the backorder is used to complete the remaining receipt.

Manufacturing work orders work similarly. Suppose the company needs to produce 100 laptops, but the first assembly operation completes only 20. Odoo can create a backorder for the remaining 80 so production continues with proper traceability.

Reporting Production

Production reporting can happen in two places:

• From the work order lines on the manufacturing order.
• From the shop floor or work order execution interface.

The difference matters. Starting or blocking work from the work order lines usually does not automatically advance the next work order. In the work order execution interface, clicking Record Production can automatically trigger the backorder flow and start the next operational step.

For implementation, users should be trained on where they report production. If operators report in the wrong place, the production order may look incomplete or the next work order may not start as expected.

Implementation Advice

Before using work orders in production, test these cases:

• Produce the full planned quantity.
• Produce a partial quantity and create a backorder.
• Block a work order and resume it.
• Record production from the work order execution interface.
• Check how finished goods and component consumption update inventory.

Work orders are powerful, but they also require disciplined shop-floor usage. For a first manufacturing rollout, start with a simple BoM and one or two operations, then add more complex backorders and quality controls after users understand the basic flow.

This chapter explained backorders and production reporting in work orders. The next manufacturing chapter explains quality checks during production.